EICC’s Commitment to Assessment

The mission of EICC is to deliver high-quality education and training that prepares a skilled workforce, provides affordable access to higher education, and builds and strengthens our communities. Assessment of learning outcomes is an integral part to accomplishing this mission. Assessment provides information answering the following questions about EICC programs, curriculum, and outcomes:

• What should students know after completion of a course?
• What should EICC graduates know, be able to do, and value?
• Have our graduates learned?
• How do we know they have learned?
• What can we do to improve student learning at EICC?
  
  
  

The most important aspect of the assessment cycle is “closing the assessment loop.” The critical value of assessment is that faculty have data or concrete information that can be used to make informed, strategic decisions to improve student learning. This is further articulated in EICC’s Basic Principles of Assessment .

For a more thorough history of General Education and General Education Assessment at EICC, please see the EICC Assessment Plan .

 

Assessment of General Education at EICC

In 2017, EICC adopted the Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) Essential Learning Outcome from the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) as the basis for EICC’s General Education Goals.

It was determined that EICC would focus on Teamwork, Intercultural Knowledge and Competence, Problem Solving, and Critical Thinking for the current four-year assessment cycle.

In addition to these four LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes, it was decided that each of our general education discipline areas, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Math, Arts and Humanities, Education, Cultural/Historical Perspectives, Computer Skills, and Communications would develop at least one discipline-specific learning outcome.

The following figure shows how the LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes fit into the big picture of assessment at EICC:

 

Starting with the 2018-2019 academic year, EICC will focus assessment efforts according to the assessment schedule shown below.

 

Assessment Results

Faculty members will collect assessment information within the classroom by collecting artifacts of current class assignments. Additionally, faculty members may design exam questions or other assignments that are inserted into classroom work for the purpose of providing group-level information.

In order to assess course-embedded assignments, EICC will be adapting the VALUE rubrics for the following LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes: Teamwork, Intercultural knowledge and competence, Problem Solving, and Critical thinking. Additional VALUE rubrics may be adapted for the assessment of specific discipline areas. The discipline areas that do not use VALUE rubrics will create or modify other existing rubrics to assess the learning outcomes developed in these areas.

Faculty members will utilize the appropriate VALUE rubrics and EICC discipline-specific rubrics for the evaluation of student learning. The data generated will be collected on a district level for further analysis. Initial analysis will include generating a profile of the performance level frequencies for each dimension measured. These frequencies will indicate the number of students that achieved learning at a particular level.

Teamwork skills were assessed during the 2018-2019 academic year using a rubric (EICC's Teamwork assessment scoring sheet 2018-2019 ) adapted from the AAC&U VALUE rubric. The results for the Assessment of Teamwork skills during the fall of 2017 is shown below:

 

Additional Assessment Activities at EICC

Co-curricular Assessment - The LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes are being used to assess co-curricular activities.

SENSE and CCSSE surveys - Data from the Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE) are used to help understand students’ critical early experiences and improve institutional practices that affect student success in the first college year. Data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) are used to discuss pedagogy, instructional technology, student/faculty interactions, course rigor, and student connections to the college.

Student Perception of Teaching (SPOT) Survey - This survey is used to elicit student comments about instruction and classroom management and is designed to provide students the opportunity to assess selected characteristics of the instructional process, the instructor, and the course. Faculty use the anonymized results to make improvements to their courses and instructional methods. These surveys are currently being evaluated by a district task force.

Assessment-Related Professional Development for Faculty and Staff

Assessment is integrated into many EICC practices and resources. For example, two district-wide Assessment Days are held each academic year. During these required in-service days, faculty are trained in assessment, curriculum mapping, development of learning outcomes, and development of rubrics. Additional presentations and workshops are provided for adjunct faculty, including concurrent enrollment faculty.

Other assessment opportunities also include assessment-related presentations during the New Faculty Development Course, a Canvas course containing assessment resources, and presentations during district Staff Development Days.

Outcomes Assessment Committee

Assessment at EICC is intended to be a faculty-driven process. In order to accomplish its assessment goals, EICC has an Outcomes Assessment Committee comprised of faculty members representing both Arts and Sciences (A&S) and Career and Technical Education (CTE) divisions at Scott Community College, Clinton Community College, and Muscatine Community College. The committee also has representation from Student Development Council (SDC) and a member of the eLearning department. A district Assessment Officer, who is a faculty member with reassignment time, chairs the Outcome Assessment committee and leads the college’s assessment work.

The Outcomes Assessment Committee is charged (Charge to Outcomes Assessment Committee Spring 2019 ) with facilitating the development, implementation, and evaluation of a faculty-led assessment process of EICC’s General Education and CTE goals. The committee reviews EICC assessment results and promotes the discussion of these results across the colleges and with various district councils. Current membership to the Outcome Assessment Committee can be found here .