Emporia State University College Portrait
Emporia State University1200 Commercial Emporia , KS 66801
(620) 341-5465
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- Student Learning Outcomes
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- VSA SLO Pilot Project Experience at ESU
Emporia State University Learning Outcomes
Emporia State University employs a multifaceted approach to assess the quality of the holistic student learning experience. The PASL (Program Assessment of Student Learning) is used to directly measure student learning effectiveness at the department and program level and is the formal mechanism used to coordinate academic assessment across the institution. The PASL is supported by the Assessment and Teaching Enhancement Center and the Director of Assessment. The General Education Council oversees the planning, coordination, and assessment of cross-curricular student learning outcomes. This group is responsible for advancing the general education curriculum and insuring that students are prepared for successful futures in a fast paced global environment. Meanwhile, the Division of Student Affairs has a robust co-curricular assessment program that measures the attainment of student learning outcomes through a variety of program-embedded direct and indirect assessments. This assessment plan employs a common set of student learning outcomes that are tied succinctly to the institutional mission and strategic plan.
Since1983, ESU has been a leader in the field of curriculum embedded external direct assessments. The Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) program continues to be used to measure general education competencies in reading, mathematics, and writing. Since 2009, ESU has utilized the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) continuous improvement model to measure critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem solving, and communication skills as a value-added measurement of student learning.
In 2004, ESU began using indirect external assessments to benchmark student successes and to position the university among its peers in producing highly educated and satisfied students. These external surveys include the National Survey of Student Engagement and the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement. In addition, the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory and its faculty partner, the Institutional Priorities Survey were instrumental in measuring student and faculty perceptions on the importance and quality of the ESU learning experience. Indirect internal surveys (Senior Survey and Career Services Destination Survey) also provide a triangulated view of the student experience and successes upon degree completion.
In 2011, ESU participated in the University of Alaska Anchorage Student Learning Progress Model beta project directed by Dr. Gary Rice and endorsed by Dr. Patrick Terenzini. The project utilized 10-year historical institution-specific trend data to examine student success beyond the traditional metrics of retention and completions of first-year full-time freshmen cohorts. Comprehensively, Emporia State University layers its assessment plan to directly measure student learning successes at the course, discipline, program, major, department, college and institutional levels. These assessments include direct measurements of student learning outcomes using both internal and external instruments. Equally important in informing best educational practices, ESU uses quantitative and qualitative methods to gather indirect evidence of student and faculty perceptions of educational quality and institutional commitments to meeting its mission.
Learning Assessment Examples
Emporia State University administered the CLA in 2011 - 2012.
Emporia State University conducted a Value-added administration of the CLA in 2011 - 2012. The results are displayed below in the SLO Results tab.
For additional information on ESU’s process for administering CLA, please click on the Assessment Process Tab below. For information on the students included in the administration, please click the Students Tested Tab above.
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Assessment Process
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Students Tested
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Results
The CLA is utilized to measure critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem solving, and communication skills at two distinct points of the Emporia State University educational experience. Using the CLA instrument to measure transformational learning across these skills informs curricular decisions and insures that student learning outcomes are being met.
In the fall, the CLA is administered to a sample of freshman as a course embedded direct assessment in the first semester of attendance. In the following spring, the CLA is administered to a cross-discipline sample of seniors in their last semester of study prior to degree completion.
The CLA provides an institutional report outlining methodology, presentation of results, and guidance on interpretation and next steps. The report rates student performance on the instrument versus how they would be expected to score. These data are categorized for both freshmen and senior scores. This report gives an annual progress benchmark showing how students successfully met learning outcomes. In addition, the findings show how other CLA institutions compared in relation to Emporia State University. Overall, this report assists ESU in understanding the contributions being made towards students’ learning gains.
The CLA findings are triangulated with the data from other relevant internal and external direct assessments to form an objective consensus about the institutional effectiveness in meeting student learning outcome objectives for critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem solving and communication skills. The review process occurs within the operations of the General Education Council and findings are shared across academic units, the Division of Student Affairs, and Administration.
Using external direct evidence (CLA report) is foundational to examining curricular and pedagogical effectiveness. Decision-making related to program improvements is implemented at varying levels over different time lines. Some course level changes are immediately adoptable, while other changes are longer to develop as cross-curricular change requires complex planning and execution strategies. A continuous improvement model such as the one at ESU incorporates a variety of assessment methods both direct and indirect to insure educational effectiveness.
Of 584 freshmen students eligible to be tested, 82 (14%) were included in the tested sample at Emporia State University.
Of 1242 senior students eligible to be tested, 74 (6%) were included in the tested sample at Emporia State University.
Probability sampling, where a small randomly selected sample of a larger population can be used to estimate the learning gains in the entire population with statistical confidence, provides the foundation for campus-level student learning outcomes assessment at many institutions. It's important, however, to review the demographics of the tested sample of students to ensure that the proportion of students within a given group in the tested sample is close to the proportion of students in that group in the total population. Differences in proportions don't mean the results aren't valid, but they do mean that institutions need to use caution in interpreting the results for the groups that are under-represented in the tested sample.
| Freshmen | Seniors | ||||
| Eligible Students | Tested Students | Eligible Students | Tested Students | ||
| Gender | Female | 63% | 59% | 61% | 51% |
| Male | 37% | 41% | 38% | 43% | |
| Other or Unknown | <1% | <1% | <1% | 5% | |
|
Race/
Ethnicity |
US Underrepresented Minority | 22% | 28% | 12% | 8% |
| White / Caucasian | 73% | 71% | 79% | 81% | |
| International | 2% | <1% | 4% | 3% | |
| Unknown | 4% | 1% | 4% | 8% | |
| Low-income (Eligible to receive a Federal Pell Grant) | 39% | 39% | 39% | 38% | |
| Area of Study | Sciences and Engineering | 20% | 18% | 9% | 20% |
| Social Sciences | 9% | 16% | 11% | 11% | |
| Humanities and Languages | 15% | 7% | 15% | 16% | |
| Business | 10% | 11% | 16% | 11% | |
| Helping / Services | 26% | 32% | 31% | 39% | |
| Undecided / Other | 14% | 16% | 6% | 3% | |
The freshman sample used for the CLA is made up of students who are enrolled in English Composition I Courses in their first semester of attendance. The demographic characteristics of the students were representative of the general freshman population. The senior sample consisted of a representative percentage of students from each of the three undergraduate colleges at Emporia State University.
The VSA provides sample size guidelines for institutions based on a 95% confidence interval and 5% margin of error. So long as the tested sample demographics represent the student body, this means we can be 95% certain that the “true” population learning outcomes are with +/- 5% of the reported results. For more information on Sampling, please refer to the Research Methods Knowledge Base .
The increase in learning on the performance task is at or near what would be expected at an institution testing students of similar academic abilities.
The increase in learning on the analytic writing task is at or near what would be expected at an institution testing students of similar academic abilities.
| Performance Task | Make-an-Argument | Critique-an-Argument | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analytic Reasoning and Evaluation | |||
| Writing Effectiveness | |||
| Writing Mechanics | |||
| Problem Solving |
| Performance Task | Make-an-Argument | Critique-an-Argument | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analytic Reasoning and Evaluation | |||
| Writing Effectiveness | |||
| Writing Mechanics | |||
| Problem Solving |
