Kingsborough Community College Assessment
Institutional Learning Outcomes Assessment
Kingsborough has identified six Institutional/General Education Learning Outcomes (ILOs), which it believes are the cornerstone of the liberal arts education provided by the College:
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- Gather, interpret and assess information from a variety of sources
- Evaluate evidence and arguments critically and analytically
- Produce well-reasoned written or oral arguments using evidence to support conclusions
- Demonstrate quantitative reasoning skills
- Identify and apply fundamental concepts and methods of a discipline
- Demonstrate an understanding of civic engagement
The first five ILOs are aligned with the CUNY Pathways Learning Outcomes, which were developed by the University in order to create a common definition of general education across all CUNY Colleges. As one of Kingsborough’s primary functions is to support a seamless transfer to other CUNY Colleges, we emphasize ensuring that all students, regardless of their program of study, receive a solid foundation in these five areas.
The sixth learning outcome reflects the College’s belief that civic engagement plays a crucial role in the past, present, and future lives of our students and thus their education should both connect with and contribute to their role as civically engaged citizens of their community.
This chart shows the alignment between the Kingsborough ILOs and the Pathways Learning Outcomes
The first five institutional learning outcomes are assessed at the course level on a five-year cycle. The five-year cycle was determined by identifying the highest-enrolled Pathways courses in each department and creating a cycle so that each department assesses student learning in one course each year. The committee developed a five-year plan [Link to Assessment Plan 2020-2025.pdf] to assess courses in each department each year, which over the five-year cycle (2021-2025) will collect data across each department and each Institutional Learning Outcome.
General Education Assessment Coordinators work with the faculty of the identified course to:
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- Demonstrate how the Course Learning Outcomes in that course align with the Pathways Learning Outcomes
- Select one Pathways Learning Outcome to serve as the target of the assessment project
- Identify (or create) an assignment (artifact) in the course that best allows students to demonstrate their learning of that Pathways/Course Learning Outcome
- Develop a method for evaluating student performance on that assignment (e.g., a rubric, exam blueprint, a juried discussion, etc.)
- Communicate the plan with all course faculty and develop a plan for collecting/collating/analyzing the data
- Using the results to prompt a discussion among course, program, or department faculty to discuss the lessons learned about student learning and identify changes to the course or program that will enhance student learning of the Pathways Learning Outcome
General Education Assessment Results are due in December of each year. This is to allow departments to collect data in the Spring, analyze the results over the Summer, and then discuss the results and generate next steps in the Fall term. General Education Assessment Coordinators then load their results into our Anthology Assessment Management System.
Though departments are encouraged to conduct assessment and discussion however they see fit, in order to compile the data in a meaningful way Coordinators are asked to submit, at minimum, the following information:
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- The number of students assessed
- The number of students who met expectations for that Learning Outcome.
Departments may also use a more fine-grained scale: Not Met, Partially Met, Met, Exceeded Expectations. The more fine-grained scale can help departments develop action plans and better understand student achievement on a deeper level.
Departments are also asked to collect any other additional information that may be helpful in evaluating and interpreting the results: questions for the faculty about how well the assignment assesses the selected Learning Outcome, relative strengths and areas for improvement of the students, or any other information they may wish to collect. Departments using an exam with multiple questions may also wish to conduct an item analysis or reflect on student performance on each individual test question.
Results are compiled and added to the results from previous years to provide a big-picture account of student achievement and are available in this dashboard.
Because Civic Engagement has a reflective assignment that is common across all CE courses, assessment of Civic Engagement is conducted at the College level rather than the Course level, like the other Pathways/Gen Ed assessment outcomes.
Starting in Spring 2022, all Civic Engagement-certified courses were asked to submit two randomly-selected student samples per course section to be assessed. Sampling takes place each semester, with the samples being deidentified and assessed as a part of Civic Engagement Assessment Day. In this day, a group of Civic Engagement Assessment Liaisons undergo a rubric calibration session, where they are oriented to the rubric and use it to evaluate a small group of samples and discuss their expectations and ensure they are all on the right track. The liaisons then assess a subset of the samples and submit their results. On a second day, the liaisons come together to discuss the results and brainstorm next steps.
The assessment process is still in the development stage, and so the assessment results are largely used to discuss ways to improve assessments to best capture student learning and understanding of the Civic Engagement process.
The assessment process is still in the development stage, and so the assessment results are largely used to discuss ways to improve assessments to best capture student learning and understanding of the Civic Engagement process.