Students at SIUE are assessed when they enter, at their mid-year, and when they graduate. Doug regaled us with stories of how the SRA has worked in many departments, with Nobel laureates and CEOs as audience. Doug, who also served as assessment consultant at Cal State Chico, provided practical assessment tips. It is not an evaluation of teacher or advisor attributes. A grade is sumative, evaluative and final.
Assessment is formative, non-judgmental, and diagnostic.
In the past two years nine departments at Cal State Northridge have been funded to begin program assessment activities. Eight of these departments were awarded grants. The first tw o departments were Biology and English. The Biology Department has met since June and has formulated a list of student outcomes expected from each student receiving a bachelor s degree in biology. The list has been circulated to the Chair and members of the department for additional comments.