Definitions for Assessment of Student Learning at UW
 

Program Goals

It is important to think of goals as the ultimate “end” that we wish to accomplish. Many interchange the term goals with objectives.

An example would be:  at Alverno College, the faculty’s ultimate goal is that each student will develop into an educated adult with “a sense of responsibility for her own learning and the ability and desire to continue learning independently, self-knowledge and the ability to assess her own performance critically and accurately, and an understanding of how to apply her knowledge and abilities in many different contexts” (as cited by Huba & Freed, 2002, p 75). This faculty then identified eight specific abilities that each student must develop throughout their undergraduate programs to reach this end.

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Program Objectives

Statements that describe the expected accomplishments of graduates from a program during the first few years after graduation.

An example of a program objective would be:

• Graduates will work effectively on problem-solving teams.

• Students will develop an erosion control policy based on plant, soil, water, and climate principles.

• Graduates will evaluate research findings for the purpose of modifying nursing practice or improving nursing care of clients in health care agencies.

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Student Learning Outcomes

Statements that describe what students are expected to know and able to do by the end of the course or the end of the program and by graduation. When we are clear about what we, as faculty, want and intend the students to learn, we know what we must assess (Huba & Freed, 2000, p 73). For assessment purposes only develop outcomes that target your most important goals of the program.

An example of a student learning outcome would be:

• Engineering students will understand key principles in basic sciences, mathematics, and engineering sciences and will apply these principles to creative design.

• The student will be able to communicate the appreciation of art to others either in written form or in the artistic medium itself.

• Demonstrate the professional role of care/helper, counselor, and advocate, consumer of research; and leader/manager in the practice of nursing.

There are basic key characteristics of effective learning outcomes:

• Student-focused rather than professor focused

• Focus on the learning resulting from an instructional activity rather than on the activity itself

• Reflect the institution's mission and the values it represents

• Are in alignment at the course, academic program, and institutional levels

• Focus on important, non-trivial aspects of learning that are credible to the public

• Focus on central skills and abilities in the discipline and based are on professional standards of excellence

• Are general enough to capture important learning but clear and specific enough to be measurable

• Focus on aspects of learning that will develop and endure but that can be assessed in some form now (AAHE workshop, 2002)

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Methods

Data gathering measures that assist faculty and programs to assess whether or not the intended learning outcomes or program outcomes have been achieved. These processes can identify, collect, use and prepare data that can be used to evaluate achievement of outcomes of student learning in courses and programs. Methods will include direct and indirect assessments of student learning. Direct assessments may include projects, products, papers/theses, exhibitions, performances, case study analysis, clinical evaluations, portfolios, interviews, and oral exams.

• Direct measures ask the student to demonstrate what they know or can do with their knowledge (Huba & Freed, 2000, p11).

• Indirect measures of student learning ascertain the perceived extent or value of learning experiences (AAHE, workshop, 2002). Examples of indirect measures may include surveys of current and graduated students, surveys of employers, and employment rates of program graduates.

When you look at effectiveness of your program, you are determining if the students or graduates are learning the outcomes that were set for the program, i.e. can they communicate in writing and verbally? Did they learn the essential elements of the program? When you review the results of data collection and analysis and make a determination of the value of the findings and if any action needs to be taken that is the evaluation of the student learning in the program and the programs effectiveness.  (AAHE, workshop, 2002).

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If you have questions about assessment, please contact the Assessment Coordinator in your college or another member of the assessment team, listed on the Who We Are page.

If you have comments/questions about the Web site, please contact Erika Prager in Academic Affairs.