Submitted by the Learning Assessment Committee
We know you’ve been diligently assessing your students’ learning, whether through CATs, course, program, or general education assessment…and most likely you’ve been involved with many of these! But what’s next? What happens with all of this data?
General Education Results & Improvement:
- Critical Thinking was assessed this spring, and results will be available before classes begin this fall. Join us for Critical Thinking is Critical! during Orientation Week to start the discussion about how we will use these results to enhance our students’ critical thinking skills.
- We’ll also have results from our Information Literacy follow-up assessment in the fall—keep watching the Student Learning Showcase to find out if our students’ skills changed from 2015 to 2018.
- Communication will be our primary General Education assessment in FY2019, along with a follow-up Quantitative Reasoning assessment. We’ll share more details soon!
Program and Course Results & Improvement:
- Over the summer, chairs, coordinators and other department assessment leaders get together to analyze results of program and course assessments. Be sure to let the Outcomes Assessment Office know if you would like assistance!
- In the fall, you convene with your department to review those assessment results and develop a student learning improvement plan. These improvements might include ideas for new teaching strategies, changes to curriculum, and ideas for further research. As experts in your disciplines, you determine what changes will lead to improvements in student learning. If you want to discuss these ideas, reach out to a faculty mentor (like a member of the Learning Assessment Committee), your dean, or the Outcomes Assessment Office.
Classroom Assessment & Improvement:
- You’ve already been using your results to make improvements for your students! Consider if you learned anything this year that might lead you to make change your teaching strategies in the fall.
Finally, don’t forget to share what you’ve learned with students, colleagues and at the 10th Annual Assessment Conference and Share Fair! Don’t keep those fascinating results to yourself!