What we are doing to assess student learning?
What improvements we have made as a result?

UWP uses a model that identifies three parts in the assessment process.
1. Mission/Goals/Student Learning Outcomes. Every assessment plan identifies and articulates goals and student learning outcomes, and it connects the specific academic program or area with the university mission statement.
2. Tools. Every assessment plan indicates the techniques and instruments by which achievement of these outcomes can be measured.
3. “Close the Loop”. Every program and area uses the results of the implemented assessment techniques to improve quality, quantity, or effectiveness.

UW-Platteville Select Mission
Campus Strategic Plan
Review by Campus
Governance Groups
Student Affairs, etc.
Strategic Plans
Student Affairs, etc.
Annual Goals
Campus Annual Goals
College Strategic Plans
College Annual Goals
Campus Assessment Plan
Student Affairs, etc.
Assessment Plans
College Assessment
Plans
Review by Assessment Oversight Committee

• Graduate and Undergraduate Academic
Majors
• General Education
• Student Affairs Areas
• Ancillary Areas
(e.g., Women in Engineering)

Academic Majors
• Annual assessment of graduating seniors—report to respective College Councils/ Graduate
Council.
• Every three years—report to either the
Assessment Oversight Committee (AOC) or the
Academic Planning Council (APC) on an alternating schedule.

General Education
• Biannual assessment of graduating seniors via an on-line survey—reports to AOC.
• Once every three years for each area of general education via formal meetings of faculty, homegrown tests, etc.—reports to AOC or the
Academic Standards Committee (ASC).

Student Affairs and Ancillary Areas
• Annual assessment by each individual unit.
• Every two years administer NSSE survey.
• Once every
AOC.
six years each area reports to

General Education
ASC
Academic Majors
AOC
Student Affairs and Ancillary Areas
APC

The Assessment Oversight Committee asks three questions of every area under review
1. What evidence do you have that students achieve your stated learning outcomes?
2. What have you learned as a result?
3. What, if any, changes will you make in order to improve student learning?

Each assessment plan includes:
• A statement about the mission of the program or area.
• A set of goals and/or student learning outcomes.
• A set of tools used to determine whether the student outcomes are being met.
• A table that connects these tools to the respective student learning outcomes.

• All Academic Majors and General Education
Areas identify a set of goals and student learning outcomes that their students should achieve as a result of their study.
• In the Student Affairs and Ancillary Areas, these outcomes often are referred to as
“expected outcomes”.

Electrical Engineering Graduates:
1.
Have the laboratory skills and the ability to use modern analysis and design techniques and state-of-the-art equipment to solve practical engineering problems. (Among the SLOs under this heading is “the ability to apply science, engineering science, and mathematics to solve engineering problems.”)
2.
Have the professional skills to function effectively in the work environment as well as in the community. (Among the SLOs under this heading is “the ability to work as members of a team.”)
3.
Have a solid understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.
(The SLO of this goal is to graduate engineers who understand ethical principles and their role in the engineering profession.)

English Composition (General Education)
Students are able to:
1. Understand written language, including various stylistic devices;
2. Recognize the importance context has for meaning;
3. Conceptualize a topic in order to establish a purpose for writing, while keeping in mind the intended reader;
4. Arrange ideas logically and present them coherently;
5. Create contents that reflect the analysis and synthesis of ideas;
6. Shape their writing imaginatively.

Advising and Career Exploration Services
(ACES) enables students to:
1. Build a class schedule incorporating General Education requirements, academic program requirements, and university requirements for graduation.
2. Understand university, college, and academic program requirements in the context of obtaining and valuing a liberal education and in terms of employer requirements.
3. Relate skills, interests, and values to potential career areas.
4. Utilize resource services when needed to resolve personal or academic issues.
5. Make appropriate decisions to reach their goals.

There is a wide variety of assessment tools used throughout campus, including:
• Portfolios of student writing;
• Home-grown and national examinations;
• Faculty-evaluated art shows and music recitals;
• Capstone courses;
• Exit surveys of graduates and surveys of employers and alumni.

• Electrical Engineering teamed with Philosophy to develop a course in applied ethics and it also added an oral presentations requirement in four heavy design courses.
• The School of Agriculture increased experiential learning opportunities at Pioneer Farm.
• The School of Education added the Guidance and
Assessment course to the new early childhood block so that students will have more opportunities to practice a variety of assessment techniques that are directly related to the lessons they will plan and teach.

• The University Undergraduate Curriculum Commission now requires that all courses that count for general education include in their syllabi the relevant student learning outcomes that relate to their area of general education.
• ACES sponsored a series of luncheons for academic advisors that included information about advising and the general education requirements.