Developing and Assessing
Outcomes in the Co-Curricular
Experience
Prepared for Auburn University’s
Division of Student Affairs A-Team
April 2, 2013
Sandi Osters, Ph.D.
Retired Director, Student Life Studies
Texas A&M University
3001 Aztec Street
College Station, TX 77845
sandiosters@gmail.com
Workshop Overview
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Student integrative learning
Outcomes-based assessment
Learning outcomes – the heart of the
matter
Working sessions
Assessment methods
Working sessions
Reflective dialogue
Today’s Program Outcomes
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The presenter will:
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Work on issues important to participants
Provide a general understanding about the
importance of outcomes based assessment in
student affairs
Emphasize the importance of alignment with
division and university mission, goals and
planning
Emphasize the use of data to inform practice
Today’s Learning Outcomes
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Participants will:
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Describe learning and program outcomes
for their own program, office or activity
Employ assessment methods for their
outcomes
Develop initial action steps
Articulate what they have learned and
what they still need to know
Handouts
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PowerPoint
Writing Outcomes
Assessment Plan Template
Rubrics
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know
about Assessment – on One Page
It’s All About Students’
Integrative Learning
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A strong emphasis on student learning is the
primary key to retention through graduation
Learning is the primary activity and goal of
the college environment – both inside and
outside of the classroom
The integration of academic programs and cocurricular activities is important
The ability of students to integrate their
learning both inside and outside of the
classroom – be responsible for their own
learning – is of the greatest importance
What Is Student Learning in the
Co-curricular?
“Learning Reconsidered defines learning as a
comprehensive, holistic, transformative activity that
integrates academic learning and student development,
processes that have often been considered separate,
and even independent of each other.”
“Student learning produces both educational and
developmental outcomes; distinguishing them is
pointless and potentially harmful, and the goal of
higher education should be the integration of all
domains of learning and of the work of all
educators.”
Keeling, R. P. (Ed.) (2004). Learning Reconsidered. Washington, D.C.:
NASPA and ACPA.
What is Assessment and
Evaluation?
“Assessment is any effort to gather, analyze, and interpret
evidence which describes institutional, departmental,
divisional or agency effectiveness.”
“Evaluation is any effort to use assessment evidence to
improve institutional, departmental, divisional, or
agency effectiveness.”
Upcraft, M. & Schuh, J. (1996). Assessment in student affairs: A guide for practitioners.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
The Purpose of Outcomes
Based Assessment
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To answer some simple questions:
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What is it that we do?
Why do we do it?
How well do we do it?
How do we know that we do it well?
What improvements and changes do we make from what
we learn?
Do the improvements work?
To genuinely engage faculty, staff and students in the
day-to-day reflection of answering these simple
questions
To demonstrate a commitment to systematic
examination of the quality of all we do to improve
our programs and departments
The Purpose of Outcomes
Based Assessment, continued
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To celebrate our successes and learn from our failures
To inform our policy, programs, processes and
resource allocations
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Increase our confidence that we are putting our time and
energy into activities that results in the outcomes we and
our students value
To have the data to support why our programs generate the
learning Auburn wants for its students in times of financial
downsizing
To be able to articulate exactly how student affairs
professionals contribute to student learning and
student development
To gather and display data that will allow us to
satisfy accrediting agencies and program reviews
(CAS or your own)
Advantages of Using Outcomes
Language in Student Affairs
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Make it clear to students who participate in
our programs, activities and services what
they can expect to gain from doing so
Make it clear to others what the program will
accomplish and, where appropriate, what
students will learn
Help staff select appropriate strategies and
assessment measures/methods to reach the
outcomes
Advantages of Using Outcomes
Language in Student Affairs
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Apply the results of our assessments for
meaningful improvement and/or change
Move beyond student satisfaction and
tracking the use of services as the sole means
of describing student affairs effectiveness
Connect Student Affairs to the academic
enterprise – we all are about student learning
– we all are educators
What Any Assessment is NOT
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Assessment does not exist for assessment’s
sake
It informs but does not drive where you want
to go and what you want to be as an office,
activity, program
It is not used for personnel evaluation
It is not a one time thing – but systematic and
iterative
It does not assess all things, all the time
Outcomes Based Assessment
and Decision Making
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Most importantly, Outcomes based decision making and assessment
should be
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Understood = by faculty/professionals and students
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Meaningful = faculty/professional (i.e., expert) driven
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Inclusive = involve as many faculty, student affairs professionals
and students as possible
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Manageable = takes into account varying resources
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Flexible = takes into account assessment learning curves
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Truth-seeking/objective/ethical
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Iterative and systematic
Inform decisions for continuous improvement or provides evidence
of proof
Promote a culture of accountability, of learning, and of improvement
Bresciani, J. J., Zelna, C. L., & Anderson, J. A. (2004). Techniques for
assessing student learning and development: A handbook for practitioners.
Washington, D.C.: NASPA, Inc.
Assessment Cycle
Gather Data
Mission/Purpose
Interpret Evidence
Goals
Objectives/Outcomes
Budget
Implement
Methods to Deliver
Outcomes and
Methods to Gather
Data
Make decisions to improve
programs; enhance student
learning and development;
inform institutional decisionmaking, planning,
Accountability budgeting, policy, public
accountability
Writing Outcomes
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Outcomes – Detailed, specific, measurable or
identifiable, and personally meaningful statements
that are derived from goals and articulate what the
end result of a unit, program, course, activity, or
process is.
 Learning Outcomes – An easily identified action
that a student is expected to demonstrate in terms
of knowledge, skills, and attitudes upon
completion of a program/activity/event.
 Program/process outcomes – The end result of
what a program or process is to do, achieve, or
accomplish.
Write simply and with one outcome per statement
Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956)
A structure for developing
learning outcomes
Learning Outcomes?
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Students will be satisfied with the
information received.
Students will rate the service received
positively.
Students will create their own personal
leadership philosophy based on three models
taught in Lead 101 in the fall semester
After the service project, students will be able
to articulate the root cause of homelessness in
Auburn, Alabama.
Disability Services Example
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Learning outcome
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Assessment method
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Students will be able to describe their functional
limitations in an academic setting
Pre-test/post-test (intake form)
Rubric
Criteria for success/achievement target
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Students post-scores will improve over pre-test
Disability Services Example
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Learning outcome
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Assessment method
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Students will be able to describe how their
disability may affect them in the workplace and
what accommodations they may need to ask for
from their employers
Exit interviews with graduating students
Criteria for success/achievement target
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80% of students in their graduating semester will
be able to identify at least one way their disability
might effect them in the workplace.
Program/Process Outcomes?
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Students will like the conference banquet
The professional development sub-committee
will offer two dining etiquette programs in
the fall semester for graduating students
Develop and expand the Student Health
Services web page in order to increase
student access to health information, patient
services and educational programming
Examples of Program Outcomes
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The Department of Residence Life will be able
to respond to maintenance requests within 24
hours of their walk-in time
The Student Health Service will be able to
admit students for check-ups within 24 hours
of their walk-in time.
The Financial Aid Office will have full award
letters out to the on-time complete applicants
by April 15th.
Program Outcome Example
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Program outcome
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Assessment methods
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Develop and expand the Student Health Services webpage
in order to increase student access to health information,
patient services, educational programming
Data retrieval from webpage interactions
Annual patient survey to determine student utilization of
the web page
Survey instruments by Health Education program to
determine student utilization of web page
Criteria for success/achievement target
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Increase in the utilization of the SHS webpage regarding
health information, patient services and educational
programming.
Common Mistakes in Writing
Learning Outcomes
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The learning outcomes don’t align with department, division or
university goals
Outcomes include words that are hard or impossible to measure
(understand, appreciate, know about, become familiar with,
learn about, become aware of)
Outcomes include too many skills in one statement
Outcomes measure satisfaction or performance evaluation
rather than learning of the student
There are too many learning outcomes
Only one person wrote, reviewed, edited and implemented the
outcome
Working Session
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Work in small groups of two or three
Develop at least two learning outcomes and two
program outcomes for the Division of Student Affairs
Global Service Initiative (mission provided)
Don’t worry about being an expert on this initiative.
Pretend you are. What’s important is working on the
outcomes
Share time
Assessment Methods
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Qualitative and quantitative
One time and longitudinal
Direct - requires students to display their
knowledge, behavior or thought processes
Indirect – asks students to reflect upon their
knowledge, behaviors or though processes
Local (Auburn developed) and national
assessments (like the NSSE or CIRP)
Direct Measures
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Benefits of direct measures to Student Affairs
 Provides faculty and administrators more confidence in the
measures and their results because it is the academic
standard
 Helps with accreditors who are looking for student learning
in the co-curricular and measures of same
Challenges
 Time and expertise needed to develop
 Assessing the “fuzzies” – attitudes and values
 Small “n’s” and the validity of the studies
Bottom line
 Use multiple indirect measures to offset the lack of direct
measures
Common (and still viable)
Assessment Measures
Surveys to inform of needs and
satisfaction
 Surveys to assess outcomes
 Focus groups/interviews to inform
future assessments or to dig more
deeply into existing survey results
 Tracking use and participation
(numbers)
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New Wave of Assessment
Measures
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Exit Interviews
Learning contracts
Photography
Pre and post tests of knowledge
Observations with documentation
One minute papers
Rubrics
Reflective journals
Reflective conversations/writing
Combination of the above
Working Session
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Working individually, develop at least two learning
outcomes for a program or activity of interest to you.
If you do not work directly with student learning,
consider learning outcomes for your student workers
Develop at least one assessment measure for each
outcome and address how you will know if you have
been successful (criteria for success/achievement
target)
Work in small groups and share your outcomes and
measures.
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As a group, develop an action plan (see Assessment Plan
Template, Implementation of Assessment Process) for one of
the learning outcomes in your group
Share
Sharing Your Assessment
Data
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Have clear objectives/purpose
Know who cares about your results
Effectively analyze the data
Effectively report/present results
 Determine the best format – written reports,
websites, newsletters, publications, oral
presentations
Use the data yourself – role model to others
Share with each other – assessment road
shows/poster sessions at division meetings/monthly
during the A-Team meetings
Share with students!! What actions have you taken
from what you have learned from them?
In Summation
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Be clear about who you are, why you do what you do, how well
you do what you do, and how you improve and change
Check in annually to be sure your program/activity and event
outcomes align with your departmental mission/goals and that
your departmental mission aligns with the division’s
mission/goals and strategic plan and that your division
mission/goals align with institutional mission/goals/strategic
plan/QEP
Be patient; you will get better at writing outcomes; you always
will have more to learn!
Practice, practice, practice and learn by teaching others
Work with your students and student groups to articulate
outcomes for their programs
Work with colleagues, faculty and others with expertise
Celebrate your accomplishments
Contact Information
Sandi Osters, Ph.D.
Retired Director, Student Life Studies
Texas A&M University
3001 Aztec Street
College Station, TX 77845
sandiosters@gmail.com