Frequently Asked Questions What is Assessment? - "Assessment is
any effort to gather, analyze, and interpret evidence which
describes institutional, departmental, divisional or agency
effectiveness" (Upcraft and Schuh, p. 18). - Assessment attempts
to answer certain questions about a programs intended outcomes:
- What are we trying to do and why are we doing it? - What do we
expect the student to know or to do as a result of our program?
- How well are we doing it? - How do we know? - How do we use
the information to improve? - Does that work? What are learning
outcomes? - Student learning outcomes encompass a wide range of
student attributes and abilities, both cognitive and affective,
which measure how students' college experiences have supported
their personal or academic development How do I know what to
assess and how to assess it? - Assessment should be linked to a
department's mission and vision statements and should attempt to
answer questions that are currently facing the department (see
question 1).