Students entering the College of Music take tests in music history and music theory. These two subject areas represent a common set of courses required of all music majors. When the students complete their music theory and music history sequences, they are given exit exams to determine their growth in the two areas. Scores from the entering and exiting exams for a random sample of each year's graduating seniors are compared as part of each year's outcomes assessment report. Surveys and interviews Surveys and interviews are used to gather students' opinions about their educational experiences and experts' opinions about the students' competence.
Some units also use the survey information as part of that year's outcomes assessment.
The department of Communication and the Schools of Education and Journalism and Mass Communication survey student internship supervisors. Each term, cooperating teachers complete a final evaluation at the end of the student teaching assignment and university supervisors complete a final evaluation of each student teacher they supervise. They rate each student on 18 factors including consistency, knowledge, maturity, planning, responsibility, and speaking and writing skills. Changes in Assessment Methods Units may change their assessment methods as they gain experience. Some units found that their original choice of assessment methods did not produce the most useful information about their particular curriculum.