Chapter 14
Assessment of Student Learning
Assessment of student learning demonstrates that the institution’s students have knowledge, skills, and
competencies consistent with institutional goals and that students at graduation have achieved appropriate
higher education goals. MSCHE
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Expectations of Student Learning
Prince George’s Community College has experienced a cultural transformation in the
decade since its last comprehensive self-study. In addition to becoming a predominantly
minority institution of higher education, the college has created a more vibrant learningcentered culture. Expectations of student learning are inherent in the learning-centered
culture and are articulated throughout the college.
Expectations of student learning are articulated on three different levels-collegewide, degrees and programs level, and courses:
Collegewide
Student Success and Quality are two of the initiatives in the Prince George’s
Community College FY 2001 to FY 2005 Strategic Plan that define the college’s expectations
for student learning. The Student Success initiative emphasizes improving the success rate of
students in university transfer, developmental education, career and workforce training,
continuing education, and personal enrichment. The Quality initiative emphasizes improving
the integration of students’ intellectual and social development into the learning process. The
college’s effectiveness in achieving these two initiatives is assessed by the Progress
Barometer (Exhibit 12).
Additionally, the college’s expectation for student learning is inherent in the core
educational outcomes that each student who graduates should have attained. These outcomes
are shared with students in the 2004-2005 College Catalog, page 29.
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Degrees and programs
Expectations for student learning are defined by accreditation requirements and
articulated through programmatic handbooks, handouts, the college catalog, and Web sites.
Nursing, for example, specifies learning expectations in its handbook and the 2004-2005
College Catalog, p.13. Engineering Technology uses its Web site, and Teacher Education
requirements for student learning can be seen in the 2004-2005 College Catalog, pp.66-68, in
handouts and on the Web.
Courses
The syllabus for each course specifies the expected learning outcomes in assessable
terms that have been reviewed and approved by the college’s Academic Outcomes
Assessment Committee (AOAC).
Assessment Plan to Validate Student Learning
Prince George’s Community College, as a learning-centered college, is committed to
assessment of student learning. Expectations of student learning are validated through the
assessment practices that the college has implemented at strategic points in a student’s
educational development:
Upon entry to the institution
The college’s admissions process requires that new students be assessed in basic
academic skills (reading, writing, and mathematics) using placement standards that are
consistent with statewide expectations.
Within Departments
Departmental self-studies began in 2003. The department invests a year in selfexamination to determine how it can improve the delivery of instruction to promote student
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learning. To date, Learning Resources (the library), the Business Management, English,
Nursing, Language Studies, Psychology, Criminal Justice, Paralegal and Forensic Science
departments, and the calculus area of Mathematics have completed their self-studies. One
year after the completion of the self-study, each department reports to a large group of chairs,
deans, the vice president and president the results of changes it made to improve delivery of
instruction.
At the course level
Course assessment is a continuous cyclical process, not a one-time event. Using the
cyclical process of assessment, the college can determine whether students are learning what
faculty intend them to learn and whether faculty members’ teaching exemplifies the learningcentered philosophy. The process requires
•
identifying desired goals and outcomes
•
developing methods that are expected to result in the desired outcomes
•
defining outcome measures of success
•
implementing the developed methods and analyzing the results
•
evaluating and reassessing.
The strength of the process is the department’s analysis of the assessment results, followed
by evaluation, course adjustment and reassessment. After analysis of the results, the
department submits the course assessment report that includes an action plan for course
improvement to the AOAC which provides feedback and recommendations to the
department.
Upon completion of certain programs
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Programs that are accredited by outside agencies such as engineering technology,
nursing, radiography, health information technology, emergency medical technicianparamedic are required to prepare comprehensive self-studies which include review of
curricula, student success, faculty effectiveness, and other facets of the program. These
accreditation processes require an ongoing self-examination leading to continuous
improvement of student learning as demonstrated, in some programs, by student pass rates on
national exams.
At graduation
The Academic Profile assessment is administered as part of the graduation process to
assess the degree to which general education outcomes have been acquired by graduating
students.
The assessment conducted at each point in a student’s educational development draws
its authority from the college’s mission to ensure “high quality programs for university
transfer, general education, workforce development….” and supports the strategic initiatives
of Quality and Student Success.
Assessment Used to Improve Teaching and Learning
Assessment results have been primary motivators in making changes that improve
teaching and learning. Changes have taken place throughout the institution. Some examples
include admissions testing, developmental education, courses, and faculty professional
development.
Admissions Testing
To ensure that students are placed in courses that are appropriate to their entering
level of ability, the relationship between placement test scores and student success are
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monitored. In 2000, the reading cutoff score for eligibility to enroll in courses with a reading
prerequisite was raised.
In fall 2004, the college piloted the Accuplacer Levels of English Proficiency
(LOEP) test for international students as a possible replacement for the Michigan test that has
been used for many years. Indications are that the Accuplacer LOEP provides more useful
information for the Language Studies Department to use for placing international students.
Developmental Education
Both the developmental reading and the developmental mathematics departments
have instituted changes designed to improve student learning. The developmental
mathematics department offers a two-week review of mathematics designed to advance
students whose entering placement test scores indicate that with some review and practice
they could be successfully placed in a higher level course. The Developmental Reading
Department offers an accelerated reading course that accomplishes the same purpose.
In addition, the developmental mathematics department examined reasons that some
students perform poorly in mathematics and determined that fear of math is a major inhibitor.
Beginning in 2003, the Developmental Mathematics Department required all students who
take developmental math courses also to take a one-credit course, CAP 103-Math Confidence
Building. The research study to verify the effectiveness of this change is not complete.
However, according to the mathematics department, students who have taken CAP 103 and
advanced from developmental math courses to a credit math course (MAT 104) are more
successful than students who did not need developmental math or CAP 103 prior to enrolling
in MAT 104. The difference is attributed to the CAP 103 course. Effective fall 2004, all
students in MAT 104 are required to take CAP 103.
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Programs
Programs such as health information technology, nuclear medicine technology,
nursing, radiography, respiratory therapy, and electronic engineering technology rely heavily
on external assessment measures generated through licensing and certification testing results.
In fall 2003, the Technology Accreditation Commission of the Board for Engineering
and Technology (TAC/ABET) evaluation of the electronic engineering technology program
resulted in a thorough updating of the department’s programs. The department also began
tracking its graduates. Information received from the graduates will assist the department in
determining curriculum changes. Other effective uses of external assessment information are
detailed in Chapter 2.
Courses
Grades are included as an assessment method especially for individual faculty
members within their own classes. However, to achieve overall improvement in student
learning requires assessing the course as a whole. Evidence of the effectiveness of the course
assessment program was summarized in the 2003 year-end report that documented actions
taken by various instructional departments as a result of course assessments. According to the
report, “The highlight of the 2002-03 year was the high number of departments whose
faculty reported that their first course assessment actually resulted in improvement in the
course.” The report cited specific improvements: “The group identified three areas for
improvement: outcomes, the design and implementation of assessment and outcomes that
students had not mastered…Areas of student weakness were identified and additional time
will be devoted to those topics” (Accounting 201); “the assessment helped give a more
uniform approach to the course content” (Art 271); and “our discussion focused…on how to
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change the way we teach certain concepts, including giving more examples and take-home
exercises” (Economics 103).
Faculty Professional Development
The results of the Academic Profile assessment of graduating students indicated the
need to strengthen students’ critical thinking ability. The college began equipping faculty
with more “tools” to address this need. It started by declaring FY 2005 as the Year of Critical
Thinking. Pedagogical techniques to develop critical thinking ability are provided through
workshops, formal critical thinking courses, and the Critical Thinking Institute. Additionally,
the English Department has conducted two “Summits.” The first emphasized the
incorporation of more writing in course requirements. The second addressed preparing test
questions whose answers require higher order thinking skills.
Documented Use of Assessment Information as Part of Institutional Assessment
The college’s strategic plan, defined by eight strategic initiatives, drives the
institution’s assessment process. The assessment of student learning is an obvious component
and is required in two of the strategic initiatives, Student Success and Quality. In the Student
Success initiative, student learning is assessed indirectly in terms of retention, graduation,
and transfer. In the Quality initiative, direct assessment of student learning is required to
“improve on high quality programs and services to promote student learning.” (See Table
I.1.)
Conclusive evidence of the extent to which student learning assessment is integrated
into the college’s overall institutional assessment plan is found in the overview of the
institutional assessment plan written by the Dean of Planning and Institutional Research.
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“Institutional assessment at Prince George’s Community College has three tiers. The first tier
has to do with how we understand the learning outcomes of our students.” (Exhibit).
Recommendations
1. Include oral and written communication, abstract reasoning, and critical thinking as
outcomes for all courses.
2. Develop a process for integrative and coherent assessment of student learning.
3. Develop a schedule for the reassessment of courses.
4. Survey students who complete programs for the purpose of assessing their perception
of the quality of education that they received.
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