All assessment reports and reviews of those reports can be viewed in SLOAP (http://sloap.gsu.edu). In order to promote continuous improvement in the quality of reports and reviews, we offer some exemplary reports and reviews here. All reports and reviews are from the 2015 cycle, except where indicated.
Exemplary Program Assessment Reports
College/School Undergraduate Programs… more »
The following pages contain instructions and links to guides that can help you with the following elements of your assessment plans:
General/Overviews
Mary Allen, Assessing Academic Programs in Higher Education (2004) Trudy Banta, Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide, 2nd (2009) Barbara Walvoord, Assessment Clear and Simple: A Practical Guide, 2nd ed. (2010)
Even non-grade direct measures of student learning can be evaluated in a number of ways. But a particularly useful tool is the rubric. Rubrics are especially useful for grading complex, subjective assignments that don’t have just one “right” answer, such as papers, reports, and performances.
Elements of a Rubric
A rubric is an explicit hierarchy… more »
After the determination of SLOs, perhaps the second most important step of the assessment process is choosing the appropriate methods and tools of assessing student learning. Potential methods take a wide variety of forms. One of the most important distinctions is that between direct versus indirect assessment methods.
In the case of the assessment of… more »
SLOs are of little use if students in your program have insufficient opportunities to learn the skills, knowledge, and values that are expected of them. Ideally, the educational program as a whole as well as the constituent courses and other program elements will be carefully designed and coordinated so as to provide such opportunities in… more »
Perhaps the most important step in the assessment process is the determination of meaningful student learning outcomes (SLOs). Without appropriate SLOs, it is difficult, if not impossible, to collect relevant or useful information about student learning that can be used for program improvement.
SLOs typically concern three broad types of student learning:
Content knowledge or… more »
Effective assessment involves following seven steps:
1) Clarifying the mission and goals of your educational program
2) Writing meaningful student learning outcomes
3) Ensuring that students have sufficient learning opportunities
4) Choosing appropriate assessment tools and methods
5) Setting challenging but reasonable targets
6) Collecting and analyzing evidence of student learning
7) Using the results… more »
This section contains instructions and tips to help you develop, refine, and implement the assessment process for your educational program. It consist of the following subsections:
Overview of the Assessment Process Writing Meaningful Student Learning Outcomes Ensuring Learning Opportunities Choosing Appropriate Assessment Methods Closing the Loop: Using Assessment Results for Program Improvement
Here are some websites and on-line documents that are particularly useful for understanding and conducting academic assessment.
Assessing Student Learning in Higher Education (Janet Fulks, Bakersfield College)
Assessment Workbook (Ball State University)
Assessing Your Program-Level Assessment Plan (Susan Hatfield, Winona State)
Assessment Associations
American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) –… more »
