College of Arts and SciencesRollinda Thomas, Ph.D.

Assessment Coordinator

Why Assessment?• We can seek to improve anything that we care

about: (sports performance, scientific experiments, business or financial performance, production of goods, instructional practice, etc.)

• We identify a baseline, choose targets or goals, then document actual performance! We can then learn what we need to improve.

Know Your SLOs• Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) are knowledge

skills and dispositions that students should be able to demonstrate

• Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) are a few major goals that we expect our graduates to reach

• Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) are goals that are specific to a particular course

• Both PLOs and CLOs are types of Student Learning Outcomes. Sometimes they may be called PSLOs and CSLOs.

Program Evaluation Made Easy

• SACS will ask for continuous evaluation of Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs).

• PLOs are the main things that graduates of your program are expected to demonstrate.

• The PLOs for your program are listed on the FSU Course Catalog.

• They should be few and focused.

Program Evaluation Made Easy• We can select assignments within certain

courses as evidence of program learning outcomes.

• Required 300 – 400 level courses are a great resource. They should teach at least one of the degree program learning outcomes (PLOs) at a level of mastery. They are also more likely to reach your majors.

Program Evaluation Made Easy• When we document program improvement on a

form, we will:– Identify program learning outcomes (PLOs)– Select a required course to provide evidence for each

PLO (300-400 level is useful). Some courses may meet more than one PLO.

– Determine how many students were successful in meeting the program learning outcomes

– Decide which changes to make for improvement– You can add course learning outcomes to the list, if you

choose

Let’s Make Documentation Easy!• We will use the Matrix of SLOs:

Course/Number/Section: Semester/Academic Year:

Program Learning Outcome - Must be aligned with program outcomes listed in the catalog; For each learning outcome, identify year adopted and/or revised, source.

Evidence – To include how you assessed (specify assessment instruments); Attach rubrics if applicable

# % of students completing the course who have satisfactorily achieved the outcome (Met or Exceeded your expectations) Target Results:Actual Results:

Use of Results: Change to syllabi, curricula, rubrics, etc.

Program Learning Outcome (from Catalog)

Assignment you use to measure it

No. and % of students successful on that task

Changes made?

Program Learning Outcome (from Catalog)

Assignment you use to measure it

No. and % of students successful on that task

Changes made?

Course Learning Outcome specific to class (optional)

Assignment you use to measure it

No. and % of students successful on that task

Changes made?

Why Assessment?• This form, filled out once near the end of the

semester, tells us:– What skills our students need to improve– What skills we should focus on in class– Whether our current approach is working (If not, adjust!

Kaizen!)

• It tells administrators (who gather all forms):– What general number or percentage of students in our

program are proficient in certain skills– Provides documentation that candidates for graduation

that have demonstrated proficiency– Documents continuous improvement efforts

Shortcut!• These forms do not have to completed for

every class taught – just a few required courses to represent each PLO.

• All an instructor must do is fill out three columns (evidence, number of students proficient, and changes made). If he/she chooses to add more course learning outcomes to the PLOs, that’s fine.

Why Assessment?• SACS and other accrediting bodies want to see

that we use data to make evidence-based decisions.

• We can use one form to document that we use data (student performance on specific tasks) to inform our curriculum and instructional decisions.

• By using the form each semester, we will build a continuous stream of evidence that can be used whenever we are reaffirmed or reviewed for new accreditations.

Matrix of PLOs• Asst. Chairs may use a summary document

(Matrix of PLOs) to give evidence of student learning in an entire program, not just individual classes.

• Gather the forms about PLOs from Area Coordinator or participating faculty.

• Use them to summarize student performance in each Program Learning Outcome.

Matrix of PLOs• Example: Let’s say that participating faculty in the

Biological Sciences identified the number and percentage of students who were successful on PLO 1 in their classes (multiple sections).

• The Assistant Chair would add up the number and calculate the percentage of students from participating classes who were successful in PLO 1.

• If we use higher level required courses to provide evidence, we can learn about student performance in the program.

How Will This Be Used? Workflow• Instructors provide forms to the Asst. Chair,

Course Coordinator, or Assessment Coordinator.• The Asst. Chair summarizes the forms in a Matrix

of PLOs.• The Chair can attach this to the OPAR as evidence

of student performance in program goals.

Operational Plans• The Operational Plan and Assessment Report

(OPAR) shares the extent to which our Departments or Units are achieving their goals.

• Try to ensure that:– Goals are measurable– Goals are aligned with mission– Measures (Advisement surveys, CLA, NSSE, retention

and graduation rates, etc.) are consistently used from one semester to the next. This makes it possible to compare outcomes.

– Goals are numbered the same each semester

OPARs on TaskStream• TaskStream is a data management system for

assessment purposes.• We can use it to edit the OPARs and upload

documents, rubrics, video, or other files as evidence.

• Our Graduate Assistant, Mr. Hamzah Kharabsheh, can help us gain proficiency in the use of TaskStream.

Thank You and Good Luck!

• Feel free to contact me for help or any resources I can provide:– Workshops– Individual support– Forms– TaskStream

• Rollinda Thomas at rthomas@uncfsu.edu or (910) 303-2763!

Image Credits• Miyamoto Musashi -

http://visipix.com/search/search.php?userid=1616934267&q=%272aAuthors/K/Kuniyoshi%201797-1861%2C%20Utagawa%2C%20Japan%27&s=22&l=en&u=2&ub=1&k=1

• Sports Illustrated, Dirk Nowitzki - sportsill...d.cnn.com/multimediaphoto_gallery/0903/nba.mvp.candidates/content.1.html

Image Credits• Robert Robson Swider, Chevy Camaro -

robson.m3rlin.org/cars2009-chev...ncept-car/• The Battle Grounds, Samurai Showdown 3,

Samurai Showdown Animated Gifs - http://fenrir.finalfantasyq.com/battleground/ss3/a.html

• Debbie Benstein’s Marketing Morsels, Pencil and Paper - marketingmorsels.com/what-is-a...-business

Image Credits• Great Golfer Within, Kaizen Kanji Symbol -

greatgolferwithin.com/12kaizen-to...tter-golf• Shmula, Kaizen Kanji Symbol 2 -

www.shmula.com/the-atomi...of-kaizen/1112/

• Staples, Easy Button - blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2010/07/27/braves-wr...r-to-deal/

• FSU, Lyons Science Annex - http://www.uncfsu.edu/graphics/floorpln/lyons_annex.htm

Image Credits• FSU, Collins Building -

http://www.uncfsu.edu/graphics/floorpln/collins.htm

• Dragon Artz, Target - www.dragonartz.net/200912/24/arrow-bullseye-vector/

• Truth Lives, Graduation Cap - www.truthlives.org/201011/28/graduatio...ext-level/close-up-...-a-ribbon/

Image Credits• Blackboard, Logo -

movingtob...press.com/201012/10/blackboard-update-sp3/

• FSU Bronco - http://www.uncfsu.edu/spotlights/storyintro.htm

• FSU Bronco 2 - http://www.uncfsu.edu/uts/Test-Forms.htm

• Confused Highway Signs - education...paces.com/Assessment

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Image Credits• International Dummies Group, Japanese for

Dummies - bookeg.com/languages/eriko-sato/japanese-...5066.html

• TaskStream Logo - https://www.taskstream.com/pub/