1. What is Program Outcomes Assessment?
2. Why are we doing Program Outcomes Assessment?
3. How is the process described?

4. How does Program Outcomes Assessment improve student learning and program success?
5. How does Program Outcomes Assessment differ from grading exams and lab/project reports?
6. Is Students Outcomes Assessment required, or is it optional?
7. How will Program Outcomes assessment help me do my job better?
8. What can I do to facilitate the process?
9. Who are our constituencies and how will they be involved in this process? Why are they important?
10. How do we know when our objectives are met?
11. How will the process impact me as an instructor?
12. How will we know if the process is working as intended?
13. How are our objectives consistent with the University's and School's mission?
14. How and where do you get information/reading material about ABET 2000 criteria?
15. Why has our school decided to use the new ABET criteria?

 Vision Statement?
  Mission Statement?
 Educational Objectives?
  Program Outcomes?
  Program Assessment?

17. Who are how are we going to implement assessment?
18. How can we get help in developing and implementing the assessment process?
19. Where do the funds to conduct assessment come from?
20. Who decides which student outcomes are measured and are important?
21. Who decides how the outcomes are measured and what is a passing score?
22. Do all schools and universities measure and expect the same outcomes?
23. Does failing to meet an expected outcome prevent accreditation?
24. Why don't we just use the accumulative GPA of students as the indicator for outcome?
25. What is ABET?
26. What is TQM?
27. What is WASC?              

1. What is Program Outcomes Assessment?

Program Outcomes Assessment is a curriculum development process that is intended as a means to improve program success and student learning based on real evidence. It is a continuous process that involves planning, assessing and feedback.  

2. Why are we doing Program Outcomes Assessment?

We have a mandate to implement the Program Outcomes Assessment process from three areas; University Faculty Handbook, which indicates that assessment is a significant portion of the academic program review, WASC accreditation guidelines, and the new ABET Engineering Criteria 2000 mandate.                    

3. How is the process described?

  Plan it
  Do it
  Check it
  Revise it
  Repeat it           

4. How does Program Outcomes Assessment improve student learning and program success?

  It improves the teaching/learning process by a continuous assessment process similar to TQM.
  It helps you get a better fix on what students are learning through real data.
  It heps you make decisions based on documented feedback from students and employers that go beyond the usual assessment based on classroom exams, laboratory reports, student evaluation of teaching, and alumni feedback.              

5. How does Program Outcomes Assessment differ from grading exams and lab/project reports?

  Program Outcomes Assessment provides you with data that helps you point to areas where students are having difficulty, while exam scores and report grades generally give gross measures of what students have learned

  Program Outcomes Assessment helps you demonstrate that students are learning what you assume they have learned, not just the grades they have earned.

  Grades usually provide feedback to individual students, while Program Outcomes assessment provides feedback about a group of students to faculty members and other constituent groups.

  Ordinary exams and laboratory reports may be used as part of a Program Outcomes assessment process, but more attention would have to be paid to some form of item analysis so that statistical evidence on what students are learning can be obtained.                      

6. Is Students Outcomes Assessment required, or is it optional?

Students Outcomes Assessment is required by:

  ABET
  WASC
  University Faculty Handbook for Program Review      

7. How will Program Outcomes assessment help me do my job better?

Input from constituencies will verify that we are focusing on the right areas in our curricula. Responses to our assessment review will help us identify strengths and weaknesses of our programs.            

8. What can I do to facilitate the process?

Read, ask questions and help your department assessment coordinator implement the assessment process. Become actively involved in the process.

9. Who are our constituencies and how will they be involved in this process? Why are they important?

The constituencies are the group of people with common expectations of our educational programs; the students and their parents, industry employers of our graduates, faculty, staff and alumni.               

10. How do we know when our objectives are met?

Objectives and outcomes will be met when we receive positive feedback from all our constituencies.              

11. How will the process impact me as an instructor?

The process will impact you, through positive feedback that will verify that our curricula are meeting the needs of our students and through negative feedback that will help us identify where changes need to be made to make our programs, and by definition curricula, better meet the needs of our constituencies.        

12. How will we know if the process is working as intended?

An indication that the process is working is if our assessment scores are improving each time we go through the assessment process.

An indication that the process is not working would be if our assessment grade declines or does not increase.   

13. How are our objectives consistent with the University's and School's mission?

See Program report from your department representative.

14. How and where do you get information/reading material about ABET 2000 criteria?

See your department assessment coordinator.   

15. Why has our school decided to use the new ABET criteria?

To receive ABET accreditation, each engineering program must have an assessment process with documented results that demonstrate: 1) that the outcomes important to the institution’s mission and the program objectives are being measured, and that the program is achieving desired outcomes and 2) that the results are being used to improve the program. Beyond ABET accreditation, the assessment process offers each program a means of close scrutiny aimed at self improvement.

(from "How do you measure success" p. 9)

16. What are the meanings of the frequently used terms:

  Vision Statement?

A vision statement is a statement that describes where the school, department or other entity wants to be or how it wants to be viewed.

  Mission Statement?

A mission statement describes what a school, department or other entity does (i.e. what business is it in).

  Educational Objectives?

Educational objectives are broad statements of what knowledge our graduates will have, what skills they will possess, and what attitudes they will hold. These statements are at the program level.

  Program Outcomes?

Program outcomes are measurable indicators that educational objectives have been met. They are generally more specific than educational objectives and are at the program level.

  Performance Indicators?

Performance indicators are detailed metrics (measures) that indicate whether a specific outcome has been achieved.

  Performance Criteria?

Performance criteria are the performance levels required to satisfy a particular performance indicator.

  Program Assessment?

Program assessment is a process that enables a program to evaluate how it is performing, with the objective of making improvements to the program so that:

1. graduates are adequately prepared to enter into and continue in their profession.
2. improvements in education are stimulated.
3. new and innovative approaches to education are encouraged.

(from "How do you measure success" p. 13)

17. Who are how are we going to implement assessment?

All faculty will be involved in implementing assessment, but it is the department assessment coordinator who will bear the brunt of the assessment implementation. A number of metrics will be used to implement assessment, by measuring student outcomes, through student and industry surveys, portfolios, capstone courses, and exit interviews.

18. How can we get help in developing and implementing the assessment process?

Work with your department assessment representatives, who will have advice on what other schools and institutions are doing, useful journals and books that may be worth consulting or will pass your concerns on to the weekly school wide assessment forum. You may also wish to contact the educational school to seek the help of faculty members for specialized help.     

(from "How do you measure success" p. 9)

19. Where do the funds to conduct assessment come from?

Department assessment coordinators receive 12 units of release time spread over three quarters. The cost of the release time is being supported partially with School resources and partially with University resources set aside to support faculty in doing assessment work.

20. Who decides which student outcomes are measured and are important?

All student outcomes are measured.             

21. Who decides how the outcomes are measured and what is a passing score?

The passing score, or the performance criteria, is set at a level that is attainable for all outcomes (ha ha). The School assessment committee has attempted to quantify outcomes using a five point scale.

22. Do all schools and universities measure and expect the same outcomes?

All engineering schools that are being accredited by ABET have to ensure that core outcomes (the a-k criteria) are measured, but most schools, including CSULA, have other outcomes that are considered important for their own unique programs. The technology department is not constrained by ABET, but many of the outcomes of their programs have the same generic outcomes listed by ABET in their a-k criteria. All schools probably wish to have the same perfect outcomes. However this will probably never happen.   

23. Does failing to meet an expected outcome prevent accreditation?

No. During this first attempt at assessment, ABET is more concerned with process that results. However in future assessment cycles, improvements in outcome results would be expected as a result of programs implementing changes identified as necessary by a previous assessment cycle.

24. Why don't we just use the accumulative GPA of students as the indicator for outcome?

The emphasis of student outcomes assessment is on what the student knows, is able to do and has attitudes about, at graduation and two to three years into his or her profession. To identify this, a new set of performance indicators is needed to measure outcomes that the cumulative GPA of a student doesn’t capture.           

25. What is ABET?

ABET, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Inc., is a federation of 28 engineering technical and professional societies, and is recognized as the sole agency responsible for the accreditation of US educational programs that lead to engineering degrees.

26. What is TQM?

Total Quality Management. First identified by Deming, TQM is a management approach to long term success through customer satisfaction. TQM is based on the participation of all members of an organization in improving processes, products services and the culture they work in.  

27. What is WASC?

WASC, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, is the accrediting body for programs offered at California State University Los Angeles.