SLOAC Step Descriptions

			Student Learning Outcomes

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Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Cycle¹
Choose Improvement	You may believe that this step goes without saying; after all, are there not many times each semester when you finish an interaction with a student or students and say to yourself, "That went well, I'm going to incorporate that into another class." Or, "I need to find a way to make that work better". The first step in the SLOAC is to simply formalize the anecdotal process in which we are already involved.

Take Stock	Taking stock is asking questions which initiate a dialog with students and peers to reveal the current status of a situation. However, we need to ask questions about numerous areas and at various levels within the college to develop an accurate and complete snapshot of "Where are we?" and to focus in on "What are our next steps?" Although we are not able to work on all areas at once, and some areas are not applicable to all, it is important to "Take Stock" in the following areas: Students - What are your students' attitudes and beliefs about learning? How is instruction and services aligned with those attitudes and beliefs? Faculty and Staff - What are our attitudes and knowledge about learning, teaching, assessment and continuous improvement? What forums for discussion and/or other opportunities for dialogue are available? Curriculum and Services - What are external influences on curriculum or services? How do we maintain consistency and develop processes? Assessment - What assessments/measurements are in place now? How do those assessments/measurements contribute to improving student learning outcomes? Institution - What regulations impact student learning outcomes? How do local practices and policies impact student learning outcomes and assessment? Governance - Who will coordinate student learning outcomes, assessments, improvement strategies and continuous improvement? Are these SLO activities fully incorporated within our shared governance system? Many of our existing resources may be used as a starting point for developing SLOs. If you would like to access your course outlines click here for directions. (Thank you to Joe Ryan for putting these direction together!)

Norm Student Outcomes	Norming is a process. It does NOT mean having everyone teach alike with the same tests and activities or advise students with the same voice or provide services with the same "script" as your co-workers. Norming is the practice of having planned, regular discussions with others to share and combine ideas and make decisions that will be carried out by all participants within their areas. In this instance, we use norming to convey the ideal of "collaboratively authored and collectively accepted expectations for student learning and assessment." (Maki, P.L. 2004. Assessing for Learning American Association for Higher Education, Sterling, VA: Stylus.)

Norm Assessments	There are a multitude of assessment tools we are already familiar with and additional resources in this area are available on the SLO Assessment Tools page. However, the key in using the SLOAC is to norm your assessment tools along with your Student Learning Outcomes. Participating in dialogue about Student Learning Outcomes AND how they will be measured at the same time enhances the coherence of courses or programs and creates opportunities for collaboration with other college departments. Norming assessments encourages alignment with programmatic philosophies and values. Norming assessment tools enables faculty or staff to collectively identify the evidence, criteria or performance indicators they expect their students to achieve.

Identify Improvement Strategies	As in "Taking Stock", we are able to identify improvements that need to be made in both multiple areas and at multiple levels within the college environment. Do not overwhelm yourself by trying to change too much at one time. Identifying what to change and why, and how to implement the change requires time and most importantly, collaboration with peers. We might start by evaluating the data we have collected to identify patterns of weakness in student learning. We can then identify what changes or improvements may address those gaps and plan for implementing the changes. Potential areas for improvement include instruction, curriculum/content, improvements in student support as well as changes in motivation and engagement of students.

Make Improvements and Evaluate	First, we make sure improvement strategies are aligned with student learning gaps. In order to do this, we must have baseline data which will allow for comparison. Because we have normed our Student Learning Outcomes and our assessments, the data collected offers more accurate analysis of how well students have improved based on the implemented changes. We are now closing the Student Learning Assessment Cycle by taking our new data and continuing to update our assessment of whether students are achieving our stated learning outcomes.

Build Institutional Capacity	Within this cycle of continuous assessment, analysis and improvement, Columbia College has made a collective commitment to our students. The same previous steps of the SLOAC apply at the institution level with an eye toward structures, processes,, decisions and information. Are our resources and support - human, financial and technological, aligned with our Student Learning Outcomes process? Do campus practices manifest an institutional commitment to our students?
¹The Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Cycle and step definitions have been largely adapted from a conference presented by Norena Norton Badway, Ph.D and Higher Education Evaluation & Research Group (formerly Community College Cooperative, University of California Berkeley). Six Columbia College faculty and staff attended "Moving from Confusion to Confidence: Using Outcomes Data to Improve Local Programs" and brought the presentation information back to the SLO Committee where it was incorporated into Columbia College's Student Learning Outcomes development.