Assessment

Student learning is a fundamental component of the Temple University mission and the assessment of student learning is an essential element of the assessment of Temple’s overall institutional effectiveness. At Temple, approaches to assessment of student learning are as diverse as our array of academic offerings.  At the University level, Temple has established eight competencies for its new Program in General Education and has developed various strategies for determining how our students are doing in meeting these learning outcomes.  At the school, college, and department level programs are developing assessment plans and processes that identify program goals and objectives and instrumentation for measuring these goals; describe the data collected; as well as describe major findings and how they were used for student learning and program improvements.  Temple University is committed to enhancing its culture of assessment.

Institutional Effectiveness

Temple assesses the effectiveness of its programs and overall functioning in diverse and meaningful ways, including

• Periodic Program Review 
• Student surveys
• Course and teaching evaluations
• Employee surveys
• Performance Development Plans
• Annual reports
• Specialized accreditation and external approval processes
• Licensure and professional exam pass rates
• Graduation and retention rates

Assessment of Student Learning

Assessment of student learning occurs in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs.  Temple is implementing the Blackboard Outcomes system to support faculty and administration in the implementation, reporting, and sharing of assessment activity. Each school and college annually submits an assessment plan and report that includes the following information:

• Learning Objectives and Goals
• Learning Opportunities
• Measurement Approaches
• Findings and Use of Results

A University-wide Assessment Planning Committee meets regularly to discuss assessment planning and activities across the University. 

Assessment and Its Relation to Periodic Program Review

Regular assessment in your program will also help with Periodic Program Review (PPR). Of the 10 key areas of Periodic Program Review, half are fundamental to the assessment of student learning (See Preparing the Periodic Program Review Assessment Section )

1. Vision and Mission
2. Curriculum
3. Assessment Methods
4. Student Qualifications and Performance
5. Identification of Benchmarks

Good assessment practice will pay dividends in Periodic Program Review and in satisfying other accreditation agencies and professional associations that are relevant to your field.   You can see how these five areas of Periodic Program Review are connected to the assessment process as it is described below.

You may already have a foundation of assessment if you and your program practice some of the following:

• Publishing a mission statement
• Stating student learning goals that are logically connected to the mission statement
• Linking student learning goals to the broader mission and goals of the relevant school and college
• Mapping where in the curriculum (courses/assignments/educational experiences) students have the opportunity to work toward the given goals
• Developing a method of discovering if students have met the goals in the appropriate places in the curriculum where they are instantiated
• Analyzing the results
• Communicating the results of the discovery to faculty
• Using the results of discovery to make changes where needed

You are welcome to contact us with your questions about assessment. Please visit our assessment website with Blackboard Outcomes video tutorials and assessment cycle information.