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Assessment at UA
To further the mission and vision of The University of Alabama (UA), the process of ongoing assessment identifies best practices, implements research-based changes and enhances professional knowledge. The process continues with the evaluation or assessment of the impact of those changes until the outcomes are accomplished consistently over time.
At UA, the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) annually reviews the assessment processes of all units (both academic and non-instructional) and provides constructive feedback. OIE staff consult on best practices and provide training to any UA personnel who are involved or interested in the process of assessment.
In an effort to continuously improve across all areas and levels at UA, both academic and non-instructional units maintain systematic plans for assessment and submit annual assessment reports. An assessment plan details the unit’s expected outcomes and the unit’s methods for evaluating the extent to which outcomes are achieved. An assessment report includes the assessment plan, assessment results for the preceding cycle, and action/improvement plans based on review and interpretation of results. Expected outcomes should align with UA and divisional strategic plans. Each reporting unit submits an annual assessment report to the appropriate administrative unit and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE). OIE maintains copies of all assessment reports for UA per State of Alabama records retention policy.
OIE reviews the assessment reports of all units (both academic and non-instructional) and provides constructive feedback. OIE staff consult on best practices and provide training to any UA personnel who are involved or interested in the process of assessment and continuous improvement. In consultation with the University Assessment Council (UAC), OIE has developed multiple rubrics that are used for internal peer review (e.g., within a College) and to frame OIE feedback on assessment reports. The rubrics serve as road maps to good assessment and improvement processes geared toward student learning outcomes (SLOs) and/or operational/administrative outcomes (OPOs)
Please access the following documents as needed:
- Additional resource under Rubrics
Peer Review Tool for Academic Degree Programs
- Additional resource under Example Assessment Reports
Examples of Action Plans and Disaggregation of Results
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Assessment Resources
For a copy of the OIE feedback rubrics, answers to frequently asked questions about the rubrics, or to access an example of an annotated feedback report, click on one of the links below.
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Quick Guides for Assessment
The Quick Guides linked below provide instructions, guidelines and information on writing or revising assessment plans, selecting measures and methods, as well as analyzing results and using those results to achieve improvement.
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Assessment Spotlight
Assessment Spotlight highlights the assessment processes of departments across campus as examples of excellent practice, emphasizing the benefits and importance of faculty involvement and the use of results in the assessment process.
Fall 2019, no. 1
Nursing MSN Curriculum Review
Curriculum review/revision is a periodic, collaborative process designed to maintain and improve the health of an educational program. It’s typically led by faculty who wish to examine the components of their curriculum and its collective impact on student learning. The framework and timeline of the review process may vary; however, it’s essentially strategic planning for degree programs.
UA’s Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program recently initiated a curriculum review. Dr. Robin Lawson, who is facilitating the process, observed that its value depends crucially on the buy-in and participation of teaching faculty: “Let faculty be the drivers of change. Give them the resources and responsibility to be change agents.” The role of the College is to provide support, including a framework and time for the collaborative work.
Every degree program aims to produce graduates who are highly qualified in key skill/knowledge areas. For the MSN program, those key areas are the foundational disciplinary competencies established by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN Essentials). The competencies informed the guiding questions of the MSN curriculum review (e.g., Do our course learning outcomes and activities align with the Essentials? How are our students doing on competency-specific measures of learning?). Faculty used “crosswalk” maps (see snip below) to explore curricular alignment with national standards and perform gap analyses for the program and its concentrations.
Curriculum review is important for any educational program, but particularly so for programs with specialized accreditation given that (1) accreditors routinely revise their guidelines, and (2) curricula and courses evolve over time. As educators, we tend to innovate at the course level—for example, we inherit a course section/syllabus and iteratively adapt it to give students the best experience we can. Almost inevitably, that causes drift—certain program learning outcomes may gradually receive more or less emphasis across the curriculum than they once did. MSN faculty found variability by course offerings/sections, which meant that not all students were getting all “the same” core courses in terms of emphasized competencies. Predictably, not all students were meeting all skill-specific benchmarks.
The identification of such gaps is precisely why curriculum review is valuable. Based on their discoveries, MSN faculty have selected and refreshed five core courses to ensure coverage of key competencies across all students. Additional courses have been tweaked or created to ensure that students master concentration-specific learning outcomes. Another revision involves paired theory/practice courses: From now on, a student who has to retake one “companion” course will also retake the other. Dr. Lawson cited these as examples of empowered faculty strengthening the MSN program to help students succeed during and after their time at UA.
If you’re planning to initiate a curriculum review, please contact OIE (oie@ua.edu) or explore general frameworks such as the examples below:
- University of Calgary (Institute for Teaching and Learning)
- Carnegie Mellon University (Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation)
- Ohio State University (University Center for Advancement
For a downloadable version of this article, click here:
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