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Email: infolit-team@umd.edu
Student Learning Outcomes Assessment:
An Overview
Table of Contents
What is student learning outcomes assessment?Who provides direction for this work?
What is student learning outcomes assessment(LOA)?
This quotation defines student learning outcomes and describes the process.
"Student learning outcomes focus not on what the faculty member knows, but on what a student knows or can do after being involved in a course or program. The assessment of student learning outcomes provides information that puts student learning at the forefront of academic planning processes."Taken from University of Maryland's Assessment of Student Learning
Assessment of student learning outcomes is different from evaluation of teaching, or evaluation of a library instruction session. Teaching evaluations focus on such things as the student's perception of the session, a student's feelings about the session and/or the library, and subjective aspects such as the librarian's teaching style or presentation skills. Assessment of student learning focuses on whether or not the student has learned what the librarian set out to teach.
Why assess student learning?
Assessment of student learning is an important means for improving teaching and learning in higher education. Student learning outcomes assessment has become a focus of national efforts to improve higher education (such as the Spellings Commission) as well as a key concern for higher education accrediting organizations (such as the Middle States Commission on Higher Education). Within institutions of higher education there is a movement toward a “culture of assessment” that focuses attention on student learning and the improvement of teaching. The University of Maryland is committed to the assessment of student learning under the direction of the Provost’s Commission on Learning Outcomes Assessment.
Who provides direction for this work?
The Information Literacy Team serves to provide direction for the Libraries information literacy program. Members of this team include representatives from User Education Services, subject teams, and special collections.
What programs are currently being assessed?
At present, the Libraries' Learning Outcomes Assessment Plan is defined for the first-year information literacy programs coordinated by User Education Services; these plans are modified every year. The Information Literacy Team is working to embed the routine assessment of student learning outcomes into the subject-specific classes taught by subject librarians.The Libraries work in tandem with the University's directives to establish a culture of assessment into our work. See sample assessment materials designed by the University.
How are student learning outcomes being assessed?
At the University Libraries, the following pages are designed to help instruction librarians work through the assessment cycle, starting with an overview of the assessment process: steps 1-5.
