In addition to working with individual instuctors on the assessment of their courses, CIDR staff are available to consult with departments on the assessment of academic programs and curriculum. We work with departments to develop overall program assessment strategies, identify sources of evidence for demonstrating program effectiveness, and in some cases, help gather program assessment data. We also consult with departments on interpreting, reporting, and responding to program assessment data that has been collected.
Examples of program assessments that CIDR has contributed to include the following:
- Working with departments in one college on the design of their overall program assessment strategies, as one component of their national accreditation requirements. CIDR staff have assisted in the process of articulating program goals, determining types of evidence required to demonstrate progress toward achieving goals, and collecting data from students on learning experiences in their departments.
- Consulting with a graduate program that is taught primarily through problem-based learning (PBL), to assist with evaluating faculty effectiveness as facilitators of student PBL groups, and also assessing student perceptions of the program during and after their participation in it.
- Working with the UW Department of Mathematics to help design and implement assessment strategies for the three-year trial of their Calculus Reform Project. CIDR contributed by consulting on overall program assessment criteria, identifying sources of evidence for demonstrating program effectiveness, and gathering student perceptions data from nearly 7500 students in 137 calculus classes, taught by 42 different instructors over the three-year trial period.
CIDR has also consulted with departments undergoing Academic Program Review, assisting in the development of assessment plans and contributing to the process of data collection and analysis.
