Outcomes Assessment
Outcomes assessment is a process that takes place at the course, program, service, and institutional levels. Assessments at each of these levels should be in alignment, supporting one another and working to further the development of our students.
Course Outcomes
Results from the assessment of courses are best achieved when the process has had
multiple contiguous iterations each informing the next. As such, departments are encouraged
to assess each course at least once every four years and preferably in alignment with
the four-year curricular review cycle. Additionally, those courses impacting the most
students may warrant more frequent assessment, including:
- Gateway Courses
- Key courses in a sequence of courses
- General Education Courses
- Courses central to a program
Program Outcomes
Those areas with degrees, certificates, projects or programs need to create program-level
outcomes. Departments should focus on those key competencies they expect students
to know and master within their discipline as the program-level outcomes. Examples
of program-level outcomes could include:
- Utilize the SLO data from a capstone course as the program-level outcome (short-term)
- Compile and analyze longitudinal data on the success of transfer students within the discipline (long-term)
General Education Outcomes
Mt. SAC has five areas of general education: (A) Communication in the English Language,
(B) The Physical Universe and Life, (C) Arts and Humanities, (D) Social, Political,
and Economic Institutions, and (E) Lifelong Understanding and Self-Development. GEOs
are statements about the skills, knowledge, and perspectives acquired by students
who enroll in courses within each of the aforementioned five areas
