The assessment process for student learning outcomes involves several steps. The first step is to identify student learning outcomes. Student learning outcomes (SLOs) are brief statements of what successful students should know or be able to do by the end of a course of study. Well-formed learning outcomes are written in terms of skills or actions, as that formulation creates measurable and useful SLOs . The second step is to determine methods of assessment for each student learning outcome. The third step is to gather evidence. The fourth step is to interpret evidence. Finally, the fifth step is to review results and implement change based on results to “close the loop” .
The University of Georgia provides a comprehensive guide on how to develop SLOs, write strong SLOs, and evaluate them . They also provide a checklist to identify ways in which your SLOs for a course or program might need revision . Additionally, the Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt University offers a teaching guide that defines student learning assessment and why it is important, discusses several approaches that may help guide and refine student assessment, addresses various methods of student assessment, including the test and the essay, and offers several tips for effective assessment .