AssessmentAssessment is
an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning. It
involves making our expectations explicit and public; setting appropriate
criteria and high standards for learning quality; systematically gathering,
analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches
those expectations and standards; and using the resulting information to
document, explain, and improve performance. When it is embedded effectively
within larger institutional systems, assessment can help us focus our collective
attention, examine our assumptions, and create a shared academic culture
dedicated to assuring and improving the quality of higher education (Thomas A.
Angelo, AAHE Bulletin, November 1995, p.7).
The goals of assessment at SJSU are to:
- Support the improvement and recognition of teaching
and student learning at SJSU through timely and useful assessment efforts.
- Provide, in conjunction with the Center for Faculty
Development, development opportunities for faculty, staff and students in
topics and skills related to assessment.
- Further program planning and accreditation objectives
by encouraging continuous collection and analysis of information about
educational effectiveness within programs and departments and across the
university.
- Disseminate, in conjunction with the Office of
Academic Planning and Budgets, statistical data about assessment efforts on
campus.
- Ensure, in conjunction with the Academic Senate of
SJSU, that all assessment efforts are in line with Academic Senate policy and
follow good practice for assessing student learning.
- Create a system of resources and reference materials
to assist assessment activities on campus.
- Coordinate with the Office of Communication and Public Affairs the
dissemination of information about SJSU’s successes in meeting the needs of
its various publics.
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