Assessment at WMU

Assessment Cycle

The Assessment Cycle is a structured and continuous process that encompasses planning, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and action to evaluate the effectiveness of educational programs, services, or initiatives. It involves setting clear learning outcomes, designing appropriate assessment methods, gathering data, analyzing results, and using insights to inform improvements, thereby promoting accountability and enhancing the overall educational experience. It ensures that educational programs are aligned with intended outcomes, and it empowers institutions to adapt and evolve to better serve their students and stakeholders.

Steps of the Assessment Cycle:

1. Planning and Goal Setting

In this first step, you will identify specific learning outcomes, goals or objectives you aim to achieve through programs or services. These should be clear and measurable. We recommend using the Backward Design framework to create outcomes. WMUx has put together some excellent resources on this topic.

2. Designing Assessment Methods

In step 2, select appropriate assessment methods and teaching activities that align with identified objectives. These may include surveys, tests, observations, and other data collection techniques. For more information about this topic, visit the WMUx teaching resources page on the topic of authentic assessment.

3. Setting Benchmarks

In step 3, you will identify expectations for what achieving the outcome will look like and at what level of achievement is acceptable to 'meet' expectations for achievement. For more information about setting benchmarks, take a look at this blogpost about benchmarking.

4. Data Collection

In step 4, data is collected from various sources, including students, faculty, and stakeholders, to measure progress toward the established goals and objectives. This phase involves administering assessments or surveys, for example.

For ideas to get you started, take a look at this list of potential instructional activities curated by WMUx.

The University Libraries offers assistance with brainstorming a custom data workflow and guidance on documentation and data collection structures through consultations with our data librarian. The libraries also offers a number of data workshops offered every semester on these topics. You can participate synchronously by registering today, asynchronously by watching a workshop recording, or by requesting a custom data workshop for your group. Not sure which workshop would work best for your needs? Contact Daria for more assistance.

5. Data Analysis

The next step involves analyzing collected data to determine the extent to which the established objectives have been met in alignment with the benchmarks that were set in step 3. Analysis should involve examining trends, patterns and variations in the data.

The University Libraries offers asynchronous recordings on cleaning and analyzing secondary data in Excel, cleaning your data in OpenRefine, and using Taguette to code qualitative data [forthcoming]. Occasionally, these workshops are also offered synchronously. The University Libraries also offers a number of software on their computers to help you analyze your data.

For more information, check out this website from Truckee Meadows Community College, which shares some tips and considerations for this step of the assessment cycle. There are also some excellent data analysis guides that can be found on the Washington State University's Office of Assessment for Curricular Assessment website.

6. Interpretation

This step is closely aligned to step 5. Assessment results should be interpreted to gain insights into the strengths and weaknesses of educational programs or services. This phase involves understanding what the data means in the context of the goals of the program, unit, department or institution. Ideally, data interpretation is done collaboratively through discussions with colleagues, employers, students and/or other stakeholders who can help to make meaning of the results, and provide potential ideas for action items to implement to improve outcome achievement.

The University Libraries offers consultations with our data librarian to help you identify variables that are important to your assessment and come up with a strategy for interpreting your data using questions that you developed as part of your planning and goal setting (or pivoting to a new strategy, if needed).

7. Action and Improvement

Based on interpretation of data, the next step is to make informed decisions and take action to improve programs, services, or curricula. This might involve resource allocation, curriculum changes, or enhancements to instructional strategies.

8. Review and Revision

The assessment process is iterative, and often cyclical, with the intent to continuously review and revise goals/objectives and assessment methods to ensure ongoing improvement. Feedback loops are established to monitor progress.

Documentation of the Assessment Cycle Components and Results

Documentation of all steps (and related information) for each of the components in the assessment cycle (and assessment plan) is key. By capturing this information, a historical picture of the learning that has occurred and where you plan to go next, will emerge. This picture can be thought of as a road map telling you where you have gone, and where you plan to go next. Having and utilizing this road map can help to assure that you are always taking steps toward continuous improvement, and a higher level of student achievement of the intended learning or operational/process outcomes for the department, program or unit.

More Information and Resources

Assessment cycle example #1 (Highline College)- This resource provides guidance on planning, implementing, and completing assessment cycles, emphasizing the importance of ongoing improvement in educational programs and services.
Assessment cycle example #2 (James Madison University) - This resource provides the detailed steps involved in assessing student services and programs, including goal setting, data collection, analysis, and improvement efforts, and offers links to additional resources.
WMU University Libraries, Data Services and Education - University Libraries assists the campus community with finding and managing data for their research needs. From creating project workflows and managing data to finding secondary data and preparing data for sharing, we're here to help (text taken directly from their website).

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