Weave Education is utilized for all Educational Program, Student Support Service, and Administrative Unit annual assessment, as well as core curriculum and core course assessment.
These annual assessments are an integral part of SACSCOC compliance, specifically Sections 7 (Institutional Planning and Effectiveness) and 8 (Student Achievement) of the Principles of Accreditation.
Lamar University uses SmartEvals, an online course evaluation software, which provides colleges and universities with instructor and course evaluations.
A web-based software application, SmartEvals is designed with cutting-edge technology that provides tremendous levels of flexibility and customization for different divisions and course types in both survey setup and reporting.
The goal of online course evaluations is to improve the culture of course evaluations, by offering a customizable Internet-based solution that will provide better information for faculty and administrators to make data-driven decisions.
Research indicates that students perceive a third party as offering greater assurances of anonymity compared to a program hosted by the school. The results are higher participation, more thought out responses, and a larger bank of usable data.
The new core curriculum was fully implemented across the State of Texas beginning Fall 2014 with all incoming freshmen students to Texas public institutions completing the new core curriculum requirements.
Lamar University's General Education Core Curriculum Satisfies the criteria for compliance with the Mandates of the Texas State Senate and the rules, recommendations and statement of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board found in Chapter 4 B §4.28-4.31.
The required objectives are stated as:
Elements of the Texas Core Curriculum Student Learning Outcomes Matrix (PDF)
Undergraduate Academic Policies and Procedures Core Curriculum Assessment Committee (PDF)
From DePaul University: The difference between objectives and outcomes lies in the emphasis on who will be performing the activities. Learning (or course) objectives generally describe what an instructor, program, or institution aims to do, whereas, a learning outcome describes in observable and measurable terms what a student is able to do as a result of completing a learning experience (e.g., course, project, or unit).
Differences Between Course Objectives and Student Learning Outcomes (PDF)
Revised Blooms Taxonomy Action Words (PDF)
The following are the VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) rubrics from the AAC&U (American Association of Colleges and Universities).
From the AAC&U: VALUE rubrics are open educational resources (OER) that enable educators to assess students’ original work. AAC&U offers a proven methodology for applying the VALUE rubrics to evaluate student performance reliably and verifiably across sixteen broad, cross-cutting learning outcomes.
Please use these for programatic and core curriculum assessment:
For core curriculum/general education, please see Texas Core Objectives and Associated Value Rubric Chart (PDF), to see how the VALUE rubrics align with the Texas Core Objectives.
The responsibility of the University Institutional Effectiveness Committee is to develop, continuously improve, and provide oversight for the university's assessment procedures and practices at every level and in every aspect of university operations, and to make pertinent recommendations to the appropriate university entities and personnel.
Charge: The University Institutional Effectiveness Committee shall report to the provost and president on expected outcomes, assessment, and evidence of improvement in all divisions and areas of university operation. Members are appointed by the president and include faculty assessment representatives from each college, the Deans’ Council, the Faculty Senate, the Staff Council, and office of planning and assessment.
In addition, each administrative unit evaluated shall have a representative. The chair is also appointed by the President.
Membership & Reporting: Members are appointed from each college, Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, & representative administrative units. Chair is appointed by the President; charge to Committee given by President; recommendations from Committee presented to President.
Through its student survey, The College Student Report, NSSE annually collects information at hundreds of four-year colleges and universities about student participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development.
The results provide an estimate of how undergraduates spend their time and what they gain from attending college.
NSSE provides participating institutions a variety of reports that compare their students' responses with those of students at self-selected groups of comparison institutions. Comparisons are available for individual survey questions and the five NSSE Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice.
Each November, NSSE also publishes its Annual Results, which reports topical research and trends in student engagement results. NSSE researchers also present and publish research findings throughout the year.
The Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) was designed to complement the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), which is administered to undergraduate students. This instructional staff version (for faculty, instructors, and graduate students who teach) focuses on:
The project is coordinated by the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research. FSSE is designed to measure instructional staff expectations for student engagement in educational practices that are empirically linked with high levels of learning and development.
Since 2003, more than 250,000 instructional staff from more than 800 institutions have responded to FSSE.
Jarrod A Rossi
Director of University Assessment
Office of Accreditation and Assessment
PO Box 10089
Reaud 301A
Beaumont, Texas 77710
409-880-7143
jarrod.rossi@lamar.edu