AssessmentEast Gate of Campus: Enter to Learn - Assessment

Assessment of the total student learning experience at Lake Superior State University encompasses the aspects of both academics and operational support.

  •  Academic assessment is an ongoing, open, evaluative process focused on improving student learning.  It requires the University to make its learning expectations clear to students and to establish appropriate learning outcomes at the course, program and university levels.  It helps determine how well student performance matches the expected outcomes.  The resulting information is used to inform changes in courses and programs for the improvement of student learning.
  • Operational support assessment is an ongoing, open, evaluative process focused on improving university culture and services.  It requires the University to make its service and cultural expectations clear to its stakeholders, and to establish appropriate outcomes at each level of operation.  It helps determine how well performance matches the expected outcomes.  The resulting information is used to inform changes at the unit and university levels for the improvement of the student learning experience

Lake Superior State University’s Institutional Learning Outcomes

The Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) at LSSU describe the knowledge, abilities, and attitudes that our graduates are expected to have acquired while attending LSSU.  The following faculty developed ILOs help guide University departments in constructing student learning outcomes for programs, courses, and student services. Lake State’s Institutional Learning Outcomes were written by faculty and adopted by approval from the Board of Trustees on November 3, 2017:

Formal Communication

Students will develop and clearly express complex ideas in written and oral presentations.

Use of Evidence

Students will identify the need for, gather, and accurately process the appropriate type, quality, and quantity of evidence to answer a complex question or solve a complex problem.

Analysis and Synthesis

Students will organize and synthesize evidence, ideas, or works of imagination to answer an open-ended question, draw a conclusion, achieve a goal, or create a substantial work of art.

Professional Responsibility

Students will demonstrate the ability to apply professional ethics and intercultural competence when answering a question, solving a problem, or achieving a goal.

Resources

Faculty and Administrator login to assessment tracking through Nuventive Improve™:

http://lssu.tracdat.com

Resources: “Assessment Matters”

Course level and Program level assessments are reported annually in Nuventive Improve™ and used to facilitate ongoing improvements to academic and student services across campus.  Additional assessments are also conducted to promote and facilitate a culture of continuous improvement at Lake Superior State University. In 2015, surveys solicited input from faculty and staff to determine how assessment processes at LSSU are perceived.  This information has helped focus LSSU’s commitment to use assessment across campus to continuously improve student learning, student services, and the university culture as a whole:

From 2012-2016, the University demonstrated its student-learning focus through its voluntary participation in the HLC Academy for Assessment of Student Learning. Through this process, the University elevated its focus on course and program assessment activities through a four-year sequence of events and interactions focused on student learning, targeted at accelerating and advancing efforts to assess and improve student learning, and designed to build institution-wide commitment to assessment of student learning.