Assessment in the Majors
was one of the University's first attempts to conduct assessment
at the program level. It began in 1988 and ended in 1995, replaced
by Program Review.
If you want to find out more about the surveys that were conducted
for Assessment in the Majors, click here
and go to any of the links for the years 1988-95.
Below is the original plan
for Program Assessment in the Majors, approved supported by then
Vice President and Provost Thomas Jackson. The major elements of
this plan were:
Purpose
Preparation of an assessment plan
Setting goals for student achievement
Compiling information, data, or materials
on student learning
Portfolio analysis
Senior project
An exit or comprehensive examination
A survey of graduating majors
Evaluating student work
Outside evaluator (or evaluators)
The department's assessment report and action
plan
Timetable
Costs
Follow-up activities
University
of Virginia
Office of the Vice President and Provost
Guidelines for Program Assessment in the Majors
(Revised 7/92)
The purpose
of Program Assessment in the majors is to assist departments and
schools in evaluating and improving their programs by focusing on
student achievement. As part of the assessment process, each department
develops and implements a plan to establish goals for student achievement
and to examine student work to determine whether students are meeting
the goals. With this information in hand, departments can consider
whether curricular and teaching changes are needed.
It is the University's intention
that guidelines for Program Assessment be as flexible as possible
so that each department and school can adapt the guidelines to its
own circumstances. It certainly is true that there is more to evaluating
academic programs than focusing exclusively on student achievement.
Consequently, departments may wish to include assessment of student
achievement in a broader plan of program evaluation. For example,
assessment of student achievement might be included in an evaluation
process for an accreditation agency.
The first step in program
assessment is to prepare an assessment
plan. While the plan can be flexible and changed as needs
arise, it should include the following: (1) a statement of goals
for student achievement, (2) a plan for compiling samples of student
work that will be used in determining student achievement, (3) a
plan for evaluating the student work and making judgments about
the extent to which the department's student achievement goals are
being met, and (4) a process for developing an "action plan"
for program development over the next four or five years.
1.
Setting Goals for Student Achievement. Clarity about objectives
for student achievement is the first and perhaps most difficult
step. These goal statements should identify the knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and values desired of students upon completion of the
major. Unlike other evaluation programs, assessment is concerned
primarily with the end result (What have the students learned?)
rather than with the process of education (What courses did the
students take and what grades did the students make).
2.
Compiling information, data, or materials on Student Learning. A
key element of each department or school's plan is the selection
of one or more procedures for the gathering of information on which
to base judgments about student achievement. This section describes
a number of possibilities for departments and schools to consider.
Departments and schools
are encouraged to consider a Senior
Project for the compiling of information to be assessed;
that is, a project in which Fourth Year students would have a culminating
learning experience that involves integrating the knowledge they
have gained in the major. The purpose of these senior projects would
be not merely to provide assessment materials, but also to provide
an important kind of learning experience for students. Departments
and schools are free to develop their own versions of a senior project
such as the senior seminar programs currently being used by a number
of departments and schools at the University.
Portfolio
Analysis is a program in which papers, or other student
work, are compiled over the course of the major and then evaluated.
Portfolios of student work can be compiled in a few or in all courses.
In departments with a large number of majors, only a sample of the
portfolios (or students) would be evaluated. The assessment office
can provide additional details about the use of portfolios for assessment
and how this process is being used by departments at UVa.
An
Exit or Comprehensive Examination can be an effective way
to determine overall student achievement in the major. The department
or school may choose to require that all or only a representative
sample of the majors take an examination during the final year.
The examination must be designed to assess achievement of the student
learning goals the department or school has established. Examinations
might be designed by the department or school concerned or examinations
might be obtained from outside sources. A number of departments
at UVa also are using this procedure.
A
Survey of Graduating Majors, a student self-report on achievement,
is conducted each spring by the Assessment Program Office of graduating
seniors in those departments conducting program assessment that
year. This survey provides useful information for the department
or school's consideration. Such information, while helpful, is not
sufficient as a total assessment process, however.
The Office of the Vice President
and Provost conducted in Spring, 1992 a Survey of Alumni at selected
intervals after graduation. (The Spring, 1992 Survey included the
classes of 1990, 1987, and 1982.) One purpose of this survey is
to collect information on the strengths and weaknesses of the majors.
Information on the placement or employment of alumni will be included
in this survey also. Results will be provided to each department
and school for the alumni who majored in those areas. Departments
and schools also may conduct their own surveys of their alumni if
they wish.
3.
Evaluating Student Work. After samples of student work
are compiled, the next step is reviewing the materials and making
judgments about whether or not students are achieving the learning
goals the department or school established. Sampling procedures
are acceptable in assessing student achievement. It is not necessary
to evaluate all materials for all students majoring in the field.
It is important in evaluating
materials that the evaluation be by persons other than (or in addition
to) the professor who taught the course or supervised the projects.
If a senior thesis is to be evaluated, for example, there should
be at least one professor, in addition to the professor who taught
the senior seminar or supervised the thesis, involved in the assessment
of the sample.
Departments and schools
are encouraged to use an outside evaluator
(or evaluators) in this step. The outside evaluator can
be an independent component or the outside evaluator could be a
member of a committee consisting of departmental members that would
assess student materials and prepare a joint report. Departments
and schools have the option of choosing a means for obtaining an
outside evaluator. One possibility is to use a member (or members)
of the visiting committees provided by the Center for Advanced Studies.
Visiting committee members from accreditation agencies are another
possibility. A third option is for the department or school to choose
its own outside evaluator(s) from other institutions or organizations.
The result of this step
should be a written report in which an analysis of student work
is made and conclusions drawn as to whether students are achieving
the student learning goals established. This report then becomes
an important component as the department writes its assessment report
and action plan.
4.
The Department's Assessment Report and Action Plan. The
overall objective of assessment is to provide information to the
department or school so that it can evaluate its program and have
a basis for making changes and improvements. Thus, the report from
Step 3 above should be used by the department to evaluate and make
judgments about all aspects of its undergraduate program. The department
or school should write a final report on its assessment process
that includes conclusions on steps that should be taken over the
next four or five years to strengthen its undergraduate program
(the "Action Plan"). This report is given to the Dean
of the department's school and to the Vice President and Provost.
The Dean will make a written response to the department's report,
approving or disapproving requests that may have been made by the
department.
Timetable
Assessment for each program offering a major takes place every five
years in accordance with the schedule provided as an appendix to
these guidelines. Experience shows that programs need an entire
academic year in which to compile samples of student work on which
assessment will be based. When the planning, evaluation, and report
writing phases are included, program assessment can become almost
a 2-year process. We suggest that evaluation of the student materials,
including the visit of the outside evaluator, the consideration
of the findings, and the writing of the report and action plan take
place in the fall semester following the academic year in which
materials are compiled. If this timetable is followed, the final
report and action plan would be completed early in the spring semester
and submitted to the Dean and the Vice President and Provost around
March 15 of the academic year following the one in which assessment
materials were compiled. The program's assessment plan normally
would be prepared and approved in the spring or summer preceding
the academic year in which compilation of materials would take place.
Costs
The Office of the Vice President and Provost will pay the expenses
for Program Assessment including the costs for the outside evaluation
component and OTPS expenses related to student assessment. Unfortunately,
the Program cannot reimburse departments and schools for faculty
and staff time during the regular academic year. Departments and
schools may request funds from the Assessment Program for other
activities related to its student assessment program (i.e. meetings,
travel, consultants, purchase of materials, summer support, and
the like). Departments and schools should include a budget request
when submitting their assessment plans.
Follow-Up
Activities
Since the overall purpose of program assessment is to
provide a means to evaluate and improve both curriculum and the
teaching-learning process, it is assumed that departments will proceed
with implementation of their Action Plans following the program
assessment process. The Vice President and Provost will ask departments
to provide brief reports to their Deans annually on their progress
in implementing their Action Plans. When the program conducts its
second round of program assessment, it will be able to build not
only on its first assessment but also on the progress it has made
in implementing its first plan.
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