The university’s colleges submitted results this week from a new assessment that aims to measure how well students grasp key course concepts.
This year, the Provost’s Commission on Learning Outcomes Assessment, a group created in 2003, required each of its colleges to conduct an assessment of its academic offerings by establishing course objectives and evaluating whether students achieved those goals.
University officials say anticipation of last month’s accreditation review by a team from the Middle States Higher Education Commission was motivation for the program’s creation.
“We knew that [the commission] had a great interest in learning outcomes assessment, and we also knew that they had visited some other large universities and not re-accredited them based on deficiencies in this area,” said Kathy McAdams, associate dean of undergraduate studies.
Despite progress this year, university officials say work on the assessment is far from complete.
“There is still a lot of work to be done so we can complete the loop in our programs and find out how our courses can be improved,” Provost Bill Destler said.
In the coming weeks and months, colleges will use the results to find areas for improvement.
Contact reporter Christina Cobb at cobbdbk@gmail.com
