David Gibbs and Teresa MorrisCollege of San Mateo

Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to …

• Explain how SLOs can be valuable (even if you don’t like them).

• Distinguish between assessable and unassessable SLOs.

• Write an assessable SLO.• Propose one means of assessing an SLO.• Describe the assessment cycle.

• A clear, concise statement that describes how students can demonstrate their mastery of a given educational goal.

• A specifiable activity, product, behavior, knowledge, skill, ability or attitude that we want students to manifest in measurable or observable ways, indicating whether desired learning has occurred and to what degree it has occurred.

Accreditation expectations

Teaching-Centeredness Learning-Centeredness

Focus on what students ◦ Know (cognitive)◦ Think (attitudinal)◦ Do (behavioral)as a result of an educational program.

• Are our students learning what we think is important?

• Are they learning what they need to succeed in a given field, profession or life (lifelong learning skills)?

• Are we improving in our ability to help students learn?

• Do our curriculum or teaching strategies need to be modified?

• Are there other techniques or resources that would help our students learn more effectively?

Result in a positive impact in the classroom, on the job, or in students’ personal lives.

Expose students to some learning activity or environment.

Involve the participation of faculty or staff as facilitators of learning.

Focus on student outcomes. Describe measurable behaviors, activities

or products of understanding or learning. Capture what students will be able to do or

produce as a result of learning that occurs.

Students who receive an Associate degree or who complete the CSU-GE or IGETC pattern for general education at College of San Mateo will be able to…

Comprehend, interpret, and analyze written and oral information.

Interpret graphical representations of quantitative information.

Assess the adequacy of both qualitative and quantitative evidence.

Work effectively with others of diverse backgrounds.

(and 11 others)

Students will be able to … Renew a book using the online catalog. [circulation

SLO] Use the online catalog to find a book by title or

author search.[orientation SLO] Narrow a research topic that is too broad.

[reference SLO] Explain the difference between a primary and a

secondary source. [credit course SLO] Articulate several ways in which the library remains

relevant in the Internet age. [program SLO]

Use demonstrable, observable, measurable verbs like define, identify, recognize, describe, distinguish, contrast, evaluate.

Avoid passive, unobservable, unmeasurable verbs like understand, comprehend, think, believe.

Avoid phrases like “appreciation for,” “awareness of.”

Students will be able to … Understand the different ways that

resources are organized, such as the Library of Congress Classification System.

Understand the basic organization of the Internet.

How will each outcome be assessed? How will data be collected? Who will collect and analyze the data? When and how often will assessment be

done? Where will results and implications be

documented and stored?

Valid The assessment directly measures the learning outcome being assessed.

Reliable Including inter-rater reliability.

Actionable Can you make improvements based on the findings?

Efficient and Cost-Effective

Faculty time, campus money.

Engaging/Interesting To gain both student and faculty buy-in.

Triangulatable Multiple lines of evidence point to same conclusion.

Published tests (e.g. ETS)

Locally-developed tests

Embedded assignments and course activities

Portfolios

Student surveys Interviews Focus groups

Direct Indirect

A permanent, ongoing process: Define intended educational outcomes . Identify methods of measuring outcomes Administer assessments. Review results and use to make decisions

regarding program improvement. Repeat assessments in subsequent cycles

to track improvements, change, trends, relevancy.

“Close the Loop”: Document how you used results to make program improvements.

Let the assessment begin …