The department as a whole has endorsed these basic concepts in principle. Outcomes assessment is not an evaluation of a professorUs teaching, but a measure of student learning. A common response to this definition is that students are evaluated and graded in every course they take. Grading is a summative assessment and it is final. Outcomes assessment is formative, diagnostic, non-judgmental and shows us how the courses fit together and how well the students can use what they have learned.
Faculty can use the feedback to determine whether their efforts have produced the desired effect.
Examples of measurable outcomes assessment specifically used are portfolios, senior assignments, capstone courses, and certification exams. Results of assessment can be used for outreach and recruitment of new students, accreditation, program review and curricular planning, to name just a few. Measurable outcomes may be developed from these goals and will form the framework about which the assessment plan can be constructed.