Wichita State University College Portrait

Learn More

Students
Find out more about the characteristics of students who attend WSU.
Admissions
See how many students applied, accepted, and enrolled at WSU. Learn more about students’ high school preparation and test scores.
College Costs & Financial Aid
Learn about costs to attend WSU and how much financial aid is typically awarded.
College Cost Estimator
Estimate your cost to attend WSU in a few simple steps.
Classes and Campus Life
Learn more about professors, where students live, and campus safety at WSU.
Student Experiences
Discover ways to be actively involved in your education at WSU – inside and outside the classroom.
Majors, Graduation and Next Steps
See which majors are most popular at WSU and what recent graduates plan to do after earning their bachelor's degree.
Student Success & Progress
Discover how many students who start at WSU finish their bachelor's degree and how long it takes.
Student Learning Outcomes
Figure out what learning gains to expect in critical thinking, writing, and other important subjects at WSU.

Student Learning at Wichita State University

All colleges and universities use multiple approaches to measure student learning. Many of these are specific to particular disciplines, many are coordinated with accrediting agencies, and many are based on outcomes after students have graduated.

The Collegiate Learning Assessment measures institutional contribution to the learining gains made by students. Students are tested yearly using a representative sample of 100 freshmen and 100 seniors. Skills tested include critical thinking, analytic reasoning, written communication, and problem solving. Two testing instruments are used to evaluate these skills; the Performance Task and the Analytic Writing Task. The Performance Task requires students to complete a "real-world" activity and the Analytic Writing Task evaluates students' ability to articulate complex ideas, support those ideas, and sustain a discussion using standard written English.

Learning Assessment Examples

Pilot Project to Measure Core Learning Outcomes

Colleges and universities participating in the College Portrait measure the typical improvement in students' abilities to think, reason, and write using one of three tests. This is part of a pilot project to better understand and compare what students learn between their freshman and senior years at different colleges and universities.

2010 - 11 Results from the Collegiate Learning Assessment

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) measures critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving, and written communication using a performance task and an analytic writing task. The scores from the tasks are reported separately below.

Test Administration Process

Test Information

Performance Task Results for First-time, Full-time Students

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.

Freshman Score: 1211
Senior Score: 1264
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.

Average EEA scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 1182
Senior Score: 1138

Analytic Writing Task Results for First-time, Full-time Students

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.

Freshman Score: 1229
Senior Score: 1267
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.