Assessment

USING ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE TO ACHIEVE AND IMPROVE THE UNIVERSITY’S LAND GRANT MISSION AND VISION

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Program vs. Course Assessment

What is assessment?

Assessment is a dynamic process that involves a cycle of continuous improvement comprised of four key stages: plan, do, study, and act. It’s systematic approach allows individuals and organizations to make positive changes and achieve better outcomes.

Assessment isn’t limited to specific fields. For instance, in business, companies employ this cycle to optimize processes, leading to increased efficiency and quality. Healthcare professionals use it to improve patient care by regularly assessing and adjusting their treatment plans. And in education, we can use this cycle to design, implement, evaluate, and refine our methods to better meet students’ needs.

Different Types of Assessment

Penn State is constantly assessing itself at every level. Just in the case of student learning outcomes, we conduct assessment from the University-level down to the Assignment or session level and everything in between. This article focuses on Program and Course assessment. At first they may look similar and they use many of the same tools, but ultimately they provide very different snapshots of what students are learning.

 

 

Use the tabs below to see where each type of assessment is conducted within the curriculum.

Assessment conducted by all faculty teaching general education courses and coordinated by the Office of General Education and OPAIR.

Assessment conducted by several faculty in courses at the culmination of a program.

Assessment conducted by a faculty member within a single course.

 

Best Practices

Assessment is a very big topic. This section contains just a few highlights of both program and course assessment. For complete details on program assessment, please visit our Assessment Handbook.

Program Assessment

   Measure the culmination of learning

     Align course objectives with program objectives

   Support data collection

 

How to get started

  1. Establish program learning objectives (PLOs)
  2. Map your curriculum
  3. Design your methods
  4. Plan your assessment
  5. Use your evidence
  6. Submit your report

Course Assessment

    Measure the attainment of learning

    Align course activities with course objectives

    Revise course using data

Are my students learning what I’m teaching?

  • Align with course learning objectives (CLOs)
  • Types: Formative, summative, direct, and indirect
  • Examples: essays, exams, projects, activities, labs
  • Measure student and course outcomes
  • Outcomes prompt course section revision
  • Conducted by course instructors

Are our students learning what we’re teaching?

  • Align course learning objectives (CLOs) with program objectives (PLOs)
  • Analysis of collective course outcomes
  • Summative, direct, and indirect
  • Outcomes prompt revisions across course sections
  • Outcomes inform program assessment
  • Conducted by course leaders
  • Dependent upon course instructor

The Value of Program Assessment for Faculty

Starting point for your curriculum design and redesign

Ensure your course leads students to larger learning outcomes

Highlight unmet program targets you can influence with your course

Why does the University collect copies of Program Assessment Reports?

Accountability to Stakeholders and MSCHE

Feedback – don’t waste time collecting unhelpful data

Convenient for current and future assessment leaders

How can faculty get involved?

Most faculty are aware that they can assess and improve their own courses. Less obvious may be how they can be involved with their program’s overall assessment. At Penn State, each program has a designated Assessment Leader who organizes their programs annual assessment process and submits the annual report. Assessment Leaders work with faculty to gather assessment evidence in their courses and together all of the program’s faculty review the evidence, determine actions, and implement changes.

Program Assessment

 

Course Assessment

 

Align your assignment to your course objectives

Measure student learning outcomes with assignments

Discuss your findings with other faculty

Align Course Objectives to Program Objectives

      1. Check the Penn State Bulletin for your program’s learning objectives
      2. Ask your Assessment Leader for a copy of your program’s curriculum map to see which learning objectives are associated with your course. Not sure who your Assessment Leader is? Email your college or campus Assessment Liaison.
      3. Design or revise your course objectives based on what you discover about your program’s overall learning objectives.

 

Example of course objectives aligned with a program objective.

Program Learning Objective

Students will be able to develop, implement, and evaluate health promotion programs.

Course Objectives

Explain models currently used in health promotion planning.

Conduct a needs assessment.

Predict factors that may prevent program success.

Review