Undergraduate Program Assessment Process
Departments and programs express their aspirations for student performance through their Program Learning Outcomes.
Undergraduate programs are expected to complete assessment reports on a regular schedule to be reviewed by UC Irvine’s Academic Senate to facilitate continuous improvement.
Process
Assessment Reports
Programs are expected to report on the following:
- A summary of how previous assessment findings have been integrated into the program to improve student learning.
- A review of the program’s current learning outcomes to evaluate whether such outcomes continue to represent the program’s aims.
- A method for reviewing student learning in relation to the program’s learning outcome(s), including descriptions of evidence and the faculty & staff involved in reviewing student work.
- A review of assessment results, including supporting data and evidence.
- A discussion of how the current assessment will be used to facilitate improvements in student learning.
Reporting Schedule
UCI is committed to delivering high-quality education through continuous improvement in teaching and learning. As part of this commitment, all academic programs are required to regularly assess student learning outcomes. These efforts ensure compliance with UCI’s Academic Senate Bylaws and the standards of our regional accrediting body, the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).
Assessment is an ongoing process in collaboration with the Academic Senate’s Academic Program Review Board (APRB). The APRB mandates that each School assess the student learning outcomes for all undergraduate and graduate programs and submit an assessment report every five years. This requirement aligns with the academic program review cycle.
The Institutional Assessment team provides best practices support to Schools conducting learning outcomes assessment. Programs should submit their learning outcomes assessment reports to Institutional Assessment; the team will provide formative feedback on the strength of the program’s assessment process. Schools will then append their finalized assessment reports to their academic program review self-study every 10 years.
The Academic Assessment Reporting Schedule can be found here.
Please refer to the Program Assessment Reporting template for formatting and additional information.
Assessment Reviews
Institutional Assessment reviews programs’ assessment reports and provides feedback on the assessment process.
Importantly, Institutional Assessment focuses its feedback on the strength of the assessment process, not on the results of a particular assessment. The goal of these reviews is to provide guidance to programs on how they can best assess their programming to foster a culture of continuous improvement in student learning.
Institutional Assessment reviews the following categories through the lens of best practices to help support continuous improvement. This PLO Assessment Review Process Inventory is designed to be a helpful resource for programs to discover opportunities for growth in upcoming assessment work.
- Define Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs): Clearly articulate what students should know or be able to do by graduation
- Map PLOs to Curriculum: Identify where each PLO is taught and assessed across courses
- Select Assessment Methods: Choose tools to assess student achievement of PLOs
- Use Rubrics for Scoring: Apply consistent criteria to assess student work
- Collect and Analyze Data: Gather student performance data on outcomes
- Close the Loop: Use results to improve curriculum and instruction
- Report and Reflect: Summarize findings and actions
The Institutional Assessment team will forward finalized assessment reports for regular review by the Senate Council on Educational Policy and Graduate Council. In addition, during a School’s academic program review year, the Senate Academic Program Review Board and External Review Team will review each program’s assessment process to ensure programs are regularly assessing learning outcomes and using the findings of their assessment work for continuous improvement and to support excellence in teaching and learning.
Continuous Improvement
Faculty use the results of assessment work and feedback from the Academic Senate to strengthen assessment practices and to improve teaching and learning.
Please see the Using Learning Outcomes Assessment to Improve Academic Programming document to review ways to utilize assessment for continuous academic improvement.