Assessment Of Student Learning
- Assessment Of Student Learning Syllabus
- Assessment Of Student Learning Definition
- Assessment Of Student Learning Objectives
Assessment is at the heart of education: Teachers and parents use test scores to gauge a student's academic strengths and weaknesses, communities rely on these scores to judge the quality of their educational system, and state and federal lawmakers use these same metrics to determine whether public schools are up to scratch. Methods of measuring student learning are often characterized as summative or formative assessments: Summative assessments - tests, quizzes, and other graded course activities that are used to measure student performance. They are cumulative and often reveal what students have learned at the end of a unit or the end of a course. Assessment of Student Learning During a Global Pandemic Released September 2020 As institutions planned for a fall term full of uncertainty, AIR was interested to learn about assessment of student learning in Spring 2020. Assessment of Student Learning at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) UMES recognizes the key role played by an effective assessment process for student learning in its mission of providing high quality education. To this end, it strives to build and maintain a sound assessment.
I. Overview and History
Student learning is at the heart of each of Columbia University's educational programs. Understanding how well students are learning through meaningful assessment methods is central to maintaining the quality of our educational offerings. As part of Columbia's committment to best practices in this realm, the Provost's Office has developed a library of resources and tools to support learning outcomes assessment and faculty efforts in this area. These efforts also serve to cross-polinate ideas and techniques that work best within the Columbia community, and meet state, federal, and accrediting body requirements.
II. Ongoing Process and Recent Achievements
Each program at Columbia has a clear learning outcomes plan that is crafted and controlled directly by faculty. They are assessed regularly and used to promote deep reflection on student learning and influence curricular change. Schools review their faculty’s program plans, ensure best practices and evaluate them for effectiveness and consistency with their mission. Schools create summary reports for their programs, describe major results, engage in quality improvement and then intermittently submit to the Provost’s Office. The Provost’s Office exercises central oversight over this process by reviewing overall progress, alignment with best practices and regulatory compliance.
Columbia is a rich and diverse academic setting. In addition to the regular and systematic review described above, more in-depth analysis of evidence is conducted periodically, depending on the characteristics of individual schools and programs. Professional schools conduct self-studies as well as a host of other analyses to evaluate program goals as part of their accreditation cycles. In the Arts and Sciences (A&S), the Academic Review Committee (ARC) examines each department’s operations approximately every seven years, linking overall assessment, including that of learning outcomes, with planning and budgeting decisions.
Formal University-wide procedures documenting learning outcomes assessment were begun in 2010, although teaching and learning have been routinely evaluated locally in individual faculties and departments to improve curricula. The Provost’s Office has collected and developed materials to inform documenting existing practices as well as establishing effective methods to measure learning across the University. A committee of faculty and administrators meets periodically throughout the year to discuss advances in the field of learning outcomes, cross pollinate ideas and develop resources.
III. Best Practices and Resources
Resources and Associations
Columbia Resources
- Program Plan Template & Instructions Columbia University Learning Oucomes Assessment Information for Developing Program Plans
Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) Resources
- Assessing Student Learning and Institutional Effectiveness from Handbook for Periodic Review Reports. Articulates the criteria Middle States uses to evaluate learning outcome assessment plans
- Student Learning Assessment: Options and Resources (2nd Edition, 2007). Defines direct versus indirect methods of assessment with examples
- Understanding MSCHE Expectations for Assessment Linda Suskie, Vice President, Middle States Commission on Higher Education powerpoint presentation delivered at the November 2010 Self-Study Institute. An overview of learning outcomes assessment and accreditation
I. Overview and History
Student learning is at the heart of each of Columbia University's educational programs. Understanding how well students are learning through meaningful assessment methods is central to maintaining the quality of our educational offerings. As part of Columbia's committment to best practices in this realm, the Provost's Office has developed a library of resources and tools to support learning outcomes assessment and faculty efforts in this area. These efforts also serve to cross-polinate ideas and techniques that work best within the Columbia community, and meet state, federal, and accrediting body requirements.
II. Ongoing Process and Recent Achievements
Assessment Of Student Learning Syllabus
Each program at Columbia has a clear learning outcomes plan that is crafted and controlled directly by faculty. They are assessed regularly and used to promote deep reflection on student learning and influence curricular change. Schools review their faculty’s program plans, ensure best practices and evaluate them for effectiveness and consistency with their mission. Schools create summary reports for their programs, describe major results, engage in quality improvement and then intermittently submit to the Provost’s Office. The Provost’s Office exercises central oversight over this process by reviewing overall progress, alignment with best practices and regulatory compliance.
Columbia is a rich and diverse academic setting. In addition to the regular and systematic review described above, more in-depth analysis of evidence is conducted periodically, depending on the characteristics of individual schools and programs. Professional schools conduct self-studies as well as a host of other analyses to evaluate program goals as part of their accreditation cycles. In the Arts and Sciences (A&S), the Academic Review Committee (ARC) examines each department’s operations approximately every seven years, linking overall assessment, including that of learning outcomes, with planning and budgeting decisions.
Formal University-wide procedures documenting learning outcomes assessment were begun in 2010, although teaching and learning have been routinely evaluated locally in individual faculties and departments to improve curricula. The Provost’s Office has collected and developed materials to inform documenting existing practices as well as establishing effective methods to measure learning across the University. A committee of faculty and administrators meets periodically throughout the year to discuss advances in the field of learning outcomes, cross pollinate ideas and develop resources.
III. Best Practices and Resources
Resources and Associations
Columbia Resources
- Program Plan Template & Instructions Columbia University Learning Oucomes Assessment Information for Developing Program Plans
Assessment Of Student Learning Definition
Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) Resources
Assessment Of Student Learning Objectives
- Assessing Student Learning and Institutional Effectiveness from Handbook for Periodic Review Reports. Articulates the criteria Middle States uses to evaluate learning outcome assessment plans
- Student Learning Assessment: Options and Resources (2nd Edition, 2007). Defines direct versus indirect methods of assessment with examples
- Understanding MSCHE Expectations for Assessment Linda Suskie, Vice President, Middle States Commission on Higher Education powerpoint presentation delivered at the November 2010 Self-Study Institute. An overview of learning outcomes assessment and accreditation