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Assessment of Student Learning

Why is assessment of student learning important?

IMPROVEMENT

  • Engage faculty and staff in self-reflection on learning outcomes or goals and instructional and service delivery
  • Determine degree to which outcomes correspond to student and societal needs
  • Evaluate degree to which students' activities, products, or performances coincide with expectations set in learning outcomes
  • Inform students about the knowledge, skills, and other attributes they can expect to possess after successfully completing an academic program or co-curricular activity
  • Help academic and student support units understand the dimensions of student learning when seeking to improve student achievement and the educational process

ACCOUNTABILITY

  • Students
  • Parents
  • Public
  • Institutional and program accreditation agencies
  • State legislators
  • Other stakeholders

ACCREDITATION

  • Institutional (HLC)
  • Program (AACSB, ABET, CAEP, etc.)

How do we define the process of academic assessment?

  • Clarify learning needs of students
  • Determine and make public academic outcomes and expectations for student learning
  • Implement instructional and co-curricular activities
  • Gather, analyze, and interpret evidence to determine the degree to which student learning outcomes meet these expectations
  • Agree on ways to use this evidence to improve student learning