Instructional Assessment

The Director of Assessment along with the College Transfer Program Review Committees, Curriculum and Instructional Committee, and Professional Development Committees is continuously collecting, collating, and analyzing assessment information provided by faculty. This includes quantitative and qualitative data that faculty fill out during specific quarters of the academic year. The information provided to these groups is often used for specific components of program review as well.

The Assessment Committee also helps instructors understand and explain how student learning occurs in their courses. Faculty communicate with our committee their assessment of student learning on different levels of learning outcomes. This information is then utilized in myriad ways throughout the college so that faculty can learn from other faculty about what leads to greater student success and helps us tell our story of student learning more fully.

The Assessment Committee also works closely with the Curriculum and Instruction Council and the Faculty Professional Development Committee to determine the best way to imbue assessment throughout the diverse inner-workings of these 3 committees. Along these lines the last few years has seen the Assessment Committee taking an active role in training faculty on effective use of student disaggregated success data and how to positively impact student success for all their students. Our approach to helping faculty utilize data to enhance their teaching pedagogies is always evolving, however we are guided by anti-racist and anti-biased instruction methods, as laid out in articles such as below:

“Closing the Achievement Gap in Higher Education”, by Estela Mara Bensimon.

Committee members are always excited to discuss the different approaches to collecting and interpreting student learning data, so please do not hesitate to reach out to any one of us for help!

Course Outlines

Master Course Outlines (MCOs) are updated on a five year cycle that started in Summer 2014. Master Course Outlines are available to all faculty and staff and can be found using the Inside Seattle Colleges link and accessing the Automated Course Approval System (ACAS). Our goal is to ensure course outlines are current in terms of topical content, measurable outcomes, and course specifics. The Curriculum and Instruction Committee (CIC) works closely with the Assessment Committee to establish assessable Course Learning Outcomes that are updated along the MCO on the 5 year cycle.

Course Learning Outcomes

At South Seattle College, our Course Learning Outcomes are the student learning outcomes at the course level. Assessment of the CLOs occurs in every class and faculty are well versed in understanding how their CLOs align with the Degree or Program Outcomes as well as the institutional SLOs. Faculty consider their students achievement of specific CLOs when they are asked to assess student achievement of the specific Degree or Program Outcomes for their area. This information is then collected by the Assessment Committee and input into the Student Learning Dashboard and utilized for the process of Program Review. 

Program Review

In Summer 2015 we worked with the Curriculum Instruction Committee (CIC), Institutional Effectiveness, and the Dean of Workforce Education to streamline the Program Review process for Professional/Technical Programs. This process consists of an External Program Review (EPR) and an Internal Program Assessment. Currently the EPR is conducted by an external consultant, in conjunction with our Institutional Research, Program Dean(s), and the program Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). The IPA process is a collaboration between the faculty in the Program, the Program Dean(s), our Assessment Office, and the Vice President of Instruction.

Program review in our college transfer programs was implemented in 2023 and has yielded extensive improvements to our college transfer program curricula and student achievement and learning. These improvements include new specific Degree Outcomes for each transfer degree (AA, AB, and AS) as well an effective assessment process for these new outcomes, a new Canvas Instruction Hub that helps consolidate the various committee and curricular efforts into one cohesive online area for all faculty. Also, through our Program Review efforts in college transfer faculty and student services staff and administrators have begun collaborating on designing and implementing First Year Experience activities and potential course offerings for new students. 

Student Learning Outcomes

At South Seattle College, our South's Learning Outcomes (SLOs) are the college-wide institutional learning outcomes. The SLOs are aligned with specific Course Learning Outcomes and Degree or Program Outcomes for every course. The quantitative data collected from faculty Outcome assessment is then added to the Student Learning Dashboard that can be accessed by faculty, deans and administrators directly on the Assessment website (under “Assessing South’s Learning Outcomes”). The qualitative information that instructors provide is assembled by the Assessment Committee and used to write yearly reports as well as assist during the program review process.