Academic Assessment

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Outcomes Assessment: Definitions and Principles for Evidence-Based Curricular Decision-Making

"Outcomes assessment"--or, as it it often called, "assessment of student learning" or simply, "assessment"--refers to various strategies for documenting student learning and behavior relative to stated learning goals or expectations. These goals are articulated for academic or other programs by the members of the faculty and staff who oversee those programs (see Note #1); what is learned about the programs in the course of assessing them is used to improve student learning in them. "Assessment" is not undertaken to measure the performance of individual students (relative to the learning goals, mastery of course content, or in comparison to each other). Nor is "assessment" intended to evaluate the performance of individual instructors or of individual courses - "assessment" is not teaching or course evaluation. In assessing student learning in the academic program, the measure is taken of the academic program as a whole. This requires a perspective gained by stepping back to obtain a broad view of the performance of groups of students enrolled in a whole course of study (e.g., a certificate program, a major, a degree program). An assessment program will, in general, identify expectations related to core content or essential skills, identify places in the curriculum where that information is conveyed to students, and measure how well students meet those program-level expectations. That information is then used to improve the program (if necessary) so students improve their performance in meeting those expectations.

The faculty, instructional, and advising staff of the College of Letters and Science is constantly engaged in evaluative activities related to and including the assessment of student learning. This website is intended to help departments and programs do that, by providing resources and sharing information they can use as they consider the best possible means to systematize their efforts to examine and report on their efforts to improve student learning in their programs.

We promote this activity for several reasons:

• A systematic approach to understanding our academic programs helps departments monitor program efficacy; and provides a rational foundation for enacting (and observing the effect of) changes to those programs.
• This approach helps departments evaluate the most effective uses for their limited resources.
• Information obtained through these efforts is essential to college-level decision-making processes, as when the L&S Curriculum Committee considers requests to change program requirements, or when the L&S Academic Planning Council considers requests to create new programs.
• This process attempts to assure many audiences (faculty, administrators, the public, parents, students) that our students have not merely completed degree requirements, but that in doing so, they have mastered a body of knowledge or acquired a set of skills. This process is yet another means we use to validate that UW-Madison graduates are ready to assume places among an educated citizenry, whether they enter the workforce or pursue further professional or scholarly studies.
• Finally, the UW-Madison is required to have an active process for evaluating student learning in all academic programs as a component of continued accreditation; accreditation is required for the university to receive federal funding (from grants to student financial aid).

(For more information about uses for what is learned through assessment processes, please see the page on "Why Assess Student Learning.")

As noted in the L&S Assessment Plan, the context for the assessment of student learning depends on the people and groups responsible for designing and delivering our academic programs. Hence, responsibility for ensuring that departments and programs have well-defined learning goals falls to the faculty who design program curricula and develop the courses that enliven them. Given the key role UW-Madison faculty play in curricular decisions, faculty leadership and departmental autonomy are essential facets of the assessment of student learning at this university. No single set of learning goals has been (or could be) imposed on all departments; rather, learning objectives and their relationship to the curricula flow from decisions departmental faculty make about what students need to learn. The departments in which academic programs reside must develop and make assessment plans work within their resources in service to the learning goals defined by the faculty.

This principle has been endorsed by the College for years, and has been summarized as follows:

"Properly developed and implemented assessment of student learning in all majors can be a beneficial tool for academic programming. However, only through widespread faculty and departmental involvement can an institution as complex as ours devise effective and efficient program-based assessment processes. . . . [Academic] departments are best able to determine the educational objectives and assessment instrumentation necessary to assure continued improvements of the programs leading to undergraduate and graduate majors" (1995-96 Assessment Report).

Finally, an emerging area for these activities is one that connects the assessment of learning obtained in the classroom to situations outside of the classroom. For example, classroom projects that emphasize teamwork and communication of concepts or facts within the discipline may best be evaluated by gauging students' effectiveness in putting together a community outreach project as part of a service-learning project. An additional area of interested is the evaluation of our students' ability to demonstrate that they have obtained a "Wisconsin Experience," that reflects the various types of learning, as well as the breadth and depth of the curriculum. Members of the college (and many others) are working to develop strategies for assessing learning in this area, and, in particular, with creating useful connections with co-curricular assessment.

The UW-Madison Assessment Council provides campus-level leadership in the area of assessment of student learning. Assistant Dean Elaine M. Klein(kleine@ls.admin.wisc.edu) represents the College on the Assessment Council and coordinates assessment efforts across the College.

L&S Assessment Plan Update Project

In 2005-2006, Dean Sandefur asked all units responsible for overseeing academic programs in the College turn their attention to the assessment of student learning and submit one of four types of documents to him by May 1, 2006. (Please refer to the discussion of the CHARGE TO DEPARTMENTS AND PROGRAMS for information about what the dean requested.)

The documents submitted depended on each unit's prior work in this area. We recieved responses from nearly every L&S degree offering program, and from several programs that offer key sequences or coherent educational experiences (e.g., certificates or concentrations). The materials submitted were reviewed, and departments/programs were given feedback on how their efforts might be improved upon. Based on what was submitted, each program was placed into a new, three-year reporting cycle. This time-frame allows departments sufficient time to field a study, analyze results, and initiate change -and, ideally, to submit substantive reports on assessment activity.

Since the update project was initiated, the college has recieved plans, reports, and updates. These materials that appear in our Department Plans and Reports area.

For the current "snapshot" of assessment activity, please refer to the Spring 2009 update. These brief, informal reports on assessment activity relate not just what our programs have done to evaluate student learning, but what they have done to use the results to improve student learning.

Resources

Assistant Dean Elaine M. Klein (5-8484 or kleine@ls.admin.wisc.edu) is available to work with departments to help them reflect upon and revise assessment plans. She can also refer departments and programs to campus assessment resources.

The Office of the Provost hosts the campus website on assessment of student learning. This website provides guidance for department chairs and others on the UW-Madison campus who engage in assessment activities. Resources include:

• the UW-Madison Assessment Plan provides a framework for assessment activities across campus;
• UW-Madison Assessment Council membership;
• the UW-Madison Assessment Manual includes a discussion of how to develop an assessment plan, an overview of assessment tools, and a (dated, but useful) outline noting where these tools are used in each of the university's schools and colleges;
• an annual call for proposals to fund assessment-related projects, with links to examples of successful proposals;
• school/college reports on assessment activities; and
• links to campus resources and units that can advise or participate in departmental efforts to assess student learning (for information on the services these units provide, please refer to the online assessment manual).

The Office of Academic Planning and Analysis (a division of the Provost's office) also prepares reports on of degree trends, time/credits to degree, and the UW-Madison Data Digest. This site also contains links to Registrar's Office enrollment and grading reports.

Finally, each Spring, the Provost issued the annual call for assessment funding proposals. We have found these funds are excellent opportunities for departments to plan the next stage of assessment activities - jump-starting a moribund proposal, taking on a more extensive ad hoc assessment project than would otherwise be possible, setting up systems to implement changes, etc. L&S Departments and Programs that intend to request funds should feel free to consult Assistant Dean Elaine Klein (kleine@ls.admin.wisc.edu, or 265-8484) as they prepare their proposals.

Note:

(1) Although this document refers primarily to the assessment as it relates to academic programs, assessment strategies can also be used to great effect in evaluating and improving non-academic programs (e.g., such as student service areas, enrichment programs, residential life). At this time, however, the University requires only that all academic programs have assessment plans, we therefore focus our attention to that end.