New course proposals (as well as courses that are requesting modifications in the
learning outcomes) are required to include a Course Assessment Plan. All actively
offered courses, including internships, special topics, and experimental courses should
have a course assessment plan.
As outlined in the UCC Curriculum Planning and Procedures Manual (UCC Manual), the
UAC serves as a required Form B consult. In order to accomplish this process, academic
programs are requested to submit their course assessment plans using these new forms.
The UCC requires any proposal creating a new program or course offering to complete
a detailed assessment plan with program and/or course learning outcomes, assessment
methods, criterion for success, and assessment schedule, which will be reviewed by
the UAC.
Download and Complete the "Course Assessment Plan" Form
Please download the Word document below. The Word document contains the form that
need to be completed for each new course proposal and and submitted with the course proposal to the University
Curriculum Committee.
Fill out the "Course Assessment Plan" form. Is is in a Word document format, to help
make it easier for programs to udpate. The form is a simple table with 4 columns.
Please fill out all columns for each course learning outcome.
The form is in a table, to make it easier for programs. Each column corresponds to
the same data that is recorded in Nuventive Improve. All four columns must be completed
for each learning outcome for each course.
Course Learning Outcomes
Assessment Methods to Be Used
Criterion for Success
Assessment Schedule
Submit the form with your course proposal to the UCC.
If you need help with creating learning outcomes, there are an abundance of resources
available online.
Assessment Resources - This page contains information related to writing learning outcomes, selecting the
right verb using Blooms taxonomy, and Ferris Best Practice Examples.
If you have questions related to creating assessment plans, learning outcomes that
are "SMART" or idenitfying learning strategies and criteria, or have additional questions
related to this form, please contact the UAC at [email protected].
Academic Programs that have yet to develop assessment plans and would like assistance,
may contact the UAC for guidance.
The Course Assessment Plan consists of four (4) specific items.
Course Learning Outcomes:
Course learning outcomes should be specific, measurable, and achievable. Course learning
outcomes should be clearly stated and written from the student’s perspective without
unnecessary technical jargon.
Assessment Methods:
The assessment methods should be aligned with the learning outcomes. The assessment
methods should be specific and appropriate to measure the learning outcomes, and they
should identify at least two assessment methods used to assess the outcome. Each course
learning outcome should identify at least one “direct” method of assessment.
Criterion for Success:
Criterion for success should identify the expectations for student performance. There
should be clearly defined criterion and thresholds for each assessment method and
outcome. The criterion should be achievable and appropriate for each course learning
outcome. The threshold levels for each criterion should be purposeful and meaningful
where general terms used to describe the results (such as high, medium, low) are defined.
Assessment Schedule:
The assessment schedule should identify the timeline when each course learning outcomes
will be assessed. It is recommended to provide a schedule for when the entire set
of course outcomes will be assessed. The recommended rotational schedule for fully
documenting the course outcomes is within 2 – 3 years.
Assessment methods describe the tool used to assess students. There are a variety
of assessment methods that may be utilized. At least one method should directly assess the student performance relative to the course level learning outcome. Below is a
list of the assessment methods in Nuventive Improve. There is an option for 'Z - Other
- specify" if your method is not listed here.
Programs are not required to submit the assessment itself. Simply identify the method
that you are planning to use.
Example Methods in Nuventive Improve:
Case Studies/ Problem-based Assignments Certification Exam Data Analysis External review (e.g. employer or expert) Focus group Internship Evaluation Interview Juried Reviews of Project Licensure Observations (e.g. Clinical or Field) Peer Reviews - Group Assignment/ Project Performance (e.g. Music, Theatre) Portfolio/ E-Portfolio Presentation (Oral) Project/Model/Invention Service Project/ Service Learning Survey - Students, etc. Team/Group Project/Assignment Test - External - Post or Pre/Post Test - Internally Developed - Pre/Post or Post Visual Displays (e.g. webpage, film, Concept maps, graphics, etc.) Written Product (essay, research paper, journal, newsletter, etc.) Z - Other - specify
The UAC reviews and advises regarding the Assessment Plan, including program and course
learning outcomes, assessment methods, criteria for success (including thresholds),
and on assessment. All new courses or courses modified with newor modified learning
outcomes must therefore, have an Assessment Plan defined.
The UAC will be using a rubric in the review of the assessment plans for each course
assement plan. The rubric includes criteria for all four columns. A copy of the criteria
is provided with the form.
The UAC is reviewing the course assessment plan for completeness (met/not met). The
UAC has a checklist, simply to help guide the committee in the review. Here are some
criteria that you might find useful to review before you fill out the form.
Course Learning Outcomes:
Course learning outcomes are relevant and in line with the course description and
program outcomes.
Course learning outcomes are specific, measurable and achievable.
Course learning outcomes are reasonable for the level and difficulty of the course.
Course learning outcomes are clearly stated and written from the student’s perspective
without unnecessary technical jargon.
Assessment Methods:
Assessment methods are aligned with the learning outcomes.
Assessment methods are specific and appropriate to measure the learning outcomes.
Each course learning outcome will identify at least one “direct” method of assessment.
Include at least two assessment methods for each course learning outcome.
Criterion for Success
Clearly defined criterion and thresholds are defined and provided for each assessment
method and course learning outcome.
The criterion is achievable and appropriate for each course learning outcome.
The threshold levels for each criterion are purposeful and meaningful and use of general
terms to describe results such as high, medium, low, are defined.
Assessment Schedule*
Identify the timeline when each course learning outcome is assessed.
A rotational schedule is provided for when the entire set of course outcomes will
be assessed.
Course assessment is fully documented every 2 – 3 years.
*Important Notes:
If you will conduct assessments every year, enter “Annually.” If not annually, estimate the frequency, such as “Spring of even years.”
When a substantive change in the learning outcomes is proposed, the department must
submit their changes as part of a course modification proposal. Please refer to the
UCC documentation for the specific policies.
Programs are able to change the Assessment methods, criteria for success and assessment
schedule without submitting the changes to the UCC or UAC. However it is recommended
to document why the changes were made in Nuventive Improve.