Assessment Handbook

• Introduction
  • Characteristics of Assessment
  • Necessity of Assessment
  • Benefits of Assessment
  • Glossary

• Assessment at HCC
  • Future Direction
  • Flowchart of Assessment
  • Timeline
  • Evaluation
  • Principles
  • Grades and Assessment
  • Success and Retention

• Assessment of Learning Outcomes
  • Course Assessment
    • Course Outcomes
    • Verbs for Writing Outcomes Using Bloom
    • Assessment Instruments
    • Resources on Assessment
    • Evaluation Methods
    • Resources on Methods of Evaluation
    • Level of Achievement
    • Course Outcomes Matrix
    • Example of Completed Course Matrix
  • Program Assessment
    • Program Curriculum Map
    • Completed Program Curriculum Map
  • Institution-Wide Assessment
    • Institution-Wide Outcomes Matrix
    • Completed Institution-Wide Matrix
  • Reporting
    • Online Report of Outcome Assessment
    • Completed Online Reporting Form
  • Assessment Plan Checklist

Principles

In creating the new assessment plan, the Assessment Committee was committed to the principles that assessment at HCC should be:

1. A systematic, ongoing process to gather, interpret, and use information for continuous improvement. 
2. Focused on specific activities that contribute to the intellectual, professional, personal, and cultural needs of students. 
3. Shaped and guided by faculty with administration providing essential support. 
4. Flexible enough to permit the exercise of professional judgment by faculty regarding appropriate methods of assessment. 
5. Encouraging of multiple direct measures of student learning. 
6. Incorporated into existing practices so as to avoid intruding unnecessarily on students, faculty, and staff. 
7. Cost-effective. 
8. Supportive of the college’s mission of “expanding the tradition of excellence through learning and collaboration.”
9. A source of evidence used for planning, budgeting, and allocating resources. 
10. Reviewed regularly to evaluate and improve plans and procedures through continuous review and discussion.