Section 5: Outcomes & Assessment

This section includes the evaluation of outcomes at an institutional, program, and student level. However, we suggest this topic’s focus is on program evaluation, both formative and summative; institutional and program evaluation will be informed by assessment of student learning outcomes. Institutional evaluation informs organizational decision-making about a program at the institutional level. Program evaluation focuses on the decision-making related to program delivery, curriculum and content related to a degree program, certificate program, and major or minor within another program. Learning outcomes assessment relates to gathering evidence and making judgments about the attitudes, knowledge and skills students develop during the program. The assessment and evaluation processes and results at each level are linked to each other and to other underlying contextual frameworks, leadership content, teaching and learning.

Guiding Questions

Generic Questions

• What are the desired outcomes of the program at the institutional, program and student levels?

• How will you know when you have achieved those outcomes? What are your essential indicators?

Institutional Level Questions

• How do institutional governance processes use your assessment of learning outcomes and program evaluation to inform decisions about your program?

• What evidence is there of quality and quantity of organizational learning?

• How are your programs aligned with your institutional values?

Program Level Questions

• What conceptual framework informs your assessment of learning outcomes and program evaluation?

• What sources external to your institution inform your assessment and evaluation?

• How do you incorporate formative assessment and evaluation as a process into your on-going assessment of outcomes?

• What are the fields of practice your program serves? How do they influence the design and assessment of your program (outcomes)?

• How does the field of leadership get translated into that field of practice?

• How do you use the assessment of learning outcomes to inform your evaluation of your program outcomes (organizational learning)?

• How do the chosen outcomes inform the implementation of your program?

• What is the evidence of organizational learning at the program level?

• How do you define basic Leadership literacy?

Student Level Questions

• How do you assess competency and growth in your students (in other words, what value-added to the student results from participation in your program)?

• How do you use formative and summative assessment of student learning to inform your decision-making about your program?

(Version: 071106 - including changes from section group as per Nov 5)

Your contact for this particular section:

Thomas Mengel

University of New Brunswick

tmengel@unb.ca

506-327-6530