While some of the outcomes of a St. Olaf education are specific to a particular program (such as a major or concentration) or a particular feature of the curriculum (such as an individual General Education requirement), some transcend the particulars of programs and requirements. These outcomes result from a variety of educational experiences over a student’s entire academic career. Student writing ability, for example, is fostered not only in courses meeting a GE writing requirement, but in most of the courses that a student completes during her four years on the Hill. The same may be said of several other institution-wide outcomes, such as critical thinking and global understanding.
One of the recommendations of the 2003 Special Emphasis Self-Study prepared for our re-accreditation by the North Central Association was to match program responsibility with assessment responsibility in planning and conducting assessment. For the most part, we have followed this recommendation with respect to institutional-level assessment. College-wide administrative offices (Evaluation and Assessment [E&A] and Institutional Research [IR]) have undertaken the assessment of college-wide learning outcomes such as those identified above, in collaboration with several college-wide committees (e.g., the Inquiry in Support of Student Learning [ISSL] workgroup, the Curriculum and Educational Policies Committee [CEPC], and the Committee on the First-Year Experience).
However, we have learned that individual faculty members are vital partners in institutional assessment efforts. Because assessment at St. Olaf is still largely a volunteer effort, encouragement from an adviser or instructor can make a big difference in a student’s decision whether or not to participate in a given project. Reminders from faculty members played a big role in the high response rate to the Fall 2006 administration of the Research Practices Survey to first-year students. Some faculty members provided class time for first-year students to complete the time-intensive Collegiate Learning Assessment in Fall 2005. Furthermore, the use of institution-wide assessment results for improving student learning at the classroom level is often a matter of individual faculty initiative. In short, while the primary responsibility for institutional-level assessment rests with institution-wide offices and organizations, individual faculty members are still the key to assessment that makes a difference for teaching and learning.
Below are links to the principal initiatives involving assessment at the institutional level. Faculty members interested in learning more or working with other faculty members who are engaged with any of these initiatives are encouraged to contact Evaluation and Assessment (x3061) for additional details.
Collaborative Assessment for Liberal Learning (CALL) – Focuses on the assessment of critical thinking, effective writing, quantitative reasoning, and global understanding
First Year Information Literacy in the Liberal Arts Assessment (FYILLAA) – Focuses on the assessment of students’ research experiences, attitudes, and proficiencies
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) – Focuses on how undergraduates spend their time and the extent to which they engage in behaviors associated with the desired outcomes of a college education
Existing Questionnaire Inventory Project (EQUIP) – Provides access to information about a wide variety of student learning behaviors and outcomes embedded in regional and national surveys regularly administered by the College, including not only NSSE, but also the Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshman Survey (CIRP), the College Student Survey (CSS), and the Higher Education Data Sharing (HEDS) consortium surveys of seniors and alumni.
