Learning Outcomes Assessment

Assessment is a purposeful, systematic and collaborative process for documenting what students have learned and how their knowledge and skills have grown. It is a deliberate course of action that defines expected student achievement in terms of learning outcomes, and measures actual student achievement using predetermined internal standards and external benchmarks. Assessment at CCBC is driven by the desire to improve student learning. Our goal for assessment is to catalyze the institution's transformation into one which creates the best conditions for learning, encourages best practices and inspires creativity and innovation.

While assessment is a natural and ongoing component of the instructional process, and evaluating the effectiveness of instruction is a faculty responsibility that is necessary for the improvement and verification of learning, all members of the institution share responsibility for student learning during their tenure at the college.

Continuous improvement of learning is a collective enterprise where the success of instructional units depends upon the organized support and cooperation of others. The college is dedicated to providing faculty with substantial assistance in the development of learning outcomes and program outcomes assessment processes and in the revision of instructional practices that may follow from outcomes assessment.

The process of assessing learning outcomes is a means to an end, that end being improved learning. As part of assuming the professional responsibility that goes with teaching, faculty identify, design and implement specific learning outcomes assessments. The results, once analyzed, form the base for organized change that positively influences student learning.

Learning outcomes assessment is neither precise nor perfect, and its data are interpreted with that in mind. It is a way of thinking about quality that comes from our willingness to continually examine, question, and, as necessary, alter what we do as an educational institution.

In no instance are the results of learning outcomes assessment used in a punitive manner, neither in reference to students nor to personnel. The climate of cooperation and focused efforts to improve permeates the assessment process. Such an atmosphere relieves staff of fear and allows them to approach both instructional and program assessment with an open and creative mind.

Learning outcomes assessment provides feedback to faculty that allows them to strengthen and improve the educational process, in ways that promote more appropriate, more extensive and/or higher level learning.

Most course level assessments at CCBC take the form of Learning Outcomes Assessment (LOA) Projects. These projects:

• Assesses student achievement of learning outcomes specified in the Common Course Outline.
• Uses baseline achievement results to identify areas for improvement.
• Tests the effects of curricular and instructional interventions on student achievement.
• Should occur at least once per subject every ten years, but may occur multiple times in a subject for courses within that area.
• May be triggered by internal departmental initiatives (e.g., innovation), trend data on student outcomes (e.g., course grades or success rates), or feedback from external stakeholders (employers or receiving institutions for transfer students).
• Begins with measurable statements of what students are expected to know or be able to do upon completion of a course.

LOA Projects proceed in 5 stages:

1. LOA Project is proposed by faculty and approved by the Academic Dean and Vice President of Instruction.
2. Student performance is assessed and results are reviewed to identify targets for intervention.
3. An instructional intervention is designed.
4. The intervention is implemented, student performance is assessed, and results are compared to those at Stage 2.
5. Faculty submit a summary report to the Academic Dean and Vice President of Instruction.

Fernando Paniagua
LOA Associate and Professor, Information Technology,
443.840.1512.
fpaniagua@ccbcmd.edu

CCBC’s General Education Program introduces students to a variety of disciplines that build a common foundation of knowledge that promotes responsibility, critical thinking and lifelong independent learning.

General Education courses prepare students to meet the personal, academic and career challenges of today and tomorrow as empowered citizens of a global society.

• Assesses student achievement of General Education outcomes.
• Uses baseline achievement results to identify areas for improvement.
• Tests the effects of curricular and instructional interventions on student achievement.
• Occurs once every three years in each course that applies for and receives designation as a general education course.

The General Education Review Board (GERB) has designed a comprehensive assessment plan that includes internal measures that assess CCBC's stated General Education Outcomes using faculty designed assessments termed Common Graded Assignments (CGAs).

Faculty teams known as General Education Assessment Teams (GrEATs) collaboratively design assessments which are assigned to all sections of a course and serve to assess the proficiency of students on CCBC’s stated General Education Outcomes. Assignments are evaluated by faculty and statistically analyzed on a regular cycle. Faculty then use these results to implement various strategies in the classroom to further develop student outcomes in a system of continuous improvement.

General Education Outcomes:

Communication: The ability to tailor communication style, language, and content appropriately for the intended audience and context in one or more modes of communication (written, visual, oral, and or signed) including consideration of the physical, oral, aural, visual, and written elements of communication to achieve understanding and connection. 

Critical Analysis & Reasoning: The ability to evaluate information by identifying the main concept and/or primary point of view and the implications and/or assumptions in order to formulate well-supported positions based on logical inferences, examining relevant counterarguments or implications. 

Technological Competence: The ability to use discipline-appropriate technologies effectively to analyze and solve problems, communicate clearly, and/or accomplish academic and professional tasks. 

Information Literacy: The ability to evaluate, analyze, synthesize, and cite research sources to create new knowledge using academic and professional ethical standards. 

Scientific, Quantitative, or Logical Reasoning: The ability to apply basic mathematical, scientific and/or logical concepts and theories to analyze data, solve problems, and make decisions.   

Diverse Perspectives: The ability to apply skills for inclusive participation through an awareness of diversity and identity that promotes equity and justice for a sustainable future. 

Personal and Professional Ethics:  
The ability to identify, examine, evaluate and resolve personal and professional ethical issues and their ramifications using a variety of ethical perspectives and problem-solving approaches.

GrEATs assessment schedule

Elizabeth Shrader
GrEATs Project Coordinator and Professor, Physical Science
PHONE: 443.840.2680
EMAIL: eshrader@ccbcmd.edu

• Assesses the extent to which a program has achieved the Program Outcomes (e.g., for administration, curriculum, instruction and student outcomes).
• Includes a Program Outcomes Assessment Project (POAP) that uses baseline data to identify targets for program improvement and reassesses outcomes after interventions.
• Occurs every five years for each program.

Program Level Assessment

The Community College of Baltimore County has more than 50 career programs. Over the course of the next few years, each program will be identifying comprehensive program outcomes that define the skills and competencies that students achieve upon completion of their studies. Assessment of stated outcomes is the next step in utilizing outcomes to improve the learning process. Programs are reviewed every five years.

A Program Outcomes Assessment Project (POAP) is a formal outcomes assessment project that focuses on learning related to the major program outcomes. The goal of a POAP is to generate data that will guide recommendations for programmatic change to improve and expand student learning. POAPs are long-term, externally validated projects.

Project phases mirror those for Course Level Learning Outcome Assessments and include:

1. Designing the project
2. Collecting and analyzing data (from sources such as certification exams, portfolios, capstone course, or practicum)
3. Identifying program revisions (as needed)
4. Implementing revisions and reassessing student learning, and
5. Reporting results

The Program Review Committee shares POAP and Program Review materials with programs under review, evaluates program review submissions, and selects a recipient of the CCBC Program of the Year Award each June.

The 2023 Program of the Year is Engineering Technology.

Program outcomes assessment project RFP

• Assesses student achievement of learning outcomes at the course and program levels.
• Involves a wide variety of noncredit courses and programs that provide workforce development and lifelong learning opportunities.
• Uses a variety of assessment modalities (e.g., skill demonstrations, portfolio assessment, external standardized testing, internships and clinical placements and external professional certifications).
• Uses baseline achievement results and external benchmarks to document learning and identify areas for improvement.

• Assesses the college's achievement of its mission and goals.
• Tracks metrics associated with CCBC's Strategic Plan, Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) reporting requirements, and Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).
• Associated assessments can be ongoing or occur periodically such as semi-annually, annually, or biennially.

CCBC's institutional assessment process is an integrated and proactive process that evaluates the College’s achievement of its mission and goals and documents evidence through a system of feedback and continuous improvement. These include assessments of programs and activities that directly support the core Strategic Directions of the College: Student Success, Teaching and Learning Excellence, Organizational Excellence and Community Engagement.

The college utilizes many assessment processes to ensure that academic and administrative departments at the college are able to demonstrate effectiveness. Data for key performance indicators are provided in the Performance Accountability Report (PAR). This report is an annual submission to the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC).

Boards:

• Learning Outcomes Assessment Advisory Board (LOAAB)
• General Education Review Board (GERB)

Committees:

• General Education Assessment Teams (GrEATs)
• Program Review Committee
• Institutional Planning, Assessment and Review Committee (INPARC)