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Assessment Framework

The assessment framework at WVC consists of four components:

  • Evaluation of Mission Fulfillment
  • Assessment Resources
  • Evidence of Student Learning
  • Evidence of Improvement

What we hope students know, think, and do upon leaving WVC measured by: 

  • Course learning outcomes
    • Course learning outcomes (CLO’s) are available on each Guiding syllabi.  So on each program page, first click on a program, then scroll down to the list of courses, then click on a class which brings up a Guiding syllabi that lists the Course learning outcomes, for example, here are the CLO’s for AGRI 101.
  • Service area outcomes
    • In non-instructional areas, outcomes are referred to as Service area outcomes (SAOs). These are measurable goals or objectives that define the intended impact or benefit of a specific service area on students, staff, or the broader community. Moving forward, WVC’s Institutional Effectiveness Team and Assessment Coordinators will encourage non-instructional areas to transition away from Program learning outcomes (PLOs) and instead focus on identifying and assessing SAOs.

Assessment trainings and resources: 

The WVC Assessment canvas shell provides assessment resources for faculty and non-instructional programs.  WVC employees can self-enroll in the canvas shell using this URL: https://wvc.instructure.com/enroll/7CPK4N

The canvas shell contains the following assessment resources:

  • Area plan templates and examples
  • Information about creating rubrics
  • Readings about academic rigor
  • Guidance for learning outcome mapping
  • Information about creating assessment plans
  • What are and how to define benchmarks
  • Links to previous and upcoming assessment training opportunities
Faculty assess student learning of course and program learning outcomes.  Upon completion of a credential, the goal is that students have learned discipline content as well as the skills listed in the institutional level student learning outcomes.  WVC evaluates and demonstrates achievement of student learning outcomes in four ways:
 
  1. SLO analysis - Over a 4 year time period, faculty linked assignments in canvas to SLO's.  This analysis demonstrated that course level assignments throughout campus link to student learning outcomes and can be used to document SLO assessment campus wide.
  2. Learning outcome mapping - Faculty link learning outcomes (CLO-PLO-SLO) in maps so that demonstration of student achievement of course and program learning outcomes also documents achievement of the institutional level student learning outcomes.  The linkage between CLO - SLO was done for each course (link to xls spreadsheet attached).  Faculty link CLO to PLO in most guiding syllabi in Clean Catalog, for example, see Math 99 (each CLO can be expanded to see the link to PLO).
  3. Graduate survey - In 2026, WVC will ask students to self-assess their mastery of the student learning outcomes in a graduate survey. Feedback will be used to assess any need for improvement.
  4. Evidence of student work  - evidence of student learning is demonstrated through capstone projects, national certification exams, clinical settings, and labs where student artifacts demonstrate achievement of SLOs (communication, problem solving, social interaction, and inquiry skills). 
    • Examples of student work are posted on program web pages, for example Biology, Electronics, and Nursing.

The WVC Assessment canvas shell contains several years of instructional and non-instructional area plans.  WVC employees can self-enroll in the canvas shell using this URL: https://wvc.instructure.com/enroll/7CPK4N

These area plans contain assessment vignettes that describe continuous improvement efforts at WVC.  In area plans, WVC faculty define assessment questions, develop interventions to improve student learning, use data to evaluate interventions, and then close the loop to assess whether or not the intervention improved student learning.  Each area plan describes the different phase of assessment such as identification of the assessment question, data collection on the intervention, and closing the loop on assessment efforts.  Each year the instructional area plans are analyzed and summarized to reflect upon phases of assessment and how much data is used in area planning efforts.

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