Background
The Pueblo Community College (PCC) Assessment of Student Learning (ASL) committee submits this Seventh Annual Assessment Report to the administration, faculty, students, and staff of the college and to the Pueblo community.
During the past year, the ASL committee has been encouraging departments to move towards program level assessment. The committee has also been actively working to increase the number of professional development opportunities related to assessment of student learning, and to improve communication with outside entities through the PCC web site.
Program-level assessment looks at the entire program rather than individual classes within the program. This assessment can be done in one of several ways. Certain programs require students to pass a national accreditation test before they are eligible for work. Other programs have students engage in internships or occupation experiences where industry professionals can assess the work of the students. Some programs make use of a capstone class to evaluate the effectiveness of their graduates. Transfer programs can be evaluated by monitoring the success of students once they transfer to the four-year institution.
Assessment Process
The assessment process at PCC involves a formal process of evaluating the effectiveness of student learning. PCC departments determine outcomes that are most meaningful for their students, employers and the community in general. The assessment of student learning committee facilitates this process by helping develop department plans and providing opportunities for professional development that relate directly to assessment. This report summarizes the results of assessment for the academic year 2006-2007.
Some departments engage in classroom assessment, and some departments engage in program level assessment. Classroom assessment takes measurements of student success in a single class or group of classes and determines how the students measure up against a predetermined benchmark.
Program Level assessment looks at the results of the entire program and how the outcomes of student success can be measured. Several departments engage in program level assessment. Examples of program level assessment include measurements on standardized tests that are administered for all students within a specific degree program. Examples of this are Nursing, Dental Hygiene and Law Enforcement among other programs. Other examples are measurements on student performance making use of a capstone course or with an evaluation given to students as part of an internship or occupational experience.
Faculty Involvement
Once again this year most departments had strong faculty involvement in the assessment process. Numerous faculty members participated in professional development assessment activities throughout the year.
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Most faculty members were involved in two Assessment Work Days in October and March where departments met to work on their assessment plans.
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Nine faculty members (Lana Carter, Laura Solano, Delia Lechtenberg, Bill Lewis, Robert Malwitz, Melinda Milkowski, Joe Easton, Jennifer Sherman, and Boyd Rodman ) attended the Fall Assessment Conference, “Assessment 2006,” held at Community College of Aurora.
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Three ASL committee members (Boyd Rodman, Duane Garrett, and Dawn Mathis) and one non-member (Tim Gama) attended the New Mexico Higher Education Assessment and Retention Conference in February, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Representatives from PCC have attended this conference for the last four years.
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The Assessment Coordinator, Boyd Rodman, attended the Higher Learning Commission Conference the end of April 2007 in Chicago, IL.
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Boyd Rodman worked actively with the committee for the October 2006 Assessment conference in Aurora.
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Three assessment workshops were held during the Spring semester and several faculty members were in attendance at each.
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The ASL committee participated in an AQIP action project devoted to tying assessment of student learning results to the annual planning/budgeting process. Current status of the project is still in the research stage and a draft report is currently being written.
Student Involvement
The ASL committee recognized the importance of students’ understanding and appreciation of the assessment process. With this in mind the assessment coordinator met with PCC’s Student Senate prior to Assessment Week to outline the stakes students have in the assessment process and to highlight the value of assessment to students.
Stakeholder Involvement
Information about Assessment of Student Learning will be communicated to the public in general through this report, and through the posting of this material on the PCC web site.
Methodology
The assessment process is determined by the individual departments. Each department makes a commitment to an assessment plan during the first semester of the academic year. The departments follow through with data collection and analysis during the second semester.