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The following page is a three column layout with a header that contains a quicklinks jump menu and the search CSUN function. Page sections are identified with headers. The footer contains update, contact and emergency information.

Resources

Links

The folowing are links to the forms required for 2009-2010 academic year.

Many tools (instruments, services, rubrics, worksheets, and the like) have been developed by various schools to assist educators in achieving assessment objectives. This page lists some tools that may be helpful for departments to achieve assessment initiatives.

 

Office of Academic Assessment and Program Review

 

 

Archives

Forms from the 2008-2009 academic year.

 

Forms from the 2007-2008 academic year.

 

GE Recertification Files

 

 

 

Other Institutions

Higher Education Organizations

American Association of Higher Education (AAHE)

A rich site on assessment that includes articles, conference notices, information/guidance.

Regional Accrediting Organizations (U.S.)

Because regional accrediting organizations are also demanding documentation of student learning, it is a good idea to consider their requirements when designing an assessment plan for your department.

Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Universities

This list provides links to some of the most useful university Web sites devoted to Assessment.

Ball State University Office of Academic Assessment
Make sure to check out the assessment workbook!

Bowling Green State University
Take some time to read the piece on student outcomes and rubrics.

North Carolina State University

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

St. Cloud State University

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Why do Assessment?

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Assessment can help you find the answers.

Although assessment is becoming a mandate for many universities in general, and for CSUN's colleges and departments, there are other reasons to embrace it.

Think about the following:

  • What do you want students to know, or be able to do, when they finish your course?
  • How do you know if your students achieve those learning outcomes?

The documented results of an assessment can:

  • verify that student performance matches expectations and standards
  • explain why student performance doesn't match expectations or standards
  • identify how student performance might be improved

The goal of assessment is improved student learning, and the data we gather can play a critical role in improving curricular programs:

Assessment is the systematic collection, review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba & Banta, 1999.)
[1Palomba, C.A. & Banta, T.W.(1999). Assessment Essentials: Planning, Implementing, and Improving Assessment in Higher Education, Jossey-Bass:San Francisco.]

Assessment encourages instructors and institutions to be reflective about their courses and accountable to students. Over time, this leads to improved educational effectiveness. To effectively conduct an assessment, you must make your expectations and standards clear - both to you and your students. Then you can accurately analyze and interpret how well your students meet those standards.

"Assessment requires making expectations and standards for quality explicit and public; systematically gathering evidence on how well performance matches those expectations and standards; analyzing and interpreting the evidence; and using the resulting information to document, explain, and improve performance" (Thomas A. Angelo, AAHE Bulletin, April 1995, p.11).