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Assessment Council Policy Statement on Program Outcomes Assessment
[January 2005]
"OSU requires that all academic
programs conduct Program Outcomes Assessment to comply
with the assessment
mandates of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher
Education and the Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
of the North Central Association (NCA – the
accrediting organization). Each academic unit is
required to have an assessment plan on file with
the Office of University Assessment and Testing that
describes expected student learning outcomes for
each degree program and the methods used to evaluate
those outcomes. Academic units are also required
to file brief annual reports describing their assessment
activity from the previous year."
Assessment of student learning in all academic units
can be a beneficial tool for facilitating dialogue
about the curriculum and encouraging continuous programmatic
improvement throughout a campus. Assessment refers
to the systematic collection, review, and use of
information about educational programs undertaken
for the purpose of improving student learning and
development (Palomba and Banta 1999). Assessment
is not a review of faculty performance. Program Outcomes
Assessment provides feedback to an academic unit
on the performance of its curriculum; thereby allowing
informed decisions regarding the need for changes.
Assessment is, therefore, an integral part of the
commitment at OSU to sustain and enhance academic
quality and the student educational experience.
The
Assessment Council supports the idea that academic
units are
best suited to determine how to assess
their students’ learning outcomes and how to
use assessment results for program improvement. The
Assessment Council and Office of University Assessment
and Testing work to facilitate program outcomes assessment
by providing information, guidelines, and financial
resources to conduct effective assessment and by
coordinating assessment at the program and institutional
level.
The Assessment Council encourages academic units
to develop and implement Program Outcomes Assessment
with the following concepts in mind. These characteristics
form the basis for providing feedback to academic
units regarding assessment methods and uses of results.
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Program
Outcomes Assessment is based on a process in
which faculty have identified the desired student
outcomes that are consistent with the objectives
of the academic unit. Assessment focuses on
evaluating
student achievement of these expected learning
outcomes. Assessment results must not be used
for RPT evaluations or annual appraisals of faculty
or staff.
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Program
Outcomes
Assessment seeks to help faculty understand
and improve student
learning
by asking
key questions
such as “What should graduates
of this program know or be able to do?”, “Have
the graduates of our program acquired this learning?”,
and “How can student learning, or our curriculum,
be improved?”.
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Program
Outcomes
Assessment should provide feedback to the
academic unit and
contribute
to program development. Assessment should
not simply
be viewed
as collecting data for program
evaluation; it should be viewed as integral
to
ongoing
self-evaluation, development, and improvement
of the program.
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Program
Outcomes Assessment should include
a variety of measures that are suited
to evaluate
the unique learning objectives in
the unit.
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Assessment
should optimally include direct
and indirect measures of
student learning.
Direct
measures include
a capstone experience,
senior project,
portfolio assessment,
standardized tests,
certification and
licensure exams,
locally developed
exams, exams blind
scored by multiple
scorers,
juried review of
student performances
and projects, external
evaluation of student
performance in
internships. For
graduate programs,
direct measures
also include faculty
review of theses
and dissertations.
Indirect measures
include data from
student surveys,
alumni surveys, exit
interviews, retention
and transfer rates,
length of time
to degree, graduation
rates, job placement,
and program acceptance.
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The
same assessment
methods do not have to be used every year.
Program Outcomes Assessment
should be systematic and ongoing; the timetable
for implementing assessment
measures should
be appropriate for the curriculum and resources
of the program.
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Each
academic
unit should periodically review and evaluate
the assessment
methods and
determine how these methods contribute
to program development.
Assessment methods may change over time
as different concerns
emerge regarding
the curriculum or student learning.
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Assessment
reports should
be brief summaries of the assessment activities
in an academic unit
and are requested annually to comply with
requirements
of the State Regents. The reports should be
shared with all faculty
in the academic
unit and reviewed by the dean of the appropriate
college.
The reports are used for continued
accreditation
with the North Central Association
and a variety
of programmatic accrediting agencies.
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