Introduction to SLO Assessment

Welcome to student learning outcomes assessment. On this page you will find resources to get you started. The resources should be valuable to those who are old hands at assessment as well as those who are new to the process or unsure of its purpose.

If you scroll down below the resources, you will see two tables. One shows the grading worksheet for a fictional course and the other an assessment worksheet for the same course. You will notice that students' grades are the same across both but the assessment worksheet reveals something the grading worksheet obscures: Despite the fact that most students did well in the course, they systematically failed to grasp the second course learning outcome. The unveiling of what students learned and failed to learn is what assessment is intentionally designed to do. In so doing, it sheds light on what faculty may need to teach differently to improve students' ability to acquire essential skills and knowledge.

Grading and Assessment Tables