"Mapping Truman's Assessment Program
to the Liberal Studies Program Outcomes"
Purpose:
To link elements of the assessment program to the outcome statements of the Liberal Studies Program so that achievement of the outcomes can be assessed.
Process:
A subgroup of the Vice President's Advisory Committee on Assessment Design and Implementaiton Group looked at seven instruments in Truman’s assessment program: the CAAP and Academic Profile exams, the Portfolio Project, and the CIRP, CSEQ, NSSE and GSQ surveys. With the exception of the Interview Project, the other elements of Truman’s assessment program were deemed appropriate in assessing the Liberal Studies Program. The Interview Project would be appropriate as well, but the questions change every year, which made it difficult to map the Project to the LSP. Therefore, the Interview Project is not included in this report.
The subgroup rated each match on a 0 to 3 scale where 0=not at all, 1=minimally, 2=medially, and 3=thoroughly. Thorough matches usually represented direct measures and 1s and 2s were used for indirect measures.
This report is formatted so that one can view the mapping by LSP element or by assessment instrument. Click here to read the report by LSP element. Click below on an instrument to look at that instrument's matches to the LSP.
Direct measures:
CAAP, Academic Profile, Portfolio Project, and selected survey questions.
Indirect measures:
When looking at the data, be sure to note when the instrument is administered and how well (or how poorly) it matches the outcome statement. For instance, the CIRP survey is administered during the first semester of the freshman year. It is geared toward a student’s pre-college experiences. The CIRP is best used as a starting point for outcomes measurement, whereas surveys like the CSEQ, GSQ, and NSSE are administered in the junior or senior year and tell us about students’ in-college experiences. The best thing to do is to have samples of CIRP data to compare to other data obtained later in a student’s career. A combination of data obtained from indirect and direct measures produces the best outcomes assessment.