Workshop for Annual Program Assessment

• Explain the reasons why we do Program Assessment at UWSP.• Understand the rationale for changing how Program Assessment is

reported.• Recognize the parts of an assessment report.• Know how to get assistance and find resources to help with Program

Assessment.• Revel in the knowledge that Assessment reporting obligations for

your departments will be less onerous.

By the time we are done this morning, you will be able to:

Why We do Program Assessment at UWSP1. Because we, as an institution, can always do better, and we strive,

for the sake of our students, to help more students achieve more.

2. Because we are required to document that #1 is true for the HLC.Theinstitutiondemonstratesacommitmenttoeducationalachievementandimprovementthroughongoingassessmentofstudentlearning.

1. Theinstitutionhasclearlystatedgoalsforstudentlearningandeffectiveprocessesforassessmentofstudentlearningandachievementoflearninggoals.

2. Theinstitutionassessesachievementofthelearningoutcomesthatitclaimsforitscurricularandco-curricularprograms.

3. Theinstitutionusestheinformationgainedfromassessmenttoimprovestudentlearning.

4. Theinstitution’sprocessesandmethodologiestoassessstudentlearningreflectgoodpractice,includingthesubstantialparticipationoffacultyandotherinstructionalstaffmembers.

“Assessment” means providing evidence for these

(bottom line)

learning outcomes

measure achievement

apply data to improvement

involve faculty & instructional staff

How We Have Been Doing Program Assessment• Each Department had a

5-year Assessment schedule in harmony with its 10-year Department Review• Every five years,

assessment report on all learning outcomes & a presentation• annual Check-In

• Meta-Assessment by the Assessment Subcommittee of the Academic Affairs Committee

20191. Biology

2. Education

3. MathematicalSciences

4. Philosophy5. Religious Studies6. Psychology7. Social Work8. Sociology

How We Have Been Doing Program Assessment

• This protocol is not meeting our needs because 5 years is too long between reports• too infrequent to be front-burner’d• assessment memory is shorter than

five years• complex and cumbersome

• And it has been unclear what has been needed/wanted and why• Starting Now: Annual Assessment

Reporting — 1 PLO per year

From 2011-2018, 23 of 43 Program Assessment Reports required follow-up reporting.

“...[A]spotcheckofreportsindicatesthatprogramsareusingassessmentdatatomakeimprovementstostudentlearning,butthisactof‘closingtheloop’isnotyetcapturedinasystematicandcomprehensivewayattheprogramorinstitutionlevel.”— 2019HLCReaffirmationReview

How We will be Doing Assessment:1 PLO per Year per Program

PLO

Curriculum Map

Previous Results

Previous Actions

Methods

Results

Actions

Report it!

5-Year Plan

Closing the Loop!

February

this year, due20 February 2020

Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

knowledge

skills

dispositions

Curriculum Map

Previous Results

Previous Actions

added a prerequisite course

standardized instruction across sections

revised how achievement was measured

Methods

how

what, when, where

benchmark

Results

Closing the Loop!

number that metoutcome,

number that didn’t

improvement!

Actions & Dissemination of Findings

revise rubric

revise goals in prerequisite

Five-Year Plan

The plan needs to get thru ALL PLOs in five years!

Meta-Assessment & Feedback• still drafting feedback rubric• no more interim reports — just apply

feedback to next years report• UWSP will be able to document that we

are continually improving our programs, e.g.:• number of programs complying• number of programs closing the loop• number of programs showing

improvement• trends in those metrics changes over time• examples of actions leading to

improvement• We will be helping more students

achieve more!!

Help is available!• these documents will be made

available on the Assessment of Student Learning web page• professional development for

departments/disciplines• workshops for particular tasks

• articulating learning outcomes• designing assessment instruments• analyzing quantitative data

• opportunities to share successes• follow-up survey• Questions?