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At John Tyler Community College (Tyler), students engage in a variety of educational experiences designed to help them develop their skills, knowledge, and abilities. Assessment of student learning is at the course, program, and general education core levels. Additionally, Tyler measures and reports student achievement data and state licensure exam pass/fail rates.
Students are expected to participate in assessment activities for the purposes of program evaluation and continuous improvement. Associate-level degree candidates are required to participate in college-wide assessment prior to graduation, if requested. Failure to complete required assessment activities may result in transcripts and/or diplomas being withheld until this requirement is fulfilled.
Course-Related Student Learning Outcomes
All courses contain a list of learning outcomes and/or objectives, located in the course syllabi. Faculty assess student learning through assignments, projects, quizzes, and tests. Course-related assessments, in total, comprise the student’s final grade in the course. Faculty may use the results of these assessments to evaluate student learning, at the course-level, to determine areas of improvement.
Program-Related Student Learning Outcomes
All approved and active academic programs have program-related student learning outcomes (P-SLOs), which are located on the Majors pages of the Tyler website. Faculty measure and report the results of formal assessment of P-SLOs annually, and these reports are housed in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
General Education or Core Outcomes
On January 17, 2019, the State Board of the Virginia Community College System approved a revised policy on general education outcomes, also referred to as core competencies. According to the new policy, the new competencies are –
- Civic Engagement – the ability to contribute to the civic life and well-being of local, national, and global communities as both a social responsibility and a life-long learning process.
- Critical Thinking – the ability to use information, ideas and arguments from relevant perspectives to make sense of complex issues and solve problems.
- Professional Readiness – the ability to work well with others and display situationally and culturally appropriate demeanor and behavior.
- Quantitative Literacy – the ability to perform accurate calculations, interpret quantitative information, apply and analyze relevant numerical data, and use results to support conclusions.
- Scientific Literacy – the ability to apply the scientific method and related concepts and principles to make informed decisions and engage with issues related to the natural, physical, and social world.
- Written Communication – the ability to develop, convey, and exchange ideas in writing, as appropriate to a given context and audience.
These competencies are assessed, primarily, in student coursework. Faculty provide the Office of Institutional Effectiveness with aggregate raw outcomes data from selected courses for analysis. Graduate testing and stakeholder feedback may also provide supplemental evidence of assessment of these outcomes.
Student Achievement
Tyler measures and tracks student achievement at the college-level. The data collected helps Tyler evaluate student success. In addition to collecting data for college-level variables, Tyler also reports pass/fail rates of state licensure exams. Student achievement data and pass/fail rates are updated annually, and posted under Student Achievement.
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