Assessing the Undergraduate Program
Assessing the Graduate Program
Improving Teaching and Learning
Evaluating the Assessment Program
UWSP will assess students' knowledge,
skills and perspectives in their respective majors and in their general
education.
The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student
learning by making appropriate curricular and instructional changes.
The secondary purpose of assessment shall be to
provide UW System with summaries of: assessment methods and instruments used;
student participation in assessment; results of assessment; the use of
assessment to improve curriculum and delivery; and other information as required
by UW System and the Board of Regents.
According to our mission statement, UWSP students should develop "heightened intellectual, cultural, and humane sensitivities; scientific, professional, and technological expertise; and a sense of purpose." To help students develop in those areas, the university's first select goal is:
to provide a broad foundation of liberal studies and selected
degree programs in the fine arts, humanities, natural sciences, imparting the
heritage of human civilization, critical intelligence, and the skills necessary
for a lifetime of learning and upon which education in the professional fields
may be built.
This first select goal serves as the guiding principle for our
understanding of general education in the assessment process.
The six other selected goals for UWSP are:
1.
specific undergraduate
professional programs;
2.
specific graduate programs;
3.
wellness and health
promotion programs;
4.
quality undergraduate and
graduate instruction;
5.
scholarly activity,
including research, scholarship and creative endeavor;
6.
cooperation with
UW-Extension in outreach programming.
Starting with a foundation in liberal learning, UWSP provides
an array of graduate and undergraduate professional programs, as well as
extension efforts, which integrate this University within the larger UW System.
The General Degree Requirements’
(GDRs) Purposes, Course Guidelines, and Objectives define skills and knowledge
that are consistent with our mission and goals.
After studying these GDRs, UWSP students should be
able to:
1.
Read critically, think
logically, research effectively, and write coherently.
2.
Write appropriately to a
discipline.
3.
Understand human
communication and deliver an effective presentation.
4.
Quantify and understand the
real world using mathematics.
5.
Use the scientific method,
understand the pure sciences and understand how science relates to individuals
or society at large.
6.
Understand and appreciate
Non-Western ideas and institutions and how they differ from Western traditions.
7.
Understand and appreciate
the culture and history of racial and ethnic groups in the
8.
Appreciate human behavior
and heritage and understand the nature, development and interaction of cultures,
societies, and civilizations over time.
Consistent with the above skills and knowledge, The General
Degree Requirements: Purposes, Course Guidelines, and Objectives specify the
following objectives and expected outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the Freshman English requirement, students will be able to demonstrate a capacity for sustained complex thinking and writing and the ability to document appropriately and accurately. They will be able to produce:
1. An articulate, readable text that includes
1.1 A focused topic
1.2 A clearly-defined purpose
1.3 A pattern of organization with appropriate transitions
1.4 A concern for audience
1.5 Adequate and relevant support
2. Evidence of the ability to document appropriately and accurately
1.
Ability to recognize
different writing situations with their different kinds of audiences and writing
purposes.
3.
Ability to organize ideas and
use language in ways that are both clear and persuasive for different audiences
and writing situations.
4.
Attitudes and perceptions of
students and faculty toward the WE experience should be evaluated to determine:
whether it is working and whether students are gaining value from it.
1. The primary behavioral outcome is to enable students to improve their public speaking skills so that they have the competencies necessary to make an effective presentation before an audience. A secondary behavioral outcome is to enable students to be more effective listeners and critics of public discourse.
2. The primary attitudinal outcomes are to reduce the anxiety often associated with public speaking, increase the confidence of students as they make public presentations, and develop a commitment to ethical advocacy. A secondary attitudinal outcome sought is to increase awareness of the important role public discourse plays in personal and professional contexts.
3. The primary cognitive outcomes are for students to know what constitutes effective presentation; to know how to support an idea through the use of evidence and reasoning; to differentiate between fact and inference; to know how to adapt messages to different audiences and situations; to know how to effectively evaluate oral discourse; and to know how communication plays a central role in the social construction of reality.
1. Students will be able to use strategies of problem solving applicable to problems inside and outside the mathematics classroom.
2. Students will be able to use the necessary tools to understand mathematics contained in scientific topics as they are expressed in the media and everyday life.
3. Students will be able to state a conclusion using mathematical justification.
1. Students will be able to use a scientific method to evaluate evidence or information that is pertinent to the course.
2. Students will be able to draw logical conclusions, infer relationships, solve problems, or use concepts of classification/categorization based on an evaluation of evidence or scientific information that is pertinent to the course.
3. Students will be able to describe the relevance of some aspect of natural science to their lives and/or society.
4. Students will be able to demonstrate general knowledge of at least two specific discipline areas.
1. Students will be able to identify the components of a Non-Western culture.
2. Students will be able to understand and analyze the political, economic, intellectual, and cultural characteristics of the particular Non-Western culture studied.
3.
Students will better
understand that people in different societies often make choices within
political, economic, cultural, and ethical frameworks that are fundamentally
different from the frameworks in, for example, the
4. Students will be able to express their understanding and interpretation of Non-Western cultures clearly and in forms appropriate to the particular discipline that they studied.
1. To understand and become more respectful of the pluralistic/diverse/ multicultural nature of American society.
2. To learn about the distinctive cultural heritages of minority groups.
3. To be prepared to interact with diverse peoples in the community and workplace.
4. To understand diversity issues in the community and workplace.
5. To understand the history and current circumstances of harassment, bigotry, prejudice and discrimination in all settings through exploring scholarly views on race, gender, class, ethnicity, and religion.
6. To become more aware of and to think critically and with an open mind about gender, race, class, ethnic, and religious issues.
7. To be aware of the impact gender, race, class, ethnicity, and religion have on the lives of majority and minority people.
1.
Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the history of a
relatively large cultural area, society or civilization over an extended period
of time.
2. Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the unifying theme of the course (e.g. topical, national, regional).
3. Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of historical perspective and the development of a culture, society, or civilization over time.
4. Students will be able to demonstrate an awareness of historical causality and consequence.
5. Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of important social, cultural, economic, and political concepts and events.
6.
Students will be able to demonstrate an awareness of
the historical antecedents of current social, cultural and political trends
1. Students will be able to formulate ethical judgments about human conduct (in life and as represented in art), and render judgments about the merits of artistic expressions.
2. Students will be able to grasp particular intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic concepts, and also see these particulars in relation to larger, more universal, and more enduring concepts.
3. Students will be able to make an imaginative leap outside their own particular perspective, and, for example, empathize with a character in literature or the drama or another work of art, or with a historical figure, seeing the world as it existed in another time and another place.
4. Students will develop the critical ability not only to understand intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic concepts, but also to challenge them, and envision possibilities beyond the known and established.
5. Students will be able to express their understanding and interpretation of humanistic studies clearly and in forms appropriate to the particular discipline.
1. Students will be able to understand the fundamental theories, concepts, and research methods as applicable in the fields of at least two of the social sciences.
2. Students will be able to understand the place of individuals in social structures and the relationships among individuals, social groups and institutions.
3. Students will be able to understand how individuals and groups create, influence, and are affected by social institutions, social structures, and culture.
4. Students will be able to develop a framework for participating as informed citizens of the nation and the world.
1. Students will be able to engage in simple conversation, provide and obtain basic information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions with speakers of the target language.
2. Students will be able to read basic materials on familiar topics (e.g. weather, family, personal experiences past and present) and to comprehend central concepts in selected authentic materials.
3. Students will be able to write short narratives and brief messages about personal experiences, showing signs of creativity with set language forms.
4. Students will be able to identify and describe features of the culture(s) studied, comparing them with their own.
5. Students will be able to analyze various elements of the target language (e.g. time, tense, sound systems, word formation and syntax), comparing them with comparable elements in English.
1. Students will be able to describe the relationship of human society to natural systems and how they affect each other.
2. Students will be able to analyze a wide variety of historic and current environmental issues ranging from local to global importance.
3. Students will be able to describe the ecological, political, social economic and ethical implications of selected environmental issues and assess alternative solutions to these issues.
4. Students will be able to identify, describe and evaluate their own individual impacts on the environment.
Wellness
1. Students will be able to provide examples of healthy activities.
2. Students will be able to identify skills and behaviors that enhance a healthy lifestyle.
3. Students will be able to describe a contemporary health issue and its impact on personal, community, and global health.
4. Students will be able to demonstrate or describe a specific healthy life skill.
5. Students will be able to explain how a chosen activity or behavior promotes a healthy lifestyle.
Assessing the Undergraduate Program
In 1993, Faculty Governance established an Assessment Subcommittee of the Academic Affairs Committee. The Subcommittee consists of representatives from the Student Government Association, the Division of Student Development, and faculty from the four colleges. The Subcommittee chairperson serves as a voting member of the Academic Affairs Committee.
The Assessment Subcommittee with the aid of the Director of Planning and Policy Analysis will collect, analyze and report assessment data. The role of the Assessment Subcommittee will be to
1. develop the policies and procedures for undergraduate assessment;
a) an analysis of new student abilities;
b) a midpoint check of verbal and quantitative skills;
c) an examination of growth in the chosen fields of study; and
d) an assessment of general education and perspectives of graduating seniors.
The ACT test provides valuable information about our new students and their abilities. The information compiled from ACT test scores can be compared with other nationally normed tests to provide rudimentary analysis of student development. In addition to the basic competencies reflected in nationally normed tests, however, two other components are necessary. The regent-mandated placement tests of verbal and quantitative skills already help place students in the most appropriate English, Math, and Foreign Language courses as well as identify students in need of remedial work. The placement test results are integrated as a second component of a freshman profile in the larger assessment program. Finally, The College Student Characteristics Inventory compiled by the Division of Student Affairs, helps define our new students' values and perspectives. These three components help us understand freshman knowledge, skills and perspectives. ACT, Placement Test and Freshmen Attitudinal data are collected and reviewed annually.
Units/departments shall determine the methods of assessment and instruments to be used that best meet their needs. These must provide information that can be used to identify curricular and instructional strengths and weaknesses. Units/departments shall include student input in the assessment process.
Every unit/department on campus shall
have a Program Assessment Plan (PAP), stating
Units/departments shall formally review and revise their Program Assessment Plan at least every 8 years, although changes to the Program Assessment Plan (PAP) should be included in each Assessment Report (AR) based on assessment results. A copy of the revised plan (written plan or presentation slides) will be filed with the Dean, Provost and Vice Chancellor, and Assessment Subcommittee by the third Friday in October, along with the biennial Assessment Report (AR).
Three measures of general education should be used:
1. Testing Knowledge
Rudimentary knowledge or 'literacy" lends itself to nationally normed testing mechanisms. As a basis for comparison and study, such testing data is helpful in evaluating our university's general education performance. ACT’s Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) tests in reading, writing, mathematics, science reasoning and critical thinking will be administered to a representative sample of seniors during the spring semester every three years.
2. Demonstrating Skills
General education skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and communication cannot be adequately tested by a "sit-down, pencil and paper exam," although problem-solving strategies and some simulations are part of nationally normed objective tests. To understand how well our students have developed these skills requires performance assessment. A balanced assessment of liberal education requires faculty to witness and respond to student performance, whether the performance is in a seminar as part of the major or woven into general degree requirements. Portfolio assessment may be used for this purpose. The assessment subcommittee will use these means to develop performance-based assessment that focuses on assessing these skills. Performance assessment helps us analyze the more complex processes of teaching and learning at UWSP.
3. Listening to the Student Perspective
Some student values and perspectives can be gleaned from nationally normed tests and performance assessment, while others can best be solicited from student, alumni, and employer surveys. The Assessment Subcommittee administers a senior experience survey containing items similar to those administered to new freshmen. This permits the comparison of freshmen and senior perspectives. Alumni and employer surveys also should incorporate a variety of attitudinal questions keyed to UWSP's educational objectives. Senior and alumni surveys are administered every three years.
The entire learning process extends beyond GDR courses and the major to extracurricular learning opportunities on campus and in the community, many of which are conducted by Student Affairs. Whenever Student Affairs conducts programs that have student learning outcomes associated with general education, these should be assessed and included in the Annual Assessment Report.
Assessing the Graduate Program
Units/departments shall determine the methods of assessment and instruments to be used that best meet their needs. These must provide information that can be used to identify curricular and instructional strengths and weaknesses. Units/departments shall include graduate student input in the assessment process.
Every unit/department on campus with a
graduate program shall have a Program Assessment Plan, stating
Units/departments shall formally review and revise their graduate Program Assessment Plans at least every 8 years, although changes to the Program Assessment Plan should be included in each Assessment Report based on assessment results. A copy of the revised plan (written copy or presentation slides) will be filed with the Dean, Provost and Vice Chancellor, and Assessment Subcommittee by the third Friday in October along with the biennial Assessment Report.
Since the primary goal of assessment is program improvement through self-examination, units/departments will prepare graduate and undergraduate biennial Assessment Reports. In lieu of a written report, a department may provide a PowerPoint presentation to the assessment subcommittee (discussed later). Each department report/presentation should be carefully prepared by allowing department/unit faculty/personnel to analyze the assessment results and approve the reports before external dissemination. Faculty ownership is essential to the assessment process. Reports shall contain the following sections:
I.
Learning Goals and Performance Outcomes for students
in the program
Delineate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions students should gain from your program and expected outcomes for each student..
II. Assessment Methods (Must include direct measures)
Describe the methods you used to assess the knowledge, skills and dispositions students gained from your program. At least one assessment should be a direct measure of student learning.
III. Results of Assessment
Explain what the assessment results reveal about the knowledge, skills and dispositions students gained from your program.
IV. Recommendations
Describe any curricular, instructional, and/or budgetary changes you intend to make or have made based on your assessment findings.
V.
Dissemination of Report
Identify the offices and individuals to which the annual Assessment Reports will be forwarded. The report/presentation should include the responsible Dean and the Vice Chancellor as recipients of the report.
Oral Presentation. In lieu of a formal written report, each department may elect to present a PowerPoint (or equivalent) presentation to the assessment subcommittee. Should a department elect this option, the department will notify the Subcommittee by the second Friday in September. The Subcommittee chair will then coordinate with the department for their scheduled presentation date. The responsible dean and the Vice Chancellor will be invited to attend the presentation. The department will follow the same format designated for the written report and should have slides that sufficiently describe the assessment process and status within the department. Based on the committee’s questions/comments during the presentation, additional slides (submitted later by the department) will directly address the concerns of the committee that were raised at the presentation. .
2. provide the department with immediate feedback based on the committee’s concerns.
3. encourage an open, frank discussion concerning assessment.
4. increase assessment awareness and acceptance across the university.
Program Assessment Schedule. The Program Assessment Schedule provides each department/unit with ample opportunity to know what type of assessment is required for a given year. The assessment process is based on an eight-year cycle that begins with a fully revised Program Assessment Plan (PAP), followed by two biennial Assessment Reports (AR), and then a Program Review Self-Study (PSS).
Each unit/department will file a copy of its biennial Assessment Report or Program Assessment Plan with the Assessment Subcommittee by the third Friday in October of the year designated in the program assessment schedule. This deadline will allow units and departments to analyze assessment data gathered at the end of an academic year, integrate that data into a biennial report, and seek unit or departmental approval. Although the program Review Self-Study is submitted to the Academic Affairs Committee of the designated year, it must also be formally submitted to the Assessment Subcommittee by the third Friday in October of the same year.
On the first Friday in November, the Chairperson of the Assessment Subcommittee will notify those departments who have not submitted a report, and they will have one month to submit their reports. On the first Monday in December, the Chairperson of the Assessment Subcommittee will inform the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of those departments/units who have not submitted their required report.
Program review and accreditation reports may be submitted to the Assessment Subcommittee in lieu of Assessment Reports when the reports are due during the same year. The Subcommittee will accept the reports as substitutes for Assessment Reports as long as they adequately address each of the required components of Assessment Reports for the previous two years.
The program schedule was designed to reduce the departmental reporting demands while allowing for annual assessment and critical interpretation of data between reports. Failure to comply with the assessment schedule will result in that department/unit's noncompliance being forwarded to the responsible Dean and then to the Vice Chancellor
Departments are designated as the "custodian" of their own report; dissemination of the report to the responsible dean and the Vice Chancellor is required. Until a specific request is made from UWSP or UW System Administration, department reports will be used solely as information for general educational and Assessment Reporting and program review and will not be forwarded by the Assessment Subcommittee However, department reports will be summarized by the Assessment Subcommittee as part of its annual report and will be presented to the Academic Affairs Committee and to the Vice Chancellor.
The
The Vice Chancellor's office shall
receive the summary reports of the units/departments through the Dean's offices
and any additional summaries from the
Assessment shall focus on teaching innovation and the improvement of the teaching and learning environment on campus. Assessment results will also serve as the core for short-term and long-term curricular planning and as a database for various required reports beyond assessment.
Whenever requests or proposals have budget or planning implications "assessment evidence" should be included as part of the request or proposal. This applies to budget and planning processes at all levels. Planning proposals should also address how the proposed changes will be assessed once they are implemented.
The Office of Academic Affairs provides limited financial support for discipline-specific and general education assessment. Departments requesting financial support for assessment must receive budget approval from the Provost and Vice Chancellor prior to implementation of any funded assessment process.
Ongoing evaluation of the assessment program is the Assessment Subcommittee's task, but faculty have the right at any time to convey concerns and suggestions to the Subcommittee. Evaluation of assessment will be ongoing, but a formal and complete evaluation will be scheduled every four years beginning fall 2003. The Assessment Subcommittee will submit a re-evaluation report to the Academic Affairs Committee during Semester I, 2003/2004 and every four years thereafter. Recommendations to change assessment policies will then pass from Academic Affairs to the Faculty Senate.