The goal of assessment is to improve student learning. By setting clear goals about what students should be able to do by the end of their majors and then measuring student performance against those goals, programs can learn where their expectations for majors are being met and where there is the greatest need for improvement.
Please email your answers to the questions below in an attachment to Michelle Mattson at mmattson@carleton.edu by July 15th. If you have any questions about planning assessment or completing this report, please contact Ian Turnage-Butterbaugh at iturnage@carleton.edu in the Institutional Research and Assessment office at x5740.
- Name of your program
- Your name
- Date
- Please attach the current version of your program’s learning goals.
- Learning goals are behaviors that your graduates should be capable of performing. They
should be phrased as actions: “A graduate of this program should be able to…” - Consider revising these so they reflect your program’s current priorities. What are the most important tasks that a graduate of your program should be able to perform?
- Consider consulting professional organizations in your discipline, who may have guidelines for outcomes expected of undergraduate students.
- A list of Carleton program learning goals is maintained on the Provost’s Office website.
- Learning goals are behaviors that your graduates should be capable of performing. They
- Did you make any changes to your program based on previous assessment?
- Which of your learning goals did you examine this year?
You may choose to focus on only one or two learning goals per year, but please cycle over your learning goals so that all are examined within the 10-year program review period. - What evidence did you study this year?
- Self-reported survey data can be useful but should be supplemented by direct evidence of student performance where possible.
- Consider using existing assignments that may reflect program learning goals.
- If possible, for each learning goal, provide evidence reflecting the number of students whose performance did not meet expectations and the number of students whose performance met expectations for the learning goals you examined. Some departments do this by presenting a table of their grading rubric and indicating the number of students placed into each cell.
- How do you interpret this evidence? (Does it show areas of strength and/or areas for improvement in your program? Does the evidence help you evaluate a change you previously made to your program?)