Assessment Efforts at Manoa
Assessment of student learning has progressed considerably since the beginning of the present decade. Previously this process was active and robust at the level of the individual class. However, learning as a function of a student's affiliation with a department, major, and program of study was in its infancy. Most departments were in the preliminary planning stages of collecting assessment data from the individual class level, and incorporating it into the department-wide discussion on student learning. Faculty members have been engaging in the introspective analyses necessary to articulate how student learning should be defined at the department level.
Therefore, the campus-wide call for assessment required many departments to fast track their department-wide conversations regarding student learning outcomes. Departments needed to ultimately make clear for themselves what their collective vision was for their students, and what the goals were that they had in mind when they developed their course of study. In short, faculty learned to ask the questions: What impact should our course of study have on the lives of our students? How can we monitor our success at achieving these goals?
The ensuing years found faculty applying the skills they normally used to accomplish their own research and scholarship to questions of student learning. Departments introduced capstone courses, senior theses. They found ways to assess student learning outcomes inside and outside of their classes. Data were collected on student attitudes, perceptions, and experiences. Internships became sources of data for student learning. Entry and exit measurements were taken. Alumni were surveyed.
By 2006, a significant number of departments had collected data for a long enough period to inform departmental policies. More departments are reporting changes in their pedagogical practices, ranging from changes in required-course sequencing to modifications in program requirements.
The links to the right provide a more fine-grained picture of current assessment efforts, and the results of those efforts, at Manoa.