Assessment of Student Learning Website
Provost Teresa Sullivan's Statement on Assessment
Welcome to the University of Michigan’s website on the assessment of student learning. I hope you will find the resources available here to be useful. In the past several years there has been a great deal of national discussion about the assessment of student learning in higher education. Students, their parents, public officials, and others have posed questions about the value of higher education, focusing particularly on the valued added at the individual level. It is important to consider the contributions higher education makes to society as well. The University of Michigan is committed to continually improving the learning environment for our students and faculty. The University also participates in national efforts to develop effective tools for assessing student learning. This website provides information about many of the activities underway on our campus. I invite you to learn more about our work in this critical area.
Assessment Background and Resources
U-M Assessment Resources
A. Materials from the Provost's Seminar on Teaching
B. Institutional Level Assessment Data
C. Examples and Resources from U-M Departments, Schools, and Colleges
D. Data about U-M Students
Assessment Background and Resources
- CRLT Services for Assessment
- U-M Institutional Portrait
- Glossary
of Assessment Terms
- Nine
Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning
- AAC&U A Brief History of Student Learning Assessment (pdf)
- Classroom Assessment
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Internet
Resources for Higher Education Outcomes Assessment
An extensive set of links including discussion groups, articles, handbooks; assessment methods for specific skills or content; individual institutions’ assessment related pages; links to state accrediting boards and commissions as well as accrediting bodies, such as the North Central Association’s Higher Learning Commission. - AAC&U Rubrics for Evaluating Core Skills
A set of rubrics for evaluating AAC&U's 15 essential learning outcomes (e.g., critical and creative thinking, intercultural knowledge and competence, quantitative literacy, written and oral communication).
U-M Assessment Resources
A. Materials from the Fall 2009 Provost's Seminar on Teaching:
What Are They Learning? Approaches to Assessing Student LearningB. Institutional Level Assessment Data
- National Survey on Student Engagement (NSSE): U-M Results
NSSE (pronounced “nessie”) is an annual survey completed by a sample of freshmen and seniors at colleges and universities nationwide. Administered to freshmen and seniors in the winter term, the survey gauges students’ experiences in college, inside and outside the classroom. It measures students’ engagement in various activities and how they manage their time, as well as their opinions about their institution and how it has contributed to their knowledge, skills, and personal development. In 2006, 557 institutions participated, including U-M.- UM 2008 Graduating Senior Survey Results
In April, 2008, U-M conducted a survey of its graduating class. The survey represented the first attempt in over a decade to collect feedback from an entire class of undergraduates. This document contains a detailed explanation of student responses and focuses on students’ future plans, the skills and aptitudes they gained, and their experiences with research, community service and outreach, foreign language study, and international experiences.- Michigan Study
A comprehensive examination of the impact on students of the University of Michigan's commitment to foster campus diversity efforts and educational excellence.- Clicker Survey (pdf)
- Teaching with Clickers, E. Zhu, CRLT Occasional Paper No. 22 (pdf)
C. Examples and Resources from U-M Departments, Schools, and Colleges
- College of Engineering: Assessment for Curricular Change
- Exit Surveys
- Psychology:
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/assessmentLSA/assessmentLSApdfs/Psychology.pdf- Women’s Studies:
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/assessmentLSA/assessmentLSApdfs/Women%27sStudiesSurvey.pdf- Classics:
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/assessmentLSA/assessmentLSApdfs/ClassicsExitSurvey.pdf- ePortfolios
- ePortfolios at U-M
ePortfolios are web-based tools used to support students in collecting, organizing, and reflecting on learning. The ePortfolio framework developed at U-M supports students in identifying and synthesizing learning and divides portfolios into two types: Competency Based Portfolios and Integrative Learning Portfolios. Competency based portfolios are repositories for students’ reflections on their learning in a particular program, while Integrative Learning Portfolios are not program-specific. ePortfolios generally include philosophy statements, goals statements, examples of student work, supporting materials, and a welcome page.- Dental Hygiene U-M Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene, School of Dentistry
Students in the U-M Online Degree Completion Program within the Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene Program create a portfolio that includes samples of work demonstrating their skills and their own reflections about their learning experiences.- U-M College of Engineering
The College of Engineering provides guidelines on its website for instructors who wish to use portfolios to assess their students’ learning. The website also offers links to sample rubrics for evaluating portfolios and examples of portfolio assessment at other engineering programs.
D. Data about U-M Students
- Cooperative Institutional Research Project (.pdf)
CIRP is a national survey of incoming students in whichU-M has participated since 1993. Items within the survey include students’ self-reported reasons for attending college in general and U-M in particular, their hopes and expectations for their educational experience, their views and attitudes regarding current social issues, and information on their family background and educational preparation. The Profile contains two types of comparative data: current U-M students versus those who entered ten years earlier, and U-M students compared to students at other research universities.- Provost’s website
- Student Statistics (Fall 2008) and Undergraduate Success and Progress Rate
http://www.provost.umich.edu/college_portrait/2009/index.html- Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid, and Undergraduate Admissions, and Degrees and Areas of Study
http://www.provost.umich.edu/college_portrait/2009/page2.html- The Community, Study at U-M, Local Surroundings, Student Housing, and Campus Safety, Immediate Plans of Spring 2008 Bachelor's Degree Recipients
http://www.provost.umich.edu/college_portrait/2009/page3.html- Academic Excellence and Student Research, Undergraduate Opportunities, Graduate Education, Libraries and Archives, Research, and Carnegie Classification of Institutional Characteristics
http://www.provost.umich.edu/college_portrait/2009/page4.html