On March 28th, more than 100 judges (faculty, staff, and outside experts) evaluated the oral and poster presentations of 192 undergraduate students at SURCA, the Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities. Undergraduates from all years, majors, and campuses shared the results of work conducted in partnership with a mentor and competed for awards.
In March, 2014, WSU’s Faculty Senate approved an update to the policy on assessment of student learning in degree programs.
Assessment of degree programs is most effective when all teaching faculty and program leadership are involved. Regular and systematic inclusion of faculty and leadership on urban campuses promotes useful assessment and also contributes to meeting WSU’s accreditation standards. Accordingly, ATL visits WSU’s urban campuses annually to provide support for assessment and to help ATL staff […]
The 2014 assessment report form for undergraduate degree programs is now available on ATL’s website. Reporting annually on program assessment 1) helps programs take stock of their assessment activities, processes, and results, 2) assists in identifying needs and organizing next steps, 3) documents the development of useful and sustainable program assessment, and 4) contributes to WSU’s […]
WSU currently offers undergraduate and graduate online degrees and online courses in a variety of disciplines. Nationwide, there has been a call to integrate assessment of online students, courses and programs into regular program assessment. As part of WSU’s reaffirmation of accreditation in July 2013, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) gave the […]
Instructors, are you looking for a quick way to assess if various aspects of your course are helping students learn? The Student Assessment of Their Learning Gains (SALG) is a free, adjustable course-evaluation tool that measures the degree to which a course helps students reach a course’s student learning outcomes. The SALG invites students to […]
In the coming year, WSU will retire and replace the Skylight Survey System, an in-house software used for course evaluations and other WSU surveys. Skylight is currently operated and supported by the Office of Assessment of Teaching and Learning, which will decommission Skylight and transition to a commercial course evaluation system. The intention of the […]
Curriculum maps are like road-maps that guide a student’s progression through a program of study. Using a matrix format, a curriculum map aligns student learning outcomes for a degree with courses in the program of study. It provides a useful visual representation of the curriculum.
How do you know when and if your academic program assessment information is “good enough?” On November 18, director Kimberly Green offered some tips for focusing assessment efforts and determining if the extent and quality of assessment data is adequate for making decisions. She described the nature of program assessment and contrasted it with research […]
In the Office of Assessment of Teaching and Learning, the end of every semester is a time for student focus groups. In the past few years, ATL has conducted focus groups with students in their senior year for several programs at WSU. These conversations can be a great way to capture students’ perspectives on their […]