After articulating goals for North Lake College plan (pdf 42kb) consistent with the expectations of the THECB, the Core Curriculum Evaluation Committee decided to begin implementing the project to assess student learning outcomes in two ways. First, the committee committed to evaluating the Intellectual Competencies. These evaluations are to be conducted across the college disciplines, beginning with a project to evaluate writing competency among students who have nearly completed their required courses in the DCCCD Core Curriculum. A selection of writing samples was gathered from students across the college, limited to those students in core courses who had individually completed at least thirty-nine college hours. These samples were scored according to a rubric developed by a cross-discipline committee to provide baseline data. In the Fall of 2004, a similar sample will be taken from students entering college for the first time across a variety of college-level courses. This will complete the baseline data for ongoing analysis of writing competency. Similar processes will be developed for evaluation of the other competencies in subsequent years.
Second, the committee made a commitment to incorporate assessment at the course level of competence in meeting the Exemplary Educational Objectives. The faculty of the college had already followed the lead of the District Plan in incorporating these Objectives into syllabi across the curriculum, and had begun the process of analyzing assessment in the classroom. The committee has begun an inventory of course syllabi across the core courses to verify inclusion of the Exemplary Objectives, tying those Objectives to specific course activities. The Core Evaluation Committee will refine that checklist by tying specific evaluation tools to specific activities which are themselves tied to specific Exemplary Objectives. This inventory will be completed in the Fall, 2004, providing a baseline for insuring the inclusion of Exemplary Objectives, related learning activities, and assessment methods in all core syllabi.