NSC Academic Outcomes Assessment

What is assessment?

The assessment of student learning outcomes has greatly benefited from the emergence of a collection of accepted principles and suggested practices. For instance, the Higher Learning Commission suggests the following. Assessment of student learning is a participatory, iterative process that:

• Provides data/information you need on your students’ learning
• Engages you and others in analyzing and using this data/information to confirm and improve teaching and learning
• Produces evidence that students are learning the outcomes you intended
• Guides you in making educational and institutional improvements
• Evaluates whether changes made improve/impact student learning, and documents the learning and your efforts.”

Higher Learning Commission, (2006). Student Learning, Assessment and Accreditation: Criteria and Contexts

Why does Nevada State College assess learning outcomes in the major and general education?

The primary purpose of assessment is to inform improvement in educational practices and improved teaching excellence. It affords a means of continuous improvement ranging from developing more effective instruction at the classroom level to improving curriculum at the program level; and thus, it is why the “T” reference to teaching is capitalized in NSC’s iTeach core values

A valuable secondary purpose for assessment is to provide a demonstration of voluntary and transparent accountability, one developed within a process that includes and values faculty input and participation, to a wide variety of external audiences. This secondary application of assessment is particularly important for NSC’s current bid for independent accreditation from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities as put forth in their current Standards. This external transparency of our assessment process also serves to call positive attention to our majors and the enduring benefits (learning outcomes) derived from exposure to the faculty and curriculum for each major of study at NSC.

Rationale for the Current Approach?

Similar to our four-year counterparts, UNR and UNLV, we require a systematic reporting process to integrate college wide information under a common reporting model that both contains and organizes key information. Much like adopting a major writing style such as APA or MLA, a basic assessment format provides the viewer with specific, relevant and concise information filed within a consistent organization. The Nichols¹ approach adopted by NSC has been developed to provide a simple, straightforward, low-tech approach to accomplish these goals; and thus, it provides an excellent resource for NSC’s current need to establish a systematic process. This process will provide a seamless method for internal and external audiences interested in tracking the hard work and dedication devoted to improving teaching and learning at Nevada State College.

¹Nichols, J.O. & Nichols, K.W. (2005). A Road Map for Improvement of Student Learning and Support Service through Assessment. New York: Agathon Press