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Assessing SLOs – A Step by Step Guide

Course and Program Outcomes

All active courses & programs practice ongoing assessment. Active courses/programs include:

  • Courses and programs that have been offered in the last three years.
  • Courses and programs that are not scheduled for deactivation.

Courses and programs

  • must each have at least two outcomes (these are the official outcomes in the Course Outlines of Record),
  • must assess all active outcomes at least once every three years and document in Nuventive (documentation includes outcome name, assessment method, results summary and reflection, and plans for improvement,
  • where applicable, have course outcomes aligned to their program outcomes, and
  • where applicable, are aligned to the Institutional Learning Outcomes

For assistance planning an assessment timeline for a discipline or program, contact the Faculty SLO coordinators.

Improving Learning Outcomes

Instructors regularly assess learning outcomes in order to make improvements to the curriculum and to help students succeed academically and professionally. When it comes time to assess program learning outcomes (PLOs) or course learning outcomes (CLOs) across multiple sections, however, the process becomes more challenging. This section presents an assessment model to guide faculty through the process of assessing PLOs and CLOs. The model was adapted from Walvoord and consists of the four steps listed below.

Assessment Steps

Step 1: Writing Learning Outcomes

The first step to improvement as well as curriculum design is defining the outcomes that students should be able to meet upon completing a course or program of study.  Outcomes are the measurable knowledge, skills, and abilities that students can demonstrate after completing the course (as opposed to objectives which are discrete skills and concepts students should learn to meet the course outcomes). Each course should have at least two measurable student learning outcomes.  When developing course and program outcomes, faculty should consider the skills and knowledge needed within a field of study, trade, or career, or that help students think critically, engage civically, and become lifelong learners.

The practical steps to developing, integrating, sharing, and documenting outcomes at Palomar are presented below:

  1. Define outcomes – the abilities and knowledge students can demonstrate upon course or program completion.
    Create at least 2 outcomes for each course and program.
  2. Design assessment methods – how you will know if students have achieved the outcomes.
  3. Align outcomes – map, or align course outcomes to program outcomes, AND align course and program outcomes to college outcomes (i.e. general education/institutional outcomes).
  4. Build supporting objectives – objectives state the concepts or skills needed to meet the outcomes. Objectives are the means, not the ends. They are the building blocks designed to help students to achieve the course learning outcomes. Objectives may or may not be written as measurable terms.
  5. Document – add or update outcomes, assessments, mapping, and objectives in Curricunet Meta and/or Nuventive.
  6. Share – share outcomes with students by adding to syllabi, through discussion, and integrating into course assignments.

Resources

  • Program Outcomes – Introduction to program-level outcomes and how they inform the program review process.
  • Course Outcomes –  Introduction to course-level outcomes and how they inform the program review process.

Defining Outcomes

Aligning (Mapping) Outcomes

College Outcomes (General Education/Institutional Outcomes)

Program Outcomes

Aligning course and program outcomes with Guided Pathways (coming soon)

Aligning Course Objectives and Outcomes to Program Outcomes – Sample

Step 2: Assessing Learning Outcomes

After outcomes and assessment methods have been defined, the next step is to gather information on student learning.  There are so many ways to assess student learning that it can feel overwhelming. When assessing course and program outcomes, focus on gathering meaningful information and keeping it simple.  Use the resources and models below to help with your next assessment. If you need assistance, contact your department SLO facilitator or an SLO coordinator (see contact information to the right), and remember to:

  • Assess each course and program outcomes at least once every three years.

Assessment Models

Assess with Canvas (single and multiple course sections)

Sample Instructor Feedback form for Outcomes Assessment across multiple course sections (coming soon)

Use Canvas to Assess Outcomes. The Learning Mastery Feature in Canvas allows instructors to assess outcomes in Canvas while simultaneously grading student work.  Students are also able to view their progress in meeting outcomes.  This feature can be used to assess both course and program outcomes. It is particularly useful for assessing outcomes for courses with multiple sections.

Canvas Outcomes Sample Report (coming soon)

Canvas Outcome Rubric Criteria (coming soon)

More Resources

Step 3: Taking Action

After gathering information about student learning and analyzing the data, take any actions needed to improve student learning. Follow these simple guidelines:

  1. Decide on and complete one action item for each assessment.
  2. Take actions that are simple, effective, and doable and support student learning and improvement.

Resources

Creating an Action Plan

Step 4: Reporting the Data

The final step in the assessment improvement model involves documenting outcomes activity.

  1. Summarize outcomes, assessment, and actions in Nuventive Improve
    • The following information should be recorded in Nuventive Improve for all course and program outcomes at least once every three years:
      • Course/program outcomes and assessment plans
      • Reflection of assessment results
      • Actions/follow-up taken in response to assessment results
      • Plans for future assessment
  2. Use findings for course/program improvement and program review.
    • After documenting assessment activity in Nuventive Improve, we can refer to and use this data to identify student needs, update curricula, review programs, set goals and new initiatives, seek funding, etc.

Nuventive Resources

  • Nuventive Login
  • Nuventive User Manual coming soon
  • Guide to Running Recommended Reports (coming soon)

Nuventive Support

Department SLO facilitators and the faculty learning outcomes coordinators are available to assist you in documenting activity in Nuventive.

Contact a department SLO facilitator

For Nuventive technical support, email learningoutcomeshelp@palomar.edu