Assessment | NDSU

"Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning. It involves making our expectations explicit and public; setting appropriate and high standards for learning quality; systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and standards; and using the resulting information to document, explain, and improve performance."

Angelo, T.A. (1995). Reassessing and defining assessment. AAHE Bulletin, 48(3): 149.

Mission

The mission of the Office of Assessment is to advance a culture of learning improvement at NDSU.

How can we help?

Glossary

TERM	DEFINITION
Mission statement	A statement that describes the purpose of an academic program, which should align with and support the NDSU mission.
Learning goals	Statements broadly describing what students should learn in an academic program. Learning goals are more specific than a mission statement, though not written to be measurable. Generally, learning goals can be aligned with several learning outcomes.
Learning outcomes	A set of statements that identify the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that students should be able to demonstrate at the completion of a learning experience. These statements can be crafted for various levels of learning, such as for a lesson or module within a course, an entire course, or an academic program. Generally, these statements are written with the stem "Students will be able to..." followed by a verb that accurately describes the focus of the learning outcome. Learning outcomes should be (1) attainable, (2) measurable, and (3) able to be understood by students.
Program learning outcomes	Learning outcomes that represent the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that students should be able to demonstrate by the completion of a program.
Course learning outcomes	Learning outcomes that represent the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that student should be able to demonstrate by the completion of a course. Course learning outcomes (CLOs) should align with program learning outcomes (PLOs).
Curriculum	A program's required courses and other learning experiences that students must complete to earn a credential (degree, certificate, minor).
Curriculum map	A visualization, usually a table or matrix, that identifies the relationship between a program's curriculum and its program learning outcomes.
Assessment cycle	The 3- to 5-year period in which all program learning outcomes (PLOs) are assessed, with 1-2 PLOs assessed each year of the cycle.
Assessment plan	Documents how an academic program will engage in assessment activities to determine the degree to which students have achieved the program’s learning outcomes within an assessment cycle.
Assessment report	Documentation describing the extent to which students have achieved program learning outcomes and how an academic program is working to improve future learning for students.