Since 2013, Michigan Tech's university-wide approach for degree program assessment focused predominately on assessment reporting for the university's eight Undergraduate Student Learning Goals (USLGs). These learning goals are being phased out with the launch of the Essential Education program, which replaces the previous general education program.
In academic year 2024-2025, a new approach will be implemented for degree program assessment that focuses on assessment of degree program learning outcomes (PLOs) to better align with other departmental efforts to manage degree program curricula.
Degree Program Assessment Coordinator: For each degree program, a faculty member is designated as the coordinator, who is responsible for receiving announcements and submitting deliverables as requested. In some departments, a coordinator is assigned to oversee more than one program. The coordinator role will continue with the new approach being developed.
Degree-Program Report Repository: During this transition, faculty and staff can continue to access previous assessment reports and curriculum maps in the online repository (log in required).
USLG rubrics: Since there is often some alignment between the University Student Learning Goals and a degree's PLOs, the USLG rubrics will remain available as a resource for faculty during this transition.
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Previous Assessment of Undergraduate Student Learning Goals
Degree-program faculty engaged in the assessment of both the USLGs and other degree-program goals. For each degree program, USLG assessment was planned and reported according to the following schedule:
- 2013-14 USLG5 Communication
- 2014-15 USLG6 Information Literacy
- 2015-17 USLG3 Global Literacy
- 2017-19 USLG4 Critical and Creative Thinking
- 2019-21 USLG8 Social Responsibility and Ethical Reasoning
For the first two years, planning and assessment took place in a single year. In 2015, faculty were allotted two years to engage in assessment activities for the USLG being assessed university wide, as noted in the schedule above. In the first year, faculty submitted planned assessment methods, a curriculum map, and a reflection on the impact of assessment. During the second year, faculty implemented their assessment methods (typically using USLG rubrics), reported assessment results, their evaluation by degree program faculty, and action plans for improvement if warranted. Action plans that emerged from this process were then implemented, reassessed and reported in a subsequent year to close the loop on assessment.
Faculty also assessed a Goal of Choice (GoC) for the degree program. This goal could be either a degree PLO or a USLG that was not in the rotation schedule (USLGs 1,2, and 7), or one that requires reassessment. Faculty were asked to identify and use an assessment rubric when assessing their Goal of Choice.
Preparing for Degree-Program Assessment
Details about the new degree program assessment approach are being developed, but the two first steps are known. Academic units should complete the following for each degree program they offer:
1. Develop/refine program learning goals for the degree program.
Identify what the students will know or be able to do at the end of the program. For example -
All graduates in Biological Computational Chemistry and Chemical Informatics will:
| Outcome 1 |
Investigate chemicals and materials that are difficult to study in the laboratory. |
|---|---|
| Outcome 2 | Model and visualize individual molecules and how they behave in cells or in materials. |
| Outcome 3 |
Create and/or work with databases to catalog, categorize, organize, and search the structures of chemicals. |
| Outcome 4 | Employ computational chemistry to simplify problems and make predictions that enhance laboratory experiments. |
| Outcome 5 |
Develop information-storage solutions at the molecular level. |
2. Build a Curriculum Map for each student learning goal.
Identify which required courses in the degree program curriculum address each PLO. This will reveal whether there are PLOs that are not met by the curriculum or required courses that do not address any PLOs. It will also indicate where PLO assessment can take place.
Support Resources for Degree-Program Assessment
Each degree program has a faculty member serving as the degree program assessment coordinator. This person submits assessment-related information to assessment@mtu.edu when requested. The coordinator serves as the point person to receive announcements for workshops, instructions, and reminders as well as feedback from the Assessment Council for items submitted. Coordinators are encouraged to share this information with colleagues, especially curriculum committees.
Need Help?
Degree-program coordinators, as well as other faculty and staff, are encouraged to contact Jeannie DeClerck, Assessment Manager in the Office of Assessment for Curricular Effectiveness or our other Assessment Support experts for assistance.