Assessment in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) values a systematic approach to the assessment of student learning outcomes. Assessment involves:
- Articulating well defined student learning goals and supporting outcomes.
- Gathering meaningful evidence about how well students are achieving these stated goals.
- Using the collected data and information to form decisions. These decisions benefit our programs by providing continuous quality improvement and enriched educational experiences for our students.
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National Institute for
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The CFAES Office for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment has structured this website by capitalizing upon the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment’s (NILOA) Transparency Framework. By highlighting student learning outcomes achievement within our programs, we hope our website provides meaningful and accessible information. Our intent is to have a transparent exchange of information with faculty, staff, and students to support the ongoing culture of teaching, learning, and assessment at CFAES.
What is nilOa's transparency framework?
Gathering evidence of academic accomplishment – the knowledge, skills and competencies students gain as a result of their college experience – is a continuous process. It occurs at various levels and across many dimensions, and the findings are intended to enable programs to make improvements, assess the impact of changes in academic programs and provide evidence of learning outcomes to those to whom they are accountable. The Transparency Framework addresses the question: How might these efforts be made more visible?
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NILOA has developed a Transparency Framework to support colleges in sharing evidence of student learning on and off campus. The Framework is based on a review of assessment websites and identifies six key components of student learning assessment. Each section of the Framework suggests a component of student learning assessment that may be of interest to specific audiences and outlines opportunities to advance understanding.
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For more information about NILOA’s Transparency Framework, please visit their website.
Transparency Framework
Click the components below for information about how the six components of the Transparency Framework are utilized here at CFAES.
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Student Learning Outcome Statements (SLOS), clearly state the expected knowledge, skills, attitudes, competencies, and habits of mind that our students are expected to acquire through the completion of their selected program. |
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Assessment Plans outline how programs will assess student learning, outline the data collection tools and approaches that will be used, and the timeline for implementation. |
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Assessment Resources encompass information or training provided to faculty and staff to help them understand, develop, implement, communicate, and use evidence of student learning. |
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Current Assessment Activities includes information on a full range of ongoing or recently completed projects and activities which help to gauge student learning. |
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Evidence of Student Learning includes results of assessment activities. These results include findings from CFAES programs based on collected data from indirect assessment methods and direct performance indicators. |
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Use of Student Learning Outcomes highlights how findings and results are used for academic program improvement, planning, goal setting, faculty development, student development, course revision, program review, and accountability. |
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What is Assessment? |
What is assessment?
Assessment is the practice of evaluating the manner or degree to which students in programs within our College are learning. Assessment is designed to compare student performance with predetermined student learning outcomes.
Assessment can help us answer the following questions:
- Are students learning what they are supposed to be learning?
- Are students learning as well as they should?
- What can we do to improve student learning?
- How can educators document that students are learning what they are supposed to be learning?
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Why do assessment? |
Why do assessment?
Assessment needs to take place for at least two reasons:
1. Assessment is designed to facilitate the continuous improvement of teaching and learning by:
a. Helping educators improve the manner and degree to which students learn what they are supposed to be learning.
b. Providing information that allows the educators to make good decisions based on quality information about student learning.
c. Encouraging educators to reflect upon what they do in the learning environment, how their educational practices affect student learning, and what changes could be made in teaching methods or materials to enhance student learning.
d. Continually imrpoving teaching and learning which is necessitated by the continual changes in our students and the global community they will serve.
2. Assessment documents our accountability to the publics we serve.
a. Students and their families should be able to see what we do in teaching and learning, and what we expect from students;
b. Accrediting agencies need to know that we are effective in our teaching and learning practices;
c. Legislative and executive governmental bodies provide funding and require evidence that these funds are accomplishing their intended purpose.
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How does CFAES implement
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How does cfaes implement the assessment process
The CFAES Office for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (OTLA) facilitates a 6-Year assessment process which occurs over a period of six years.
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The Office for Teaching, Learning,
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The office for teaching, learning, aND assessment aspires to:
- Promote continuous improvement of teaching and learning exchanges
- Enhance academic quality
- Enrich our students' experiences
- Promote sustainable assessment processess
- Promote service improvement
- Monitor administrative, academic and educational units
- Assist with educational/institutional effectiveness
- Encourage innovation in student learning
- Promote innovation in the learning environment
- Serve as a source of knowledge for institutional improvement
- Improve educational outcomes for students
- Advance the assessment of learning in undergraduate, graduate, interdiciplinary, co-curricular, and continuing education
*National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. (2011). Transparency Framework. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA). Retrieved from: https://www.learningoutcomesassessment.org/ourwork/transparency-framework/