Assessing Learning across a School or College
In order to meet the expectations of DePaul’s regional accreditor, the HLC-NCA, the Office for Teaching, Learning and Assessment asks colleges and schools to engage in assessment annually in two different ways:
- by identifying (at least) one question about student learning in the college or school as a whole and documenting its answer each year
- by reflecting on department assessment reports and by providing and documenting feedback to departments.
TLA believes that the most meaningful questions about student learning are found in conversations already taking place in the college or school and often these conversations can be the beginning of assessment projects. That said, given sufficient time, both TLA and OIPR are happy to help Schools/Colleges locate areas of possible inquiry and strategies for assessment. Examples of possible college/school level assessment might include:
- Student learning of skills or concepts in the college’s required/core courses (when applicable)
- Student learning of school-wide learning outcomes by orchestrating assessment across programs to examine the same outcome using comparable prompts.
- Study of factors and services that affect student learning
- Academic Experiences - student reported information about courses, content, instruction, faculty interactions, overall academic experience, mastery of learning goals,
- Mission - respect for individuals, issues of diversity, and integration of DePaul Catholic and Vincentian Mission
The success of assessment in departments and programs rests in large part on the departments’ belief that their work can have a meaningful impact on student learning. To this end, the second part of the Assessment Process asks that schools and colleges document the ways in which they review department assessment reports -- analyzing them, noting proposed changes, and sharing the best practices from assessments with all departments. TLA further suggests that the dean’s office in each college and school document the ways in which they recognize assessment activities and provide feedback to departments and programs.
Assessment Report Templates
Please see the Assessment Templates and Resources for the report templates.