HOME PAGE
Welcome to the Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Web site where you can now
access a wide range of information about how Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and
assessment are integrated into the learning that happens at Santa Rosa Junior College.
The SLO assessment process represents the connections between students, teaching, and
learning.
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Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) are statements about the knowledge, skills,
and abilities that students are expected to gain through college courses,
programs, services, and overall experience at SRJC.
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Assessment refers to the way we determine how well students have achieved
those outcomes.
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Assessment results inform us about the teaching and learning processes.
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“Closing the loop” means how we use those results to make changes, confirm
effective practices, launch new ideas, and then continue the assessment process.
Use the graphic icons and the left navigational links to make your own connections
with SLOs and assessment - and teaching and learning - at SRJC.
[Highlighted means I’d like there the be hot link. Page is indicated.]
Corrine: Also note in RED her ‘under construction’ comments.
Need periods after her www references; I put in where I found missing.
Susan
The SLO Assessment Cycle at the Course Level
The assessment of the Student Learning Outcomes of courses occurs at SRJC for two
main reasons.
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On one level, it is a part of the college’s effort to meet accreditation standards
http://www2.santarosa.edu/pages/planning/accreditation.php regarding effective
practices and accountability. This is why there are formal procedures for
documenting course SLO assessment, results, and departmental response to
results.
More importantly, on a broader level, assessment is an essential element of
determining how well students are gaining the skills, knowledge, and abilities
taught in the course. It is the basis on which pedagogical decisions are made
regarding the content, teaching methodology, student activities, and materials.
The following information provides an overview of the assessment cycle for courses,
and links to supporting information, examples, procedures for documentation, and forms.
Identifying Student Learning Outcomes for Courses
At this point, most courses at SRJC have the Student Learning Outcomes listed in the
Course Outline of Record. Below are some basic guidelines for faculty who are
developing SLOs for new courses, adding them to older courses, or revising SLOs of
current courses if the department sees the need to change them.
Definition - A Student Learning Outcome is a statement of the knowledge, skills,
abilities, or values students should acquire in a course. An SLO usually subsumes
multiple objectives, allows for assessment, and anticipates the application of learning
outside of the classroom or in future educational contexts.
The SLOs of a course are usually developed through collegial discussion among faculty
who create, revise, and/or teach a course. When writing SLOs, it helps to envision
exactly what the student would be able to do in the real world or the next level of the
program after completion of the course.
A course may have one to five SLOs, depending on the length and depth of the course
itself. SLO statements tend to be more global statements when compared to course
objectives, which describe more specific skills or abilities. SLO statements also:
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Refer to what students should be able to do after they have completed the course.
In other words, they are not course assignments, and the statements do not include
the method of assessment.
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Use active verbs that reflect how the learning can be observed or measured.
Please refer to Bloom’s Taxonomy [see pdf Bloom’s Taxonomy] or Anderson and
Krathwohl’s Taxonomy 2000
http://www.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/curric/newtaxonomy.htm for lists of
verbs associated with the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains.
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Emphasize the higher levels of critical thinking involved in the course.
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Are supported by the content of the course, the kinds of assignments
students complete, and appropriate methods of assessment.
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Connect with the SLOs of any certificates or majors that the course is related to.
You can read more about identifying and composing Student Learning Outcomes for
courses on this page: “More About Writing Course SLOs” [Word doc attached, to be
converted to Web page.]
Assessing Course Outcomes
The purpose of identifying and assessing Student Learning Outcomes in a course is to
determine the degree to which students are gaining the skills, knowledge, and abilities
that are taught in the course. Usually, assessment occurs as part of the course’s regular
activities such as tests, projects, papers, or demonstrations of skills - often the same
assignments used for grading students. However, besides providing the information for
grading, assessment results can give a picture of how well students in general are
learning. This kind of information may confirm effective practices or may suggest that
certain aspects of the course such as curriculum, materials, teaching methodology,
sequence, or even the SLO itself need to be changed to improve student learning.
“Closing the Loop”
When changes are initiated to address one or more SLO, it’s logical to follow up with
another assessment to determine whether the changes made a difference. The conclusions
drawn from this second assessment may indicate that concerns have been addressed or
that further changes are in order. Using results to determine the effect of changes, reassessing, and deciding on the next step are often referred to as “closing the loop” - that
is, completing one assessment cycle. Depending on the situation, the cycle may begin
again immediately. Ongoing assessment is part of effective teaching because it can
reveal patterns, successes, and new possibilities.
[Insert “Assessment Cycle” graphic here, available from Kris Abrahamson or KC
Greaney]
Methods of Assessment
The action verbs used in the SLO statements give a general indication of how students’
achievement of the outcome could be demonstrated. That is, sometimes critical thinking
skills may need to be expressed orally or in writing, while other times, the application of
skills has to actually happen and be observed. Often both forms of assessment may be
involved.
It’s important to make sure that the method of assessment actually addresses the SLO
itself. Example: If the SLO says that students will be able to “identify and discuss ethical
issues in the profession,” an objective test alone would not be a wholly adequate form of
assessment because students are not actually discussing their ideas.
Here are some types of assessment that might be used for some of the SLOs listed above.
SLO
Possible Assessment
Tools
Develop a multiparagraph persuasive essay containing a
thesis statement supported by details and evidence
organized in unified, coherent, and adequately developed
paragraphs.
Essay assignment and/or
essay test, scored with a
rubric
Correctly interpret symptoms and select appropriate
intervention to manage patient fear, anxiety, and/or pain in
a dental clinic setting
Observation of role-play,
scored with a rubric;
objective test
Analyze a documented nutritional problem, determine a
strategy to correct the problem, and write a draft nutritional
policy addressing the broader scope of the problem.
Essay test and/or written
project
Assess and recognize an audience in order to develop
appropriate communications both orally and in writing that
are sensitive to the audience's needs, values, and point of
view.
Observed role-play;
speech or oral
presentation; essay
Synthesize (on paper and in the laboratory) and purify a
specified product from a list of given starting materials,
while following common safety regulations and procedures.
Written description and
observed demonstration
Use English to evaluate the personal qualities of an
effective early childhood educator.
Essay test and/or oral
presentation; objective
test; interview report
Describe and relate how the syntax and structure of
Classical music has changed over time relative to cultural
circumstances.
Essay test or oral and
instrumental presentation
Form reasoned and well-informed judgments on current
issues involving the development of peace and the
nonviolent resolution of conflict both within and between
individuals and social groups.
Student essay response to
current events; project;
oral presentation
Real-life Examples of Course Assessment
You can read about some instructors’ experiences with outcomes assessment on the
Examples [still under construction] page.
More About Writing Course Student Learning Outcomes
The Student Learning Outcomes for a course reflect the level of rigor, critical thinking,
and specific skill levels students are expected to achieve as a result of their experience in
the course. At Santa Rosa Junior College, the SLOs for a course are listed in the Course
Outline of Record (COR) and supported by the course objectives. The SLOs of a course
provide the foundation for course assessment.
When faculty discuss and develop the SLOs for a course, they should focus on the
broader applications of the knowledge and skills that students will be able to use if they
fully learn the content and concepts of the course. When writing SLOs, it helps to
envision exactly what the student would be able to do in the real world or the next level
of the program after completion of the course.
About SLOs in the Course Outline of Record
When updating an older course (last reviewed before 2007) or writing a new course,
faculty must separate out the SLOs from the objectives. For older courses that have only
objectives listed, this usually involves creating new statements for both SLOs and
objectives.
For a new course, SLOs should be listed first and the supporting objectives determined
after that. Since the term “Student Learning Outcome” implies a culminating ability,
SLOs may be listed as statements with no preamble (that is, “Students will be able
to…”), whereas the list of objectives is always headed with the phrase, “Upon completion
of the course, students will be able to.”
Using Action Verbs
When writing Student Learning Outcomes and course objectives, many instructors find it
helpful to refer to a list of words representing levels of thinking. A classic reference is
Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains. Another useful list with a slightly
different approach is Anderson and Krathwohl’s Taxonomy 2000
http://www.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/curric/newtaxonomy.htm, which addresses the
affective and psychomotor domains and designates “creating” as the highest level of
cognitive thinking, as opposed to Bloom’s “evaluation.”
Writing Guidelines
The following guidelines assist in writing clear and well-structured Student Learning
Outcome statements:
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The statement should describe what the students will be able to do at the end of
the course.
SLO statements often start with the action verb (e.g., “Write an essay…,” “Create
a Web site…”).
The verbs should reflect higher levels of thinking (from Analysis, Synthesis, and
Evaluation columns). Verbs do not necessarily have to be on Bloom’s or
Krathwohl’s list, but they should still represent critical thinking. For example,
“recognize” and “identify” are lower levels of thinking and would be appropriate
for objectives, but probably not for outcomes. More appropriate verbs for SLOs
would be words like “analyze” or “compose.”
The outcome statement should lend itself to assessment, but the specific method
of assessment and/or degree of achievement is not being stated explicitly. For
example, SLOs using words like “organize” or “critique” could be assessed
through observation, writing, a portfolio, or a project, but the assessment tool
itself does not need to be defined in the statement.
SLOs referring to the affective domain still need to be demonstrated in some sort
of active way. That is, a student may “understand” or “appreciate” something but
would need to express this through, for instance, through a job-site interaction, a
critique, a well-formed argument, etc. Often words like "explain" or "evaluate"
can reflect a student's understanding or appreciation.
SLO statements may be global, but the language should be fairly concise. Often, a
higher level thinking skill implies the lower level abilities as well.
Example:
Wordy - Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to identify, describe, and
analyze the historical context of a Shakespearean work.
Better - Analyze the historical context of a Shakespearean work.
Examples of SLO Statements
The following examples include SLO statements from several SRJC courses. Each
example is a single SLO excerpt from a longer list in the Course Outline. Since all
courses reviewed after 2007 have SLO statements, more examples may be accessed
through “Course Outlines” in faculty portals.
English 1A
Develop a multiparagraph persuasive essay containing a thesis statement supported by
details and evidence organized in unified, coherent, and adequately developed
paragraphs.
Dental Hygiene 82A
Correctly interpret symptoms and select appropriate intervention to manage patient fear,
anxiety, and/or pain in a dental clinic setting.
Nutrition
Analyze a documented nutritional problem, determine a strategy to correct the problem,
and write a draft nutritional policy addressing the broader scope of the problem.
Organic Chemistry
Synthesize (on paper and in the laboratory) and purify a specified product from a list of
given starting materials, while following common safety regulations and procedures.
Office Communications and Interpersonal Skills
Assess and recognize an audience in order to develop appropriate communications both
orally and in writing that are sensitive to the audience's needs, values, and point of view.
ESL for Child Development Introduction to Early Childhood
Use English to evaluate the personal qualities of an effective early childhood educator.
Classical Music Appreciation
Describe and relate how the syntax and structure of Classical music has changed over
time relative to cultural circumstances.
Philosophy of Peace and Nonviolent Action
Form reasoned and well-informed judgments on current issues involving the development
of peace and the nonviolent resolution of conflict both within and between individuals
and social groups.
Further Information on SLOs in the COR
For more information about writing Course SLOs for the course outline, see Section 4.10
in the Curriculum Writer’s Handbook on the Curriculum Web site
http://online.santarosa.edu/presentation/schedule/?1030.