LDC/DE Assessment for 2010-2011
Our recommendation from the 2010 NWCCU Accreditation Report says that the college must “hasten its progress in demonstrating, through regular and systematic assessment, that students who complete their programs have achieved the intended learning outcomes of degrees and certificates," and further, must "begin to demonstrate in a regular and systematic fashion, how the assessment of student learning leads to the improvement of teaching and learning."
The College Core Outcomes are the broadest set of learning outcomes at PCC, and are likely to apply in some way to the outcomes for our Transfer (AAOT, AS, ASOT-BUS) and General Studies (AGS) Degrees. The Learning Assessment Council identified Critical Thinking as the initial focus of college-wide assessment in 2009-2010. Most of the LDC SACs submitted a plan for assessing Critical Thinking, and many of those completed their assessment and evaluation. For 2010-2011 SACs are asked to complete the assessment of Critical Thinking (if not already completed) and assess Communication, plus one other Core Outcome of the SAC's choosing. The focus of 2011-2012 will be Self-Reflection, plus one other (yet unaddressed) Core Outcome of the SAC's choosing.
Part I – Planning: To be completed and submitted by November 15, 2010.
Two-year plan to be submitted using the LDC Plan - Template or the LDC Plan - Worksheet or another presentation of the SAC's choosing.
Part II – Annual Assessment Reporting: Due June 20, 2011, and each year thereafter.
Should include action taken as a result of 2009-10 assessment of Critical Thinking, description of methods and results of assessment of Communication and one other of the Core Outcomes, and plans for program improvements based on that assessment.
Reports should be submitted using the template: Annual Report on Outcomes Assessment.
An Example of how the Annual Report might be completed.
Some Suggestions and Notes:
- Direct Assessment (evaluating students on the performance of outcome related assessments) is expected - indirect methods (asking students to evaluate their own competence and growth with respect to the outcomes) may be used in conjunction with direct assessment.
- Think about what kinds of assignments, projects, exam questions, etc. are already in place that could be leveraged to assess student progress towards achieving the core outcomes.
- Individual courses may be identified in which specific activities are focused towards outcomes assessment and identified as such.
- A single assignment (class project or paper) might be used to assess more than one outcome. During the review of the Critical Thinking assessments that were submitted last year, we noticed many that could have been assessed for Critical Thinking and Communication. A robust assessment setting, such as a portfolio, capstone course or project can provide an opportunity to assess several outcomes.
SACs may wish to revisit the Core Outcomes Mapping (https://www.pcc.edu/resources/academic/core-outcomes/mapping-index.html) and focus on courses that address the Outcome in question to a high level. Alternatively, SACs may choose to focus on a course or set of courses taken by many students.
Assessment Plan Workshops are scheduled:
Oct 12 |
Tuesday |
5:00 – 7:00 PM |
Rock Creek, Bldg. 9/122A |
Oct 15 |
Friday |
2:00 – 4:00 PM |
Sylvania, CC, Cedar Room |
Oct 22 |
Friday |
1:00 – 4:00 PM |
Cascade, TH 112 |
Bring a laptop, your AAS outcomes and the template/worksheet you are working on. The goal is to leave with a mostly completed worksheet outlining a plan for when, where, and how these outcomes can be assessed.
This page last updated 10/26/2010