Office of Institutional Assessment, Research and Planning

What is Program Assessment?

Program assessment looks at what students know and what skills they can demonstrate based on the Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) for their academic program. Faculty collect and review learning data, discuss the results, and use that information to improve teaching and the overall student experience.

The goal of program assessment is continuous improvement. The process is ongoing and includes three main phases:

• Plan Phase: Faculty decide which PLO(s) to assess and what methods or tools will be used to measure student learning.
• Data Collection Phase: Faculty collects learning data during the academic year.
• Report Phase: Faculty review and discuss the results, then use what they learn to make improvements to the program and student learning.

Programs are required to document their assessment process. The Office of Institutional Assessment, Research, and Planning facilitates the documentation process in HelioCampus.