Affective Assessment

Synonymous with assessing the attitudes obtained as a result of educational experiences as in the Affective Domain. This can be measured with surveys, interviews, and essays.

Analysis

to identify the organizational structure of something: to identify parts, relationships, and organizing principles (Bloom).

Authentic Assessment

the provision of real-life situations for students to practice and reinforce Knowledge and skills.

Application

to apply knowledge to new situations, to solve problems (Bloom).

Assessment

The ongoing process of understanding, improving, and documenting student learning. Assessment is the process that evaluates the university learning experience with the purpose of continual improvement and has the objective of assuring the accomplishment of the mission.

Assessment Components

On our campus, the assessment components consist of:

• Capstone Course
• Learn/Student Portfolio Assessment
• Course Embedded Assessment
• Standardized Testing
• (3 C's and an S).

Benchmarking

Comparison with peers groups and exemplary groups.

Bloom's Taxonomy

The extent and rigor of learning as defined by six levels by Benjamin Bloom: (1-Knowledge; 2-Recall and Comprehension; 3-Application; 4-Analysis; 5-Synthesis; 6-Evaluation); characterized by action verbs.

Capstone

A course that encompasses the educational experience and provides a summative demonstration of competencies.

CBHE

Coordinating Board of Education for the State of Missouri.

Communicating Across the Curriculum

An integrated teaching approach to enhancing and reinforcing writing and speaking skills in all disciplines; sometimes referred to as CxC. Students are thought to better learn course material when they reflect on the knowledge and communicate the results in formal or informal written or oral experiences.

Communicating to Learn

The name of our program that incorporates written and oral communication.

Competencies

Skills and abilities our graduates should possess.

Comprehension

to understand, interpret, compare and contrast, explain (Bloom).

Course Embedded Assessments

assessments that make use of the actual work that students produce in their courses. The assessment may simply select from work that students do in various courses or may be designed overtly for assessment purposes and then incorporated into the courses.

Course Level Assessment

At the most basic level, the Course, where faculty assess student outcomes based on specific course objectives and gain feedback from students about their ongoing classroom experience.

Discipline Areas

one of the linkages in the assessment plan; some departments are combinations of several disciplines.

Direct Assessment

requires students to display their knowledge and skills as they respond to the instrument itself. Examples include objective tests, presentations, classroom assignments, portfolios, specific exam answers, capstone experiences, external reviews, standardized tests.

Evaluation

to judge the quality of something based on its adequacy, value, logic or use; the holistic process of judging the merit of a program or system compared to overall goals and objectives. Assessment is the result of evaluation (Bloom).

Feedback

Information about a program based on systematic observation or assessment.

Focus Groups

Small groups of 10-14 people assembled for collaborative inquiry or discovery.

Formative Assessment

Assessing the development, design, or implementation of an academic program is the purpose of a formative evaluation; formative evaluation can be actual guidance with tasks during the learning process such as mastery learning.

General Education Goals & Student Learning Outcomes

The goals are the broad results - knowledge and attributes – that we expect our graduates to obtain which reflect the CBHE Goals & Competencies. Student Learning Outcomes (Competencies) indicate the skills and abilities students are to develop within the broad goal areas.

Goals

describe broad learning outcomes and concepts (what you want your students to learn) expressed in general terms, e.g. clear communication; the end point or target; academic program's targeted aims.

HLC

Higher Learning Commission; HLC is the review commission for accreditation within NCA (North Central Association of Colleges and Schools).

Indirect Assessment

reflection by students and others on learning experiences, adequacy of a program, etc.; may be administered by surveys, course embedded activities (such as minute papers),focus groups, job placement rates, transfer studies success, etc.

Institution Level Assessment

At the Institution / University level where our General Education Learning Objectives represent the assessable goals, assessment focuses on the abilities, attitudes, and behaviors that the sum of students' experiences at Missouri State University – West Plains have imparted and/or reinforced.

Knowledge

to know specific facts, terms, concepts, principals, or theories (Bloom).

Level of Competency

Minimum percentage for attainment of a specific skill or ability that demonstrates success of an educational program.

Linkages

The association of learning goals and objectives from the course level through the mission Statement of the institution. The linkage levels in our Assessment Plan are:

• Mission
• Institutional Goals
• General Education Goals & Competencies (CBHE's terminology)
• Degree Program Objectives
• Discipline Objectives
• Course Objectives

MAC

Missouri Assessment Consortium.

MidAIR

Mid-America Association for Institutional Research.

Mission Statement

A succinct definition of the purpose, goal, and parameters of an educational institution.

Needs Assessment

Process to determine the economic or community benefits of an organization, the audience it serves and level of proficiency required.

Objectives

describe specific learning behaviors that students should exhibit in the context of the course. Objectives are specific skills, values, and attitudes students should exhibit that reflect the broader goals, e.g. "students are able to develop a cogent argument to support a position." Clear, measurable, and observable behaviors associated with an academic program. Objectives are articulated twice: 1) at the beginning of an assessment and 2) when assessment results are available, to assess performance and review the objective for its effectiveness at improving learning.

Outcome

a demonstrable competency at a certain level of proficiency; outcomes must be measurable for the sake of assessment. Measurement can be both objective (quantifiable) and/or subjective (qualitative).

Portfolio

A collection of education experiences and assessments that reflects the capabilities of a student or group of students.

Program Level Assessment

the degree program producing the AA, AAS, or the ASN. The AA program objectives are the General Education Goals & Competencies; The other degree programs reflect the General Education Goals & Competencies.

Purposeful Learning

One of our institutional goals that is associated with Academics - "To educate students for a lifetime of learning, citizenship, career development, and personal enrichment."

Reliability

the characteristic of a measuring instrument to obtain similar results with repeated administrations.

Stakeholders

Constituents affected by a program as in students, employees, parents, community, employers, and legislators.

Summative Assessment

Assessment the end product of a course or program conducted after a program has been in operation for awhile, or at its conclusion, with judgments about the program's merit or worth evaluated by comparing prior stated objectives with actual outcomes.

Synthesis

to create something, to integrate ideas into a solution, to propose an action plan, to formulate a new classification scheme (Bloom).

Target Population

The sample of current and/or former students, employers, etc. to whom a survey is administered.

Value-Added

The increase in knowledge, skills and aptitudes from the college experience; may also be the additional benefits of learning team work, appreciation for one's culture, etc.

WAC

Writing across the Curriculum – A program designed to improve student learning by requiring a certain number of courses which are writing intensive. Students are thought to better learn material when they reflect on the knowledge and communicate the results in formal or informal writing experiences.

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Definitions are either unique to our assessment program or taken/adapted from:

"Assessment Vocabulary." Assessment Handbook. 2002. Joliet College. 19 Oct. 2005. http://www.jjc.cc.il.us/dept/Assessment/vocabulary.htm

Stassen, Martha L. A., Kathryn Doherty, and Mya Poe. OAPA Handbook: Course-Based Review and Assessment. 2001. University of Massachusetts Amherst. 19 Oct. 2005. http://www.umass.edu/oapa/oapa/publications/online_handbooks/course_based.

Lopez, Cecelia L. Opportunities for Improvement: Advice from Consultant-Evaluators on Programs to Assess Student Learning. 1997. North Central Association of Colleges and Universities, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. 19 Oct. 2005. http://www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org/AnnualMeeting/archive/97ASSESS.pdf. (this file requires a PDF viewer such as Adobe® Acrobat®. If you do not have this program you can download a plugin from our plugins page.)

02/24/06 ev, jdm