Reporting & Using Evidence
What are your results? How will you use these findings to make improvements?"
Once you have assessment results, the final step in the assessment cycle is identifying how the results will be used, and this will vary based on your findings.
While there is no set criteria for how to use the data you collect, analyzing, reporting, and discussing assessment results ideally takes place in faculty committees, meetings, retreats, or other collaborative settings.
What learning outcome did you assess?
What data did you use?
What did you find?
How are you using the findings?
Resources
The following reporting templates are optional, as there is no required format for program-level academic assessment reporting.
Reporting Templates
Additional Resources
Discussion
Discuss student progress, discuss whether results lived up to expectations, and discuss how the program might be tweaked to improve student learning based on the results. If results from previous years relate to current results, bring them into the discussion to bolster a longitudinal overview of program assessment.
Positive Results
If results suggest that students are achieving the desired learning outcomes, great! Indicate how these results will be used to maintain that level of performance, or to challenge students further.
Negative Results
If results are less than desirable, that’s okay. Consider it an opportunity to reevaluate current student learning outcomes (i.e. do they need to be revised? are there too many?), curriculum (i.e. course sequencing, tutoring support), and methods (i.e. was data collected consistently? should new measures be introduced?).
Focus on results that show the greatest weakness and determine what can be addressed now and what might need to be addressed in the future.
Changes
If changes are to be made to the program, include an action plan and timeline for implementing these changes.
Examples
80% of students scored as "proficient" or "highly proficient" on core competencies outlined on the scoring rubric.
Using This Result
Students scoring lower than "proficient" showed weakness in critical thinking. During a faculty committee meeting, it was determined that students need additional research and writing support. A series of departmental writing groups will be created for first-year students in the spring.
Feedback from exit interviews suggested that students were not receiving adequate advising support.
Using This Result
Hired a full-time student advisor to strengthen existing advising support.
Contact
Amy Becker
Academic Assessment Officer
ab2514@nyu.edu
