Assessment Basics

What is assessment?

Assessment is a systematic and ongoing process that involves the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and evidence to evaluate the effectiveness and quality of educational programs, processes, or outcomes.

The primary aim of assessment is to inform decision-making, enhance educational practices, and drive improvements. It allows institutions to demonstrate accountability, meet accreditation requirements, and enhance the overall educational experience for learners. Assessment is a vital component of a data-informed educational ecosystem, fostering continuous improvement, transparency, and accountability.

Components of learning assessment

Assessment involves a cyclical process that includes:

• Setting clear and measurable learning outcomes;
• Designing appropriate assessment tools and rubrics;
• Gathering data through various means;
• Analyzing the results;
• Using insights to make informed decisions for curriculum development, instructional enhancements and educational policy adjustments.

Glossary

FAQs

Assessment at Western

Western Michigan University (WMU) is committed to the success of our students. That success is predicated on the idea that students graduate from the university having added to the knowledge, skills, and abilities that they had entering WMU. Assessment of student learning is crucial to ensuring and documenting that students get the added value they should expect from the institution.

Assessment at WMU is an outcome-based process and occurs in both academic and learner support units. (Examples of learner support units are advising, Student Affairs, student employment, libraries, etc.) Units determine the learning outcomes they desire when a student completes either an individual course or program of study or through the services they provide. Various assessment tools are used to measure the degree to which the outcomes have been achieved. Benchmarks are established for each outcome and the data obtained through various assessment tools is compared to the benchmarks. If the results show that students are not reaching the stated learning or process outcomes at an acceptable level, the faculty or staff members of the unit make changes in the course/program or service offered. Assessment is used to determine if the changes result in an increased number of students reaching the desired outcome(s).

Assessment plans have been written for academic units and learner support units. Since no single educational or operational/process outcome is common to all units, the plans show the diversity across campus. Different units use various assessment tools as they apply. Assessment plans are not static and can change and evolve as the unit discovers what activities are effective and which are not.

The assessment process is iterative, and at Western we focus on using assessment data to make changes for continuous improvement of all the programs and services we offer.