Overview

Assessment at Miami University focuses on full-cycle assessment. Rather than viewing assessment as a one-time project to be completed, full-cycle assessment regards assessment as a continuous process, in which the student learning outcomes data are used to redesign programs in order to enhance student learning and development. Engaging in full-cycle assessment helps to satisfy requirements for re-accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission, where it is necessary to show that best practices are used to assess student learning.

Effective assessment answers the question, “How well are our students achieving the outcomes that we have identified for the program?”

High quality assessment:

Uses authentic information in order to improve student learning and development in specified areas;
Uses multiple (qualitative and quantitative) strategies for measuring student growth with respect to the specified outcomes;
Identifies both strengths and weaknesses in the program;
Uses evidence (rather than just assertions) to make changes in programs to continuously improve students’ learning and development.
Is systematic, continuous, and ongoing.

Assessment Plans

All degree programs (i.e., all graduate degrees, undergraduate majors or “free -standing” certificates whether delivered in online or face-to-face mode) must develop an assessment plan that describes the student learning outcomes to be assessed, the direct and indirect forms of assessment of the student learning outcomes, and the means of disseminating assessment findings to faculty.

Co-majors, minors as well as certificate programs that are offered only to existing Miami students pursuing other Miami degrees are not required (but are highly encouraged) to develop assessment plans.

An assessment plan should be developed for a degree program in the following instances:

When the degree program is first proposed
When an existing degree program changes the student learning outcomes to be assessed in significant ways (e.g., more than modest wording changes)
When the faculty members decide that a better means (or methods) of assessment are needed

If a degree program is accredited by an external agency (beyond the Higher Learning Commission), and if the accrediting body requires direct assessment of student learning outcomes (assessment of student work), the program’s assessment activity and documentation for that accrediting body will meet the assessment requirements for Miami University.

The requirement for an assessment plan and annual reports apply to “free standing” certificate programs, i.e., those which are open to students external to Miami—that is, students who are not pursuing any other Miami degrees. If a certificate program requires a student to be enrolled in an already existing Miami degree program, then a separate assessment plan is not needed.

Annual Assessment Report

All programs must submit an annual assessment report once the assessment plan is in place. An annual assessment report should achieve the following goals:

The data and findings in the report are consistent with the overall assessment plan; and
The work (following the first reporting year) builds upon the findings and improvements made in previous years.

Assessment reports achieve the following:

Provide a clear, complete, and well-organized summary of results for all assessment measures
Include supporting documentation (rubrics, surveys, tables, charts) as appropriate
Include conclusions drawn from and supported by assessment data and evidence
Be interpreted in an appropriate scope (e.g. sample size and generalizability are considered)
Indicate how the data was shared and discussed with faculty and other appropriate stakeholders
Compare new findings to past trends as appropriate
Provide clarity in how the assessment findings will be used to improve teaching and course design

Please note: The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness has created an Assessment Resources website that includes guidelines and templates related to developing assessment plans and reports, sample plans and reports, and numerous additional information about topics including learning goals, curriculum maps, various data collection methods, analyzing and interpreting assessment results, and making the assessment process more manageable.