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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