Instituional Research & Assessment

Assessment Newsletter

Number 9
Fall 2002

Editor: Michael D. Richards
Associate Provost

An electronic publication for communication to the campus community about assessment and institutional effectiveness, the Newsletter is published by the Provost's Office.

Assessment Workshop. The University Assessment Committee sponsored a series of "hands-on" assessment workshops last April. The workshops, an extension of the January luncheon and workshop for all deans, department chairs, associate chairs, division heads, and program coordinators, provided discipline-specific instruction to strengthen assessment activities on campus. Thanks to Deb Hill and Steve Barney for leading the discussions and providing examples. During the 2002-03 academic year, there will be further dialog and instruction on assessment.

Student Learning Outcomes. Perhaps the essential theme of the assessment workshops was the need to develop at the program level explicit student learning outcomes. As an institution, can we respond to these kinds of questions: What are the elements of student success? What is expected of a program completer? Have graduates acquired the learning that is expected?

A common question is: "Why are student learning outcomes needed?" There are basically three reasons: (1) increased demand for accountability to demonstrate programs work, (2) an accreditation requirement for both regional and discipline-specific accrediting agencies, and (3) as educators, we should be able to articulate the goals and objectives of student learning and development.

Another common question is "What does a student learning outcome look like?"
Here are some examples:

Students completing the baccalaureate program in Spanish will be able to speak for 5 minutes in fluent, grammatically correct, complete sentences, and will be capable of writing, in acceptable Spanish, a 7 page "capstone" article.
Students completing the associate degree program in Information Systems Applications will be prepared for an entry level position in data processing and will be placed in employment related to their major.
Students completing the baccalaureate program in Sociology will take the ETS major field test in sociology.
Graduates of the accounting program will be experienced in the use of personal computers for accounting procedures.

For each student learning outcome, there must follow a means of program assessment and criteria for success. These might include a jury of faculty making a judgment, a specific test score threshold, a survey of career placement, or a nationally normed questionnaire.

In the past two years, each academic department has developed a mission statement reflecting the mission statement of the University. The next step is to express, program by program, student learning outcomes. Accreditors will be looking for them in departmental self-studies, students will be looking for them in syllabi, departmental assessment plans and reports will center on them and measure them, and the new academic program review process will focus directly on them as indicators of program effectiveness. We need to take the time this fall to develop explicit student learning outcomes for each program. For additional assistance on developing learning outcomes, you can contact a member of the University Assessment Committee or the Provost's office.

Surveys and Focus Groups Highlight SUU Strengths and Weaknesses . The University relies on the National Survey of Student Engagement (assessing attitudes of first-year and senior students), and the ACT College Outcomes Survey (assessing perspectives of graduates) as institutional tools of student feedback. Both tools are invaluable. Together, they highlight the strengths of the University:

National Survey of Student Engagement
Institutional Benchmark Report, 2001

Benchmark Area	First-Year Students		Senior Students
	SUU Score	Masters Peers	SUU Score	Masters Peers
Level of Academic Challenge	48.8	51.6	56.0	55.8
Active and Collaborative Learning	42.8	40.5	52.9	50.2
Student Interactions with Faculty Members	32.9	34.2	44.0	41.7
Enriching Educational Experiences	51.3	52.9	44.3	45.5
Supportive Campus Environment	60.9	59.8	57.7	56.8

The 2002 NSSE survey results reaffirm these findings, and the separate 2002 institutional benchmark report will be available this Fall.

The ACT College Outcomes Survey summarizes specific strengths of the institution. Many of the strengths are sharply more satisfying to students responding to the survey than at national peer institutions.

ACT College Outcomes Survey
Respondents "Very Satisfied" or "Satisfied"

Item	SUU	National Peers
Class Size	87.4%	74.2%
Faculty respect for students	83.7%	72.6%
Quality of Instruction	80.0%	73.7%
Library Services	82.8%	62.9%
This college in general	81.8%	72.2%
Quality of my program of study	81.4%	73.7%

In addition to strengths, the two surveys identify areas for institutional improvement. The NSSE survey focused on the academic experience. While some findings were at or above national peer scores, other areas were identified for improvement.

National Survey of Student Engagement
Institutional Benchmark Report

Benchmark Areas Below Peer Score Averages

Level of Academic Challenge
Coursework emphasizes analyzing the basic elements of an idea or theory
Coursework emphasizes applying theories or concepts to practical problems
Coursework emphasizes synthesizing and organizing ideas, information or experiences into new interpretations of relationships
Number of assigned textbooks, books, or book-length course readings
Number of written papers or reports of between 5 and 19 pages

Student Interactions with Faculty Members
Talked about career plans with a faculty member or advisor
Received prompt feedback from faculty on academic performance

Enriching Educational Experiences
Had serious conversations with students of a different race or ethnicity
Used electronic technology to discuss or complete an assignment
Campus environment encourages contact among students from different economic, social and racial or ethnic backgrounds
Practicum, internship, or clinical assignment
Participating in co-curricular activities

Supportive Campus Environment
Campus environment helps you cope with your non-academic responsibilities

The College Outcomes Survey highlighted student support areas.

College Outcomes Survey
Lowest Percentages of Respondents "Very Satisfied" or "Satisfied"

Item	SUU	National Peers
Campus AIDS education program	13.4%	16.1%
New student placement in reading/writing, math courses	26.5%	30.8%
New student orientation services	36.7%	48.6%
Student health/wellness services	40.5%	47.8%
Concern for me as an individual	64.7%	65.6%

Supplementing these findings were the results of focus groups. During Spring semester 2002, 280 freshman students enrolled in UNIV 1310, section 1-5, participated in detailed discussions about SUU, their experience, perceptions, and what they would change. Three items are summarized here:

Strength	Item	Improvement
No problem with SUU, just family or personal reasons	Reasons why some students are leaving SUU	Small Town atmosphere Want a bigger school Financial reasons Nothing to do here Scholarship GPA Requirement
Helpful or very helpful experience both for general education and for majors They are nice. It was a good experience.	Have you talked to an advisor? Describe the experience.	I just didn't. They seemed hurried. Mostly I talked to faculty. I rushed through things.
There are services for everything here. I can't imagine anyone having unmet needs. Library building.	Do you or a student you know have unmet needs at SUU?	Parking Activities Access to classes Jobs Advisors - assign them.

Complete results from the focus groups are available in the Provost's office. With few exceptions, the results are constructive and helpful. Thanks to Jill Wilks and the student mentors for the time and effort invested to conduct the focus groups and to compile the results.

| Newsletters | Institutional Research |