Course Goals

Assessment Consists of...

  1. Establishing clear, measurable expected SLOs, or student learning outcomes, evidence of the knowledge, skills, attitudes, etc. students have once they successfully complete a course.
    • TO DO THIS: all Course Outlines at ECC will need to be revised by the faculty to include: Course Goals, Measurable Course Performance Objectives (MPOs) for each course goal, and General Education Goals, if applicable; faculty must also develop class syllabi, which should be distributed to students at the first class meeting, that are consistent with the course outlines and include the course goals and MPOs in addition to other essential elements. Click here to see a listing of all essential elements that should be included on a class syllabus. Click here to download a sample class syllabus.
  2. Ensuring that students have sufficient opportunities to achieve those outcomes.
    • TO DO THIS: all faculty will ensure that class sessions include content that addresses and emphasizes course goals, corresponding MPOs, and General Education Goals, if applicable.
  3. Systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well students learning matches our expectations.
    • TO DO THIS: 10 or so courses will be selected to be assessed for student learning outcomes each semester; faculty who teach these courses and who will lead the SLO assessment of these courses will be identified and invited to join the Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Team (SLOAT); SLOAT will provide training on and support to implement effective course-embedded SLO assessment.
  4. Using the results to understand and improve student learning.
    • TO DO THIS: findings determined by SLOAT members will be shared collegially and used to guide pedagogical and curricular revision to improve student learning in our courses.

Ideas synthesized from Assessing Student Learning: a common sense guide, 2nd edition by Linda Suskie and Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers, 2nd edition by Thomas A. Angelo & K. Patricia Cross.


Course Outlines...

All ECC course outlines are to be revised so that they all contain appropriate Course Goals(i.e., the SLOs of the course) and corresponding Measurable Course Performance Objectives (MPOs) and follow a prescribed format. The steps that must be taken in the course outline revision process are as follows:

  • Step 1: The first step in the course outline revision process is to determine whether the course is affirmed as a General Education course at ECC. Click here to see a table listing all affirmed General Education courses at the College.

  • Step 2: If the course is affirmed as a General Education course, download the Gen Ed Course Outline Template in Microsoft Word format or as a pdf. If the course is not affirmed as a General Education course, download the non-Gen Ed Course Outline Template in Microsoft Word format or as a pdf.

  • Step 3: Alter the highlighted words/sections on the course outline template as necessary to write the course outline for a particular course. (Note: Please make changes on the template only on the highlighted words/sections and leave all other sections exactly as they are.) To come up with course goals and corresponding MPOs, it is helpful to consult with colleagues. In addition, be sure to review Bloom's Taxonomy resources to select appropriate verbiage. Here are some helpful files to consult regarding Bloom's Taxonomy:

    Click on the appropriate Division below to access the Completed Course Outlines Directory, which contains completed ECC course outlines arranged by the Divisions which offer the courses. [Users with Office 2003 should install "Microsoft Office 2007 Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats."]
    {Note: Older versions of course outlines are available for reference only. These versions should not be used to create current class syllabi.}

  • Step 4: Submit an electronic copy of the draft of the course outline to Susan Gaulden, Coordinator of Planning for Institutional, Program, and Student Learning Outcomes Assessment, who will complete the first review of the document and offer any necessary suggestions. Once a final draft is completed, the course outline will be forwarded to the Division for content-expert review and then posted in the Completed Course Outlines Directory of this website.
SLOAT(Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Team) Results

Members of the Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Team (SLOAT) at ECC are assigned the task of determining the level of student mastery of various SLOs (i.e., Course Goals and all associated MPOs, General Education Goals if applicable, and Program Goals if applicable) specific to their SLOAT course. Every semester SLOAT members design and implement an assessment plan in order to collect SLO and related data, which is analyzed to find out how well students are learning the essential skills and content of that particular course, which have been specified on the Course Outline. Course-specific findings are reported every semester in SLOAT Final Reports.

Each link below will open a pdf file which will contain SLO assessment information [i.e., SLOAT member contact information, Course Outline, SLO Assessment Summary Sheet, SLOAT SLO Assessment Plan(s), and Final Report(s)] relative to that course.