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Assessment of
Transfer and Basic Skills Programs
A
Little History
Cabrillo College began experimenting with assessing student
learning outcomes in transfer, basic skills and occupational courses in 1999
with its summer
Learner Outcomes Institute.
When the new accreditation standards were approved, the Cabrillo Faculty Senate
(composed of many summer Institute alumnae) took the lead in creating a process
to assess student learning in all courses at Cabrillo. The Senate sought to
create an assessment process that:
§ built
on both the informal assessment that most Cabrillo faculty undertook of their
own courses and the research and practical experiences of the Summer Institute.
§ provided
opportunities for faculty to dialogue about the results.
After much research and debate, the Senate, in conjunction with
the Vice President of Instruction, the Council on Instructional Planning and the
college Curriculum Committee, made four other key decisions that have shaped the
assessment of courses at Cabrillo:
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The General Education program
is considered as one complete program. Any transfer courses, and the
basic skills classes that build the skills that lead to transfer, are
part of that program. Unlike some other schools, individual transfer or basis
skills departments are not considered separate programs with their own student
learning outcomes.
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The student learning outcomes
for the GE program are the four
college core
competencies. The Core Four are the SLOs for our AA and AS degrees.
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The on-going Instructional
Planning process is used as the vehicle for this assessment process.
Approximately twelve transfer, basic skills and occupational programs embark
on Instructional Planning each year. Departments link their plans for
improvement and budgetary requests to their assessment results.
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In addition to the Core Four,
each individual course at Cabrillo has student learning outcomes. The course
outline forms were revised to include a section on the core competencies and
student learning outcomes (see the
Curriculum
Handbook and
Fiesta for
details).
Assessment Method
The Faculty Senate developed a course-embedded
assessment method to assess the Core Four and the SLOs for individual courses.
Extensive details about this process can be found in the
Instructional Planning Workbook on this web
site. In general, faculty:
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Choose one major assignment
that measures aspects of one of the Core Four or specific course SLOs.
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Assess the assignment using a
rubric that articulates specific standards and criteria.
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If the assignment is a major
exam, faculty instead look at specific groups of questions that address the
SLO or core competency.
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Faculty evaluate the results
of the students’ assessments, note what student needs and issues were revealed
and how the assignment or teaching activities could be altered to improve
student learning.
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Faculty dialogue about their
results in department meetings, sharing their assignments, their evaluation of
the results and their ideas for improvement, including what assistance the
college could provide to improve student learning.
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Program chairs record the
issues and suggestions that arise during the discussion on an
Assessment Analysis form, which is attached to the department,’s Instructional Plan and forwarded to the
SLO
Assessment Review Committee.
The Revolving Wheel of
Assessment
The Faculty Senate and the Committee for Instruction Planning
decided that this new assessment method would be implemented gradually and tied
it to the Instructional Planning schedule.
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The twelve departments
scheduled for Instructional Planning in 2004 piloted the process by assessing
one of the core competencies.
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The 2005 group assessed two
core competencies and revised all departmental course outlines to include SLOs.
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The 2006 group will assess
three core competencies and will rewrite all departmental curriculum to
include SLOs.
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The 2007 group and all groups
thereafter will assess the entire Core Four and will add SLOs to all
curriculum.
After their initial assessment experience, all transfer and basic
skills departments will follow the same five-year
Cycle of Assessment Activities as part
of Instructional Planning. The
Instructional Planning
Workbook was designed to guide them through this process. The
Learning Outcomes Assessment Coordinator also
provides training to entire departments and/or assists individual faculty with
this process.
Assessment
of Transfer Students
Cabrillo has also created an additional assessment of transfer
students. Each year in May, an activity is held to honor the work of students
who are on the cusp of transferring from Cabrillo. Sponsored by the Cabrillo
Student Senate with help from the Transfer Center and the Faculty Senate, the
activity includes speeches of congratulations, a meal and a short survey about
the students’ experiences with Cabrillo’s transfer services and courses. The
inaugural Transfer Breakfast was held in 2005. The 2006 activity is a
luncheon. The survey results will be compiled by the Office of Institutional
Research and reported to the SLO Assessment Review Committee and included in its
annual report.
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