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Examples of Assessment by Institution |
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Vassar College’s primary assessment project is the “Course Tagging Exercise,” measuring student exposure to specific learning goals and curricular content areas Vassar considers essential to a liberal arts education. The project lays a foundation for future direct assessment of student learning.
Faculty first developed two lists: the central learning outcomes Vassar intends for its graduates, and the core curricular topics to which liberally educated students should have exposure. Faculty tagged each course they taught with the three learning outcomes and the three curricular contents most represented in the course. By studying the “tags” for the courses taken by each graduate (2007), the College illuminated levels of student exposure both to primary learning outcomes and to central curricular content areas.
Vassar graduates elected coursework that provided broad exposure to desired contents and outcomes. This was true across majors in each academic division and across most descriptive characteristics (gender, ethnic background, etc.). Levels of exposure vary and some exceptions appear, suggesting aspects of Vassar’s advising and academic program that may warrant further study and enhancement.
The College intends eventually to link tagging data with measured student learning outcomes using results from the Teagle-supported Wabash National Study project. This should illuminate connections between students’ curricular choices and learning outcomes.
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Vassar College |
