Category Assessment of Bacc Core Courses

at Course and Unit Level

Vickie Tolar Burton & Stefani Dawn

Integrate

Integrate the Bacc Core category learning outcomes into the course.

Clarify for students how they will achieve and demonstrate the learning outcomes.

Communicate

Communicate the Bacc Core learning outcomes to students by stating them verbatim on the course syllabus.

You can find learning outcomes for all Bacc Core categories on the Center for Teaching and Learning website.http://oregonstate.edu/ctl/baccalaureate-core

Assess

Give students opportunities to demonstrate that they have achieved the Bacc Core learning outcomes.

Assess their learning, and keep an account of how successful the students were at achieving the outcomes.

Collect

Collect evidence of student competency with regard to the Bacc Core learning outcomes. This is done by each instructor within her/his sections of the course.

Reflect

Within your unit, reflect on the evidence of student learning collected across sections of the course.

If a Bacc Core outcome is not being achieved by most students, reflect on why that might be happening.

Plan for Improvement

As a unit, decide on areas of student learning that need improvement.

Identify strategies for improvement and set goals across sections of the course.

Communicate improvement goals and strategies to all instructors of the course.

Report

Submit one Category Review Report form per course summarizing your unit’s review of student learning regarding Bacc Core outcomes across sections of the course during the review period. The report is submitted to the Assessment Office online system

Submit one syllabus per instructor of the course to the Assessment Office online system.

Receive Feedback

The Bacc Core Committee reviews the material submitted for each course in a category and either certifies the course to continue in the Bacc Core or consults with the unit on changes necessary to receive certification.

Integrate

Integrate the Bacc Core category learning outcomes into the course, including any changes identified during the assessment process.

Clarify for students how they will achieve and demonstrate the outcomes.

Contacts

Stefani Dawn, Assistant Director for Assessment 7-6942 stefani.dawn@oregonstate.edu

Vicki Tolar-Burton, Transitional Director for Baccalaureate Core Implementation 7-3711 Vicki.tolarburton@oregonstate.edu

Assessment to Maximize Student Learning:

Making Connections at Multiple Levels

Course Level

Assessment Cycle

Benefit to the

Students: A complete

set of knowledge and skills

Course Level Assessment Cycle

that Feeds to Program-Level

Assessment

There is variability between

courses/sections/ instructors

Identifies potential mismatches between assessments and what is actually taught in the course; identifies skills and knowledge gaps that need addressing; helps develop effective instruction

When a course is a foundational part of a degree program (i.e. required) it is no longer completely “independent” - it is part of a community called the curriculum (e.g. the bacc-core or major). Student Learning Outcomes are the community expectations and multiple courses have to work together to make sure there are no holes or gaps. They also must ensure that all students graduate with the same skills/knowledge at a minimum determined level. How is this done?• Define outcomes• Where needed, define where students need to

be in relation to those outcomes at different stages (e.g. what writing skills need to be developed at freshman level vs senior level)

• Define who is responsible for developing those skills and where it should occur.

• Build in redundancies and/or a strong accountability system to reduce the number of seniors with only freshman skills.

Benefit to the Instructor: A

sense of community and professionalism

in their field and in

education

Benefit to students:

course knowledge & skills in the

course

Benefit to the instructor:

improvement to course, sense of reward

Tools to Help Track Bacc Core Courses

The assessments show that students are able to articulate specific issues related to contemporary global issues as they relate to…(this course topic)…however they are still developing their ability to write, especially using quality, reliable evidence as support (they tend toward unsupported or weakly supported opinion).

The red text is highlighted to show that this is an area where, as assessment in a course develops, it can become more specific to help feed information to the program level.

For example, let’s say this is a senior-level course-and the course assessments show that about 40% of the students have this particular weakness at a certain defined level (e.g. they score below 60% in this area), is that indicative of anything important (e.g. does it show potential holes in lower-level course work?) or, is it expected for your course level and it indicates an area of focus that needs to occur in the class?

Is that 40% a number that is acceptable? What does a number like that say about the education students are receiving as a whole from the University?• That is defined by the faculty and administrators

If it is important:• Do we care about it at the instructor level, the department level, the college level,

the university level? • What are we (e.g. the department) willing to do about it?

How we can help

Tools Baccalaureate Core Course Assessment

Template Classroom Assessment Tools from the CTL Value Rubrics Other

Models Pair/Share Retreats Other

How we can help

Consultation Faculty Departments Colleges

Workshops Course level assessment Program level degree assessment Accreditation Effective Instruction Continuous Quality Improvement

How we can help

ContactVicki Tolar Burton, Baccalaureate

Core Director, 541-737-1663, vicki.tolarburton@oregonstate.edu

Stefani Dawn, the Assistant Director for Assessment at 541-737-0919, Stefani.dawn@oregonstate.edu