To determine:

1. How well courses and programs inculcate the designated knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA)
   
   
2. The relative merits of different learning experiences in imparting KSAs as a basis for changing courses and programs to improve them on a continuous basis

1. For assessing course and program design: Environmental scanning, expert opinion, stakeholder evaluations
   
   
2. For assessing how well the learning experiences achieve course and program goals: Analysis of student performance on graded work such as exams and other performances required of all students. Student performance is a function of the learning experiences and systematic factors. The objective is to measure the valued added to students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes by virtue of their having had the learning experiences provided in the courses/program.

Prepare an assessment plan:

1. Identify the major skills and attitudes students in the program (major) should acquire. (Let knowledge be driven implicitly by skills.)
2. Verify that the mission statement (who is served by the instruction, what the instruction prepares students for, and how the instruction achieves the "what") for the program or major is consistent with the identified skills and attitudes. If it is not, amend it.
3. Identify where in the courses/program the skills and attitudes are imparted and evaluated. If the skills and attitudes are not appropriately imparted or evaluated, redesign the instruction so that they are. Skills and attitudes may be imparted in multiple courses and may be evaluated in multiple courses.
4. Collect the most important skills and attitudes into a list of assessment objectives.
5. For each assessment objective, explain how student performance will be evaluated and in which courses.

Prepare assessment results:

1. Analyze student learning outcomes with respect to the designated knowledge, skills and attitudes.
2. Explain how student performance exceeds, meets, or fails to meet performance expectations.
3. Propose how the unit will act on the results, e.g., by changing the design of courses/program, to improve teaching and learning.
4. Amend the assessment plan, if needed, to be consistent with how the unit intends to act on the results to improve teaching and learning.
5. Report assessment results in a form that shows how the unit has closed the loop, i.e., used the results to inform continuous improvement in teaching and learning.