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Student learning is at the core of Temple's mission. Essential to measuring the university's overall effectiveness is the assessment of student learning and student success.
At Temple, approaches to assessing student learning are as diverse as our academic offerings. At the University level, for example, Temple has established eight core competencies for General Education, and has defined a number of strategies designed to determine success in these outcome areas.
At the school, college, and department level, programs develop and implement assessment plans and processes that evaluate program goals, measure student learning, communicate major findings, and describe continous improvements.
Temple's strategies for assessing its academic programs and overall effectiveness are diverse and include:
- Periodic Program Review
- Student surveys
- Course and teaching evaluations
- Employee surveys
- Performance Development Plans
- Annual reports
- Specialized accreditation and external approval processes
- Licensure and professional exam pass rates
- Graduation and retention rates
- Internal and external surveys of engagement and satisfaction
Assessment of Student Learning
Assessment of student learning occurs in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs, and Temple has a number of resources to support assessment activities. Supporting faculty and administration in implementing, reporting, and sharing assessment activity, the Blackboard Outcomes System will help manage assessment activities at the departmental level. Additionally, a University-wide Assessment Planning Committee meets regularly to discuss assessment planning activities across the University.
Each school and college annually submits an assessment plan and report that includes the following information:
- Learning Objectives and Goals
- Learning Opportunities
- Measurement Approaches
- Findings and Use of Results
A University-wide Assessment Planning Committee meets regularly to discuss assessment planning and activities across the University.
Assessment & Its Relationship to Period Program Review
Regular assessment of a program will also contribute to a successful Periodic Program Review (PPR). Of the 10 key areas of Periodic Program Review, half are fundamental to the assessment of student learning (See Preparing the Periodic Program Review Assessment Section)
- Vision and Mission
- Assessment Methods
- Student Qualifications and Performance
- Identification of Benchmarks
Good assessment practice enhances Periodic Program Review, improves Temple's programs and meets the standards and expectations of other accreditation agencies and professional associations that are relevant to your field.
A strong foundation of assessment practice includes the following:
- Articulating a mission statement
- Stating student learning goals that are logically connected to the mission statement
- Linking student learning goals to the broader mission and goals of the school, college and university
- Mapping where in the curriculum (courses/assignments/educational experiences) students have the opportunity to work toward the given goals
- Developing a method of discovering if students have met the goals in the appropriate places in the curriculum where they are instantiated
- Analyzing the results
- Communicating the results of the discovery to faculty
- Using the results of discovery to make changes and improvements where needed
You are welcome to contact us with your questions about assessment.
Institutional Research & Assessment
Temple University's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment is committed to providing institutional research leadership and data analysis in support of the university's strategic planning, decision making, and assessment of institutional effectiveness.
The Assessment Dashboard is a compilation of additional resources available to the Temple University community regarding assessment.