The Office of Institutional Performance and Assessment has developed multiple Quick Guides to aid faculty and staff with various parts of the IE Assessment process. These resources are intended to be used by individuals who are already familiar with the outcomes assessment and reporting and are looking for a quick refresh, or by those who are new to the process and are looking for a brief set of directions to complete a specific task. Along with each Quick Guide below are further resources to reference for more detailed information.
Using the IE Portal
The following Quick Guide is intended for experienced IE Portal users and provides a short set of instructions for entering outcomes results, new outcomes, and new assessment plans.
For step-by-step, detailed instructions on performing common tasks in the IE Portal, please see the full IE Portal User Guide for your unit type.
Selecting Outcomes and Designing Assessment Plans
As part of your proposal for a new degree or certificate program, you will be asked to describe your plan for assessing student learning outcomes and program outcomes. The present document informs you of the best practices and should guide your decision-making process.
Crafting S.M.A.R.T. Learning Outcomes
High-quality statements of learning outcomes have several important S.M.A.R.T. characteristics. They are Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Appropriate, Results-Oriented, and Time-Bound. This two-page guide explains what each characteristic means and how to incorporate them into the process of crafting your program-level SLOs.
Writing Assessment Reports for Educational Programs
The following Quick Guide is intended for academic degree and certificate programs who are in the process of, or starting to, draft their annual assessment results report. The guide provides a short overview of each of the key fields and examples that reflect best practices.
For more details on each part of the results report, please see the Educational Programs Handbook (pages 41-47 for SLOs, and 52-55 for POs).
Best Practices for Improvement Actions
The following Quick Guide is intended for academic degree and certificate programs who are analyzing their assessment results and formulating plans to improve teaching and learning. The guide provides a list of some common changes aimed at improving the assessment process, instructional materials, and pedagogical approaches, at fine-tuning the learning targets, and at updating learning outcomes.
For more information on Improvement Actions, please see the Educational Programs Handbook (pgs. 43-47).
Selecting and Assessing Program Outcomes
The following Quick Guides are focused on Program Outcomes, which are non-curricular goals of the academic units. When choosing new Program Outcomes and/or improving their assessment processes, educational programs should consider selecting one of the Program Outcomes from the recommended list. They may be adapted as is or adjusted to meet specific needs.
Below are step-by-step instructions on requesting OBI role access for the Graduation Analysis dashboard and the Student Academic Plan Summary Dashboard.
To use the Graduation Analysis OBI Dashboard and/or the Student Academic Plan Summary Dashboard to report Program Outcomes results, please follow the instructions below.
Using Canvas to Assess Student Learning Outcomes
The following Quick Guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to create an unweighted and hidden assignment in the canvas gradebook to document student performance on Student Learning Outcomes assessed in that course.
For instructions on how to use the Canvas Outcomes tool, please see the two Quick Guides below. Reach out to ipa@fsu.edu if you plan to start using this feature for assessment of academic degree and/or certificate programs.