Assessment

Every two years, WSU participates in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to help assess student engagement in educational practices associated with high levels of learning and development. In collaboration with Institutional Research, ATL disaggregated 2017 WSU NSSE results by major for undergraduate academic degree programs and colleges, focusing on responses from seniors, intended […]

January opens the new year and begins the annual review process for faculty, a time to reflect on and report accomplishments of the past year.  ATL joins university leadership in valuing the contributions faculty make as they engage in assessment activities that advance student learning in undergraduate courses and curricula. Beginning in 2018, updates to […]

ATL would like to thank WSU Tri-Cities faculty and staff for a successful visit this fall. In November, ATL traveled to WSU’s Tri-Cities Campus to meet with WSU Tri-Cities colleagues about program assessment and to present a workshop on Transparent Assignment Design. 

Now that fall semester is in full swing and many faculty and administrators with assessment duties have kicked off another cycle of assessment, we in ATL find ourselves wrapping up 2018 undergraduate program assessment reporting. In doing so, we are reminded of the effort and dedication that goes into creating a viable system of assessment […]

In October, ATL presented Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Mary Wack and the Provost’s Accreditation, Assessment, and Academic Program Review Committee with the 2018 WSU-wide Summary of Undergraduate Degree Program Assessment Reports from all WSU undergraduate degrees. WSU’s undergraduate degree programs report annually on their system of assessing student learning, a practice begun in 2009. […]

Focus groups provide a way to get feedback about student experiences, perceptions, and motivations, and can provide insight into the ways a curriculum can be most effectively designed to support student learning. In Spring 2017, ATL worked with Dr. Desmond Layne, Director of Agricultural and Food Systems (AFS), to pilot a new focus group activity […]

Assessment data serve multiple functions in the assessment process. These data provide insight into student performance in order to offer evidence about student learning in the curriculum, provide information about program strengths and weaknesses, and guide decision-making. A robust data set provides a rich base for analysis, faculty discussion, and evidence-based decision making. In this […]

The Office of Assessment of Teaching and Learning (ATL), along with Provost Daniel J. Bernardo and Vice Provosts Erica W. Austin and Mary F. Wack, are delighted to recognize undergraduate programs, departments and schools where program-level assessment is well-established, thanks in large part to the efforts of faculty assessment coordinators, chairs and directors. In November […]

In October, ATL presented Provost Dan Bernardo, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Erica Austin, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Mary Wack, and the Accreditation, Assessment, and Academic Program Review Committee with the 2017 WSU-wide Summary of Undergraduate Degree Program Assessment Reports from all WSU undergraduate degrees. 

In successful assessment cycles, degree programs collect and interpret evidence to inform decision-making to improve student learning. Faculty and instructors play critical roles in evaluating student work and then interpreting and discussing results, so that program-level assessment can contribute to decisions about curriculum, instruction, professional development, and assessment processes.