Core Curriculum Assessment Plan Outline

In order to complete the assessment process for core curriculum review, it is necessary for each department to construct an assessment plan. A template and detailed example appears below.  To complete the table, consider the following guidelines:

Guideline 1: Recognize that is neither desirable nor possible to assess all student learning: Not all learning outcomes specified for a course need to be assessed. Select learning outcomes that deserve attention based on faculty deliberation. In some instances, faculty may decide to choose concrete measures as baseline indicators of learning as initial steps and then develop means of assessing broader, more abstract outcomes.
Guideline 2: Data collection is based on samples of data over an extended period of time: After learning outcomes have been selected, each outcome will be supported by samples of evidence. Each department/program will collect samples of direct and indirect assessment methods. This step, of course, is labor intensive and time consuming. More and more departments are turning over this step to a small group of members who in turn will do the actual analysis and then report the findings to the department for consultation. Some departmental decisions will include how many students will have their work sampled, across a sample of appropriate course sections, and across a sample of types of methods. Cost and time are major issues, so think about collecting small, manageable samples over a specified time frame to make assessment realistic.
Guideline 3: Remember that the purpose of assessment is the evaluation and improvement of student learning: In order to demonstrate effective assessment, each department/program will need to specify how their results were analyzed and disseminated. The analysis should include identifying “success standards” and providing evidence whether these have been adequately met. When not met, the department/program should indicate what steps have been taken to improve student learning within the core curriculum.  This feedback loop is essential to all assessment plans.
Guideline 4: Core curricular review is part of the assessment process: Once the department/program has completed the assessment data collection and analysis, the analysis should be reported to the dean of the college/school as well as the Core Curriculum Committee chair.
Guideline 5: Assessment plans need five basic steps to complete the assessment process of the core curriculum: Departments can use the template below (an extended sample appears on the following page) or they can submit their own plans as long as they included the requisite elements: specified learning outcomes, assessment methods, collection and analysis, timeline, and implementation of improvements. Assistance to individual departments and programs will be made available through the Center of Educational Excellence, ext. 7402.

Assessment Plan for _________Department

What students should learn (express as learning outcomes for core course)

How their learning will be assessed  (identify direct and indirect forms of evaluation, other than student GPA)

How results will be analyzed and by whom (identify how departmental analysis by success criteria is conducted and submitted for core curriculum review)

Assessment schedule (provide a timeline for completion)

Process for the Department to implement any changes (implementation of improvements based on departmental analysis and core curriculum review)

Sample Assessment Plan* (click here for a downloadable Word Document version):

What students should learn (learning outcomes)	How their learning will be assessed (direct and indirect forms)	How results will be analyzed and by whom (departmental analysis and core curriculum committee review)	Assessment schedule (timeline)	Process for the Department to implement any changes
Communicate effectively, engagingly, and clearly in writing	Student portfolios	Dept. Curriculum Committee review at end of semester; writing rubric	Spring 2003, 2005, 2007	Curriculum Committee review, then vote by full department
Apply the principles of the field to solve problems	Capstone course project	Capstone instructors, end of semester; problem-solving rubric	Spring 2004, 2006, 2008	same
Apply their knowledge and ability to work in real world situations	Internship	Internship supervisor evaluations, reviewed by all Department faculty; specific applications evaluated	Every semester	same
Know concepts, theories, and principles of the field	Selected questions embedded in course examinations	Reviewed by all Department faculty, using scale of 1-5 for each content area.	Results from three different courses reviewed each semester.	same
Assess their knowledge and skills realistically	Exit interview	Notes of interviewers summarized for the faculty	Every spring semester.	same
Perform successfully after graduation	Alumni survey	1st and 5th year graduates assessed by mailed survey	2005 and 2010	same
*Similar sample assessment plans are listed for SUNY system, U of Michigan, Kent State, Indiana U, U of Virginia, U of Massachusetts, CU systems, U of Washington, etc. Sample structural templates are used at Alverno and Skidmore Colleges.