Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Plan

Purpose

The purpose of assessment of academic learning outcomes at the program level at Lane Community College is to improve students’ learning. Faculty and deans will evaluate assessment results to identify ways to improve the educational environment and enhance student success.

Scope of Plan

The Student Learning Outcomes Assessment plan includes:

• General education in transfer degrees and the Oregon Transfer Module.
• Career technical certificates and degrees (all career technical program areas).
• Non-credit career training and pre-licensing curricula.
• Developmental course sequences key to student success.
• Other course sequences of instruction for mid-program assessments.

Evidence of Learning

Programs and disciplines will identify direct and indirect measures of learning outcomes. See Steps to Successful Program/Discipline Assessment and other links available at Planning Process.

Outcomes are defined in terms of the knowledge (cognitive outcomes), attitudes (affective outcomes), and physical skills (kinesthetic outcomes) expected of students upon successful completion or upon transfer. Outcomes include Lane’s core abilities for general education and other program-specific goals.

Programs will identify tracking information that demonstrates students’ success and persistence in subsequent coursework at Lane, at OUS transfer institutions, or in employment related to the program. The Assessment Team recommends use of materials prepared by Peggy Maki, available on Lane’s Assessment of Learning website to guide the process of preparing program assessment plans.

Methods and criteria to assess outcomes

1. At the institutional level, assessments of student outcomes are conducted college-wide on a three-year rotating cycle using nationally normed instruments and employer follow-up surveys:

• Student satisfaction, currently measured by American College Testing (ACT) Survey of Student Opinion (may change to Noel-Levitz).
• Student engagement, currently measured by Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE).

2. At the program level, faculty and chairs will identify criteria and methods to assess:

• General education outcomes in terms of core abilities and program specific student learning outcomes.
• Career technical program outcomes for each AAS and certificate of a year or more in length.
• Developmental outcomes that support success in college-level courses.
• Mid-program outcomes of other course sequences when appropriate.

Baseline information

Each division will develop a baseline assessment plan as part of the cycle of unit planning. Divisions will update assessment plans annually to track their progress toward implementing student learning outcomes assessment. Lane’s Assessment web page provides a rubric for constructing and evaluating assessment plans.

• Cohorts to be assessed and a schedule for assessment
• Institutional assessments are administered to random samples of students on a three-year cycle for each instrument.
• Annually, Career Technical programs assess students completing degrees and certificates by direct measures of student performance in outcomes published for each program.
• Transfer disciplines supporting general education outcomes will assess core abilities in a random sample of students annually and analyze the results to identify areas for improvement.
• Developmental disciplines assess student proficiencies in meeting readiness for college, and will identify best practices supporting student success and retention.
• Mid-program assessments will be conducted by divisions offering course sequences that are key to student success.

Who will interpret results

At the program or discipline level, all stakeholders (managers, faculty, support staff and students) analyze results of learning outcomes measures to identify program strengths, challenges, and plans for improvement.

• In Career Technical programs, program coordinators and faculty share and discuss assessment results annually with advisory committees, and present reports on a three-year cycle to the Career Technical Education Coordinating Committee.
• in transfer disciplines, the faculty collectively interpret assessment results annually and present reports on a three-year cycle to the division dean and Office of Academic and Student Affairs.
• The Student Access and Goal Achievement (SAGA) group examines the results of Lane’s CCSSE report and facilitates in-service discussions of the implications of the results.
• The Director of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning (IRAP) presents results of student opinion surveys to the Board of Education for benchmarking purposes. Results are available on the Lane website.

Communication of results

Assessment plans, methods/tools, results, and reports of curricular change are posted on Lane’s Assessment website. Divisional home pages will include Assessment links to their documents on the Assessment website. IRAP prepares annual reports for the Learning Council, Office of Academic and Student Affairs, and the Board of Education. Reports summarize the successes, challenges, and plans for improvement of programs, including course and program revisions to be undertaken.