CollegeoftheRedwoodsGuideforConductingAssessment
8‐22‐13
Course‐LevelAssessments
Course‐levelassessmentsareakeycomponentofthecollege’sinternalevaluationand
improvementprocess.Theyarealsoarequirementofouraccreditingagencyaswellasa
facultycontractualobligation.Accordingly,itisimportantforfaculty(part‐andfull‐time)to
understandtheprocessandengageinthefollowingprocedures.Steps1‐4shouldoccurprior
to,orearlyin,thesemester.
1. FacultyshouldbefamiliarwiththeAssessmentProcessforInstruction,asoutlinedonour
InstructionalAssessmentwebpage:http://www.redwoods.edu/Assessment/faculty.asp
2. Facultyshouldconsultthefollowing“OutcomesListing”tooltodetermineallofthecourse‐level
outcomesforthecoursestheyareteachingduringthesemester.Theseoutcomesneedtobe
listedinyourclasssyllabus:
http://webapps.redwoods.edu/assessment/outcomesource/outcomeslisting.aspx
3. Facultyshouldconsultthecourse‐levelplanningtooltodeterminethespecificoutcome(s)tobe
assessedduringagivensemester.Theuseandmodificationoftheseplanswillbedescribed
duringtheFall2013ConvocationAssessmentSessions.FacultycanalsocontacttheAssessment
Coordinator(DaveBazard)regardinguseofthisonlinetool:
http://webapps.redwoods.edu/assessment/outcomes/outcomesassessmentplanning.aspx
Thepreviouscourse‐levelplans(excelsheets)arestillavailableasareference.Theyarelisted
bydisciplineatthefollowingsite:
http://www.redwoods.edu/assessment/planning/
4. ContactingotherFaculty:
 Facultyareexpectedtocontactotherinstructorsteachingthesamecourseduringthesame
semesterandbrieflydiscusstheirmethodsofoutcomeassessment(testquestion,project,etc).
Thefacultyneedtodetermineifthemethodswillbeuniform(sametestquestion,project,etc)
ordifferbetweensections.Thisisalsoagoodtimetodiscussany“closingloops”relatedtopast
assessments.Alistingoffacultyteachingthesamecoursecanbedeterminedusingasection
searchonWebAdvisor.
 Facultyteachingthesamecourseduringthesamesemestershouldalsoagreeuponadayand
timefordiscussingtheirassessmentdata.ThismeetingneedstooccurbeforetheFebruary15
reportingdeadlineforfallsemestercoursesandbytheSeptember15deadlineforspring
semestercourses.
 Facultywhoareteachingtheonlysectionofacourseduringagivensemesterareencouragedto
discusstheirresultswithfacultyinthesameorrelateddisciplines.Thisdiscussionshouldbe
reportedinthecourse‐levelreport(thefollowingstep).
5. Attheagreedupondayandtime,thefacultyareexpectedtomeetandcompletethecourse‐
levelassessmentreport.Thedialogueassociatedwiththisstepcanbedoneinperson,
electronically,orbyphone.Thereportingformisatthefollowingsite.
http://webapps.redwoods.edu/assessment/outcomes/index.aspx
TheAssociateDeansofeachdivisionaswellastheAssessmentCoordinator(DaveBazard)are
availabletoanswerquestionsabouttheseproceduresandhelpwithquestionsregarding
methodsofassessment,expectationsofthereporting,andotherdetails.