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Assessment at YC
Yavapai College is committed to measuring student learning using best practices to understand and improve student learning. This website is intended to keep faculty, students and the community informed about assessment activities, best practices and procedures at Yavapai College and other institutions of higher education.
What does Outcomes Assessment Provide?
Outcomes assessment (or assessment of student learning) establishes that learning has occurred and is documented.
Outcomes assessment...
- Assists decision for curriculum design, learning activities and resource allocation
- Documents what learning outcomes were achieved, charts key findings and trends
- Improves learning and teaching
- Creates a shared academic culture dedicated to assuring and improving the quality of higher education
Assessment of Student Learning
Degree Program Assessment of Student Learning
A major use of the assessment of student learning at the program level is to provide information for reviewing and improving the program's curriculum, instruction, and resource allocation. More Info here.
Course Assessment Strategies
Within individual courses at Yavapai College, student learning is assessed from multiple perspectives and on multiple occasions in order to ensure that instruction is fostering high-quality learning. More Info here.
Assessment of Student Learning in General Education
Assessment of student learning within Yavapai College's general education (AGEC) program is the responsibility of the General Education (Gen Ed) Committee with the support of the Office of Academic Affairs and the SLOA Committee. More Info here.
NOTE: The SLOA generally uses PDF files to display documents. Adobe Reader is required to view and print PDFs and can be downloaded free of charge.
Degree Program Assessment of Student Learning
Overview
The assessment of student learning in degree programs serves a variety of purposes. A major use of the assessment of student learning at the program level is to provide information for reviewing and improving the program's curriculum, instruction, and resource allocation.
The assessment of student learning in degree programs is supported and monitored by the Office of Academic Assessment on behalf of the Student Learning & Outcomes Assessment (SLOA) Committee, who reviews all assessment plans and reports and the Office of the Provost. Reporting on the assessment of student learning by degree programs is required by the Arizona Board of Regents and by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (NCA).
Academic divisions are required to submit an assessment plan for each of their degree and certificate programs. In addition, academic divisions must submit an annual report on the implementation of their degree program student learning assessment plans. Information regarding assessment plan and report submission procedures as well as the criteria used to review degree program assessment of student learning can be accessed through the links below.
Course Assessment Strategies
Overview
Within individual courses at Yavapai College, student learning is assessed from multiple perspectives and on multiple occasions in order to ensure that instruction is fostering high-quality learning from the first to the last day of the class.
For assessment to play a useful role in courses, it is essential that:
- assessment techniques be clearly aligned with the learning outcomes and instructional processes of a course;
- students be made aware of why, how, and according to what criteria their learning will be assessed; and
- instruments and procedures be carefully designed to meet the intended uses for assessment. Such uses will typically include:
- Understanding student preparation for a course (to make immediate adjustments in the course syllabus or provide students with additional resources)
- Providing feedback to the instructor about student learning (for on-going instructional adjustment)
- Providing feedback to students about their learning progress (to encourage adjustments in study habits, motivation, attention to learning, etc.)
- Eliciting students' perceptions on learning processes and instructional effectiveness (what helps, what hinders, what changes need to be made), during and at the end of a course (for improving pedagogy, materials, delivery, and other course features)
- Providing feedback about students' learning outcomes at the end of a course (to make revisions in course content; to adjust the sequencing of courses; to improve overall degree program curricula)
- Summarizing students' abilities and knowledge upon course completion (for communicating about the value of a course)
Key Activities
The Office of Academic Assessment works with faculty and students to ensure that assessment purposes are clearly understood and that assessment practices accomplish what they were intended to accomplish.
Key activities include:
- Advising faculty on the design of effective course syllabi for communicating to students about learning expectations and assessment practices
- Disseminating innovative techniques and tools for assessment
- Designing targeted intake assessments (e.g., technological literacy) for use in determining student preparedness for specific courses
- Providing assistance in the implementation of mid- and end-of-semester student evaluation of learning and course features
- Disseminating information to students about the purposes and uses for assessment
- Consulting with department and university committees on the use of course-embedded assessment products as evidence for assessing student learning at the degree or institutional level
