Outcomes Assessment Reports

a newsletter and Web log by Frank Vozzo   Director of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment

 

January 23, 2006

In this report:

• There is a Web archive of OARs.
• A way to improve outcomes in Academic Advisement.
• Assessment at some local competitor colleges.

Do you remember reading something interesting in one of the past editions of OARs, but find that you've lost or deleted the e-mail?  The complete collection is archived on the Web at:

http://www.sage.edu/faculty/vozzof/oars/

I have done my own assessment of outcomes in academic advisement, which has helped me to determine that (amongst other things) I spend too much of my time telling my advisees where to find specific information.  This is a distraction which can lead to advisement omissions and errors.

I gave a presentation at the RSC Academic Advisement Workshop on January 18 on how to set up and use an "on-line course" in CampusCruiser for communicating with advisees.  If you are interested in using the technique, I have put together a PowerPoint tour of the course site (with sound narration) and a list of "how-to" instructions on creating such a course for yourself.

I took some time this weekend to look at the Web sites of two area institutions: the University at Albany and Siena College.  Here are some things I found:

The University at Albany was one of the few schools cited in 2002 by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education as having an "exemplary comprehensive outcomes assessment plan."  Like many other colleges and universities, UAlbany has put the full details about its outcomes assessment on public Web pages.  Some of the details that I found most interesting:

• "In 1978, the University launched a series of student cohort studies that placed the campus in the forefront of assessment research, leading to our national reputation in the area of assessment methodologies. In the past two decades, we have served as a model for best practices in this critical area. The Albany Model, as it is widely known, has been instrumental in guiding the assessment efforts of many other post-secondary institutions, particularly in the public sector. The model-- data-driven and formative rather than summative-- seeks to relate the college experience to pre-college characteristics."
• "Where program purposes lack specificity or agreement, assessment as a process pushes a campus toward clarity about where to aim and what standards to apply; assessment also prompts attention to where and how program goals will be taught and learned. Clear, shared, implementable goals are the cornerstone for assessment that is focused and useful."
• "Divisional and departmental assessment plans and activity reports will be forwarded or made available to appropriate Senate councils in order to keep the University community fully apprised of the campus assessment process, and to provide opportunities for sharing of best practices, and collegial review of assessment practices. The Provost's Assessment Advisory Committee is charged with annually reviewing and promoting this flow of information."
• "In accordance with existing organizational lines of reporting responsibility, deans are ultimately responsible for the development and implementation of assessment plans... as they regard teaching and student learning in the academic programs within their schools and colleges. The deans of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies are responsible for the assessment of University-wide programs encompassing their respective student charges."
• "UAlbany academic programs formally develop assessment plans as part of the program review Self-Study developed every seven-years, and implement them throughout the intervening years."
• "Student learning outcomes assessment in the area of General Education has up until the implementation of the new General Education Program not been a focus of the University at Albany's assessment process."

Regarding General Education, the focus at UAlbany has been on individual courses within categories (the University would like to use portfolio studies in the future).  One thing UAlbany does that we currently choose not to do: review existing courses every three years via their General Education Committee.

At Siena College, outcomes assessment is identified as a responsibility of the entire community.  Departments have assessment plans and generate annual reports.  A portion of their Program Review Process is dedicated to outcomes assessment:

• What are the learning goals of the program? Are they clearly stated? (E.g., state the core learning outcomes, discipline-specific outcomes, course-specific instructional goals)-All course syllabi for the year should be included (a review of to what degree they all have student-centered learning goals will need to be included).
• How have students been assessed with respect to these goals? (This should be done in detail-please keep in mind that the traditional Siena College Classroom Evaluation Form is NOT a way of assessing course goals)
• How will student learning be assessed for this study? In future years? Did the targeted students achieve these goals in this study?
• Did every student have the opportunity to receive the instruction and reinforcement necessary to meet these goals? How do you know this to be true?
• Is there a capstone or a comprehensive assessment at the end of the program? Is such an experience under discussion in the department?
• Are there any accrediting standards that this program should address? If so, has the program met them?
• Is the curriculum up to date and sensitive to changing needs of the field?

Here are two interesting resources from Siena about course syllabi:

Academic Policy Manual rules for creating course syllabi

A PowerPoint tutorial about course syllabi

In next week's OARs: using results of student satisfaction surveys.

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