The primary goal of student learning outcomes assessment is to improve student learning. Once evidence is collected the faculty should analyze it to determine if students are attaining the defined SLOs.
Questions to consider:
- What does the evidence collected from your assessment measures tell you?
- Does evidence gathered accurately answer the questions implied by the SLOs?
- What overall key findings can you draw from the results? Are there significant patterns or trends in the data?
- For instance, for the students who met or exceeded expectations, were there circumstances that allowed them to succeed?
- For students who did not meet expectations, what circumstances affected their performance?
- Did students do better on some elements of the assessment as opposed to others?
- Based on the key findings, what conclusions can be drawn in regards to what worked well or did not work well in the course or program as reflected by the data?
- What changes to course or curriculum design might the assessment evidence suggest?
- Does assessment evidence highlight a need to revise the assessment plan, outcomes, or measures for future assessment practice?
The purpose of assessing student learning is to use the information for continued improvement of student learning. Thinking critically about the data collected and what it means is an important step in this process.