In the next assessment cycle, demonstrate the impact of the assessment response. These reports are ongoing, they will reflect what has been done, and what will be done – ultimately showing progressive and continued improvement. This is referred to as “Closing the Loop”. Below are examples from Program Assessment Reports where programs have made adjustments to courses, their program, or assessment processes based on information gathered during the assessment process.

Course changes for better learning

Program: Environmental Horticulture – Landscape Design Option

Program Learning Outcome: Demonstrate knowledge of important communication traditions and theories in landscape architecture/design.

Closing the Loop – HORT 201: From last year’s assessment we: clarified assignments learning objectives, scope, and features to specifically build knowledge of ecological factors and themes, and to scale-down the breadth of concepts covered. Adjusted reading to better relate to course assignments and to utilize a shared text across HORT 201 and 202 for consistency and more complete coverage of themes. We began to explore ideas for integrating assignment themes across HORT 201 and 225.

Revisiting Threshold Values

Program: BS in Food and Nutrition

 

In the last Food and Nutrition Assessment Report (2018-2019), it was identified that the threshold for the NUTR 421 Macronutrient report was not met. Dr. Mary Miles revised the instructions [for this assignment] so that students selected the Macronutrient topic first before moving onto the detailed instructions on how to write the research paper. It was determined that the threshold for this research paper would be best at a 75% level overall for 100% of students to attain. The combination of revising the way the project was presented along with a more realistic goal for a very challenging research paper allowed for 100% success in fall 2019.

Improving the Academic Program Assessment Process

Program: PhD in Psychological Science

2018-2019 Report: Focusing on the AY misses students who finish deadlines over the summer. Because some of our deadlines are prior to the start of the fall semester, we’ve changed our assessment period to Sept 1 – August 31.

2019-2020 Report: The present report follows the above timeline for assessment, and we concluded this has worked out well.

Adjusting Course Content based on Assessment Results

Program: C.A.S. in Health Information Coding, Gallatin College

Based on the 2018-2019 program assessment results, additional content has been added to include advanced coding simulations and CPC (Certified Professional Coder) exam prep. These changes were added in the instruction for the 2019-2020 cohort. Of the students that have taken the exam, all have obtained the CPC-A credential.