Focus on Learning:
Student Outcomes
Assessment and the
Learning College
American Association for
Higher Education and The
Higher Learning Commission
Changing Institutional Priorities
 Conference Workshop
 Omaha, Nebraska
 June 2003

Original Presentation by:
Gail Mee
 Dean of Instruction
 Mesa Community College
 1833 West Southern Avenue
 Mesa, Arizona 85202
 <gailmee@mail.mc.maricopa.edu>

The Assessment Problem
Assessment goes against the grain of
academic culture.
 Faculty are suspect of the motivations
that underlie assessment.
 The academic community believes
that assessment lacks scientific rigor.
Marchese, 2000

Why Assess Student
Learning?
To respond to demands for
accountability from external
constituents.
 To provide evidence of institutional
effectiveness.
 To document successes and identify
weaknesses in programs.
 To improve the curriculum, instruction,
and student learning.

Purpose of Assessment
“The overriding purpose of assessment is to
understand how educational programs are
working and to determine whether they are
contributing to student growth and
development. Hence, the ultimate emphasis
of assessment is on programs rather than
on individual students.”
Palomba & Banta, 1999
Assessment Essentials
Assessment and the
Learning College
A new kind of college . . .
“The call has gone out for building a
new kind of college – A Learning
College for the 21st Century that will
focus the full resources of the college
on student learning.”
O’Banion, 1997
An Inventory for Learning –
Centered Colleges
O’Banion (2000) posits 14 benchmark
activities to be used as guidelines for
learning-centered colleges.
Three of these benchmarks relate
directly to assessing student learning.
Learning-Centered Colleges
Hold Conversations about Learning
 Identify and Agree on Learning
Outcomes
 Assess and Document Learning
Outcomes

O’Banion, Community College Journal,
Aug/Sept 2000
Elements of the learning
college
Belief in everyone as a learner
 Shared purpose, values, and
leadership
 Respect for individualism and
community
 Communication and connections
 Learning environments
 Evidence of learning

Ten Guiding
Assessment Principles
for the Learning
College
Guiding Principles
1. Assessment is driven by college
values.


Student learning outcomes are
aligned with college mission, vision,
and values.
Student learning outcomes that are
valued are assessed.
Guiding Principles
2. The college makes a long-term
commitment.
The board and administration make
public statements about the
importance of assessment.
 There are published statements about
assessment in key documents.
 The college has committed resources
to assessment.

Guiding Principles
3. The Chief Academic Officer understands
and believes in the value of assessment.



CAO has responsibility for leadership of
assessment.
CAO encourages participation and provides
support for faculty involvement and
professional development.
CAO ensures that results are used
appropriately.
Guiding Principles
4. Faculty lead the program and own the
results.
Faculty define student learning
outcomes.
 Faculty identify or develop appropriate
tools for assessment.
 Faculty use assessment results to
make programmatic changes and
improve learning.

4. Faculty lead the program and own
the results, cont’d.
Faculty governing body is an integral
part of the assessment process.
 A majority of faculty are
knowledgeable about assessment
vocabulary and practices.
 Faculty pursue development
opportunities related to assessment.

Guiding Principles
5. Technical expertise and support are
provided.
Research Office plays a formal
support role, or knowledgeable staff or
faculty play that role.
 Roles of faculty and technical support
staff are clearly defined.

Guiding Principles
6. Learning outcomes are clearly
defined at the program level.
The difference between “course” and
“program” assessment is clear.
 The college has clearly identified
“programs”.
 Student learning is assessed at the
completion of a program.

Program Level Outcomes
Program level outcomes are not just an
accumulation of course objectives.
Rather, they reflect a synthesis, or a
holistic picture, or what is expected of
students completing a defined
program or course of study.
Defining Student Learning
Outcomes

Faculty collaborate and determine
specific student outcomes for a given
program of study.

The outcomes describe what students
will be able to do at the completion of
the program.
MCC Sample Gen Ed
Outcome:
Written Communication
Write a clear, well-organized paper
using documentation when
appropriate.
Guiding Principles
7. Measurement tools align directly with
learning outcomes.
Outcomes are clearly defined before
measures are developed.
 Selected measures match the defined
outcomes.

Measurement Tools
Faculty select or develop measures
specifically aligned with well-defined
student learning outcomes.
 The measure may be facultydeveloped or externally-developed
standardized measures.
 Measures should be pilot-tested.

MCC Measurement Tool:
Written Communication

Students are given a writing prompt for
which they must develop and argue for
their position on the given topic.
Students write a multi-paragraph essay.

The essays are blind scored by faculty
using a faculty-developed scoring rubric.
Guiding Principles
8. Sound research design and
methodology are used.
There is a systematic plan for gathering,
analyzing, reporting, and disseminating
the results.
a)
What is assessed?
b)
Who is assessed?
c)
How are the assessments administered?
d)
Where and when are they administered?
Guiding Principles
9. Results are used by faculty to
improve learning.
A process is in place for sharing
results with faculty.
 Faculty are making changes to
curriculum and instruction based upon
assessment results.

Guiding Principles
10. Assessment is linked to college
planning.
Results are used to develop
department plans.
 Results of assessment inform college
planning and budgeting decisions.

Linking Assessment and
Planning



Using assessment results to improve
student learning is a stated goal in the
College Strategic Plan.
Faculty and departments develop systems
for reviewing results to improve curriculum,
instruction, and student learning.
The college-wide planning process provides
a structure to complete the feedback loop.
Sustaining Assessment for
the Long Term

Create an expectation for assessment
among students.


Disseminate the results of assessment.


Catalog, schedule, student handbook,
student newspaper, web sites
Annual assessment reports, faculty
publications, newsletters, web sites
Constantly evaluate the outcomes,
measures, procedures, and results.
Sustaining Assessment
Cont’d.

Link assessment results to planning and
budgeting processes.

Engage faculty in decision-making
during every stage of the process.

Allow the program to evolve and mature.
Assessment and the
Learning College

Student outcomes assessment places
learning at the center of the academic
program and the student experience.

Assessment is a necessary component
of the learning college
A Continuous Cycle
Focused on Learning