Capstone [CAPS] Assessment for UCORE

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Introduction

UCORE Capstone [CAPS] courses bring opportunities for integration, application, and closure to the undergraduate experience. Established as part of WSU’s general education curriculum beginning in 2012, [CAPS] courses require students to demonstrate at least four of WSU’s Learning Goals and Outcomes: Critical & Creative Thinking, Information Literacy, Communication, and Depth, Breadth & Integration of Learning (with additional learning goals included as appropriate to the course and discipline). [CAPS] courses need to be at the 400 level and students need to be at least junior-level.

Assessment

Capstone [CAPS] Assessment for UCORE is intended to gauge student learning on WSU’s Learning Goals in the context of the UCORE curriculum at the near-graduation level. Each semester, beginning in Spring 2015, [CAPS] instructors submit a short [CAPS] Assessment Report for UCORE. The report switched to a rotating format starting in AY 2019-20, with four Learning Goals evaluated per year, and asks instructors to provide an overall holistic assessment of student achievement of WSU’s Learning Goals in their [CAPS] course (see the spotlight blog post Efficient Assessment: Aligning Grading Rubrics with WSU Learning Goals in UCORE [CAPS] Courses to learn more about how one [CAPS] instructor uses her final project grading rubric to efficiently produce assessment data for [CAPS] reporting). Faculty are also asked to  provide information about how well students are prepared for capstone level work at the graduating senior level and report on the kinds of changes they have made to their course (and/or plan to make) based on assessment. For more information, see the [CAPS] Assessment Reporting for UCORE FAQs.  

To complement [CAPS] Assessment Reporting for UCORE (direct measure, using faculty expert judgement), [CAPS] course enrollments and C-/D/F/W rates are also monitored (indirect measures, giving information about success and progress through the curriculum) for UCORE assessment. The Office of Assessment for Curricular Effectiveness (ACE) coordinates the assessment, reporting, and data analysis for Capstone [CAPS] Assessment for UCORE. 

Evidence of Student Learning

Each year, beginning in 2015, results of Capstone [CAPS] Assessment for UCORE are compiled to provide a summary of student learning on WSU’s Learning Goals in the context of the UCORE curriculum at the near-graduation level. Click on the links below for recent summaries of results of Capstone [CAPS] Assessment for UCORE. (For all current and past summaries of results  of Capstone [CAPS] Assessment for UCORE, see Results of [CAPS] Assessment for UCORE.)

Uses of Assessment

In concert with the UCORE Director, the UCORE Committee and Subcommittee for Assessment review results of Capstone [CAPS] Assessment for UCORE and suggest actions for improved assessment or use to inform decision-making. Additionally, as part of Capstone [CAPS] Assessment Reporting for UCORE, instructors indicate if they have made changes to their [CAPS] courses based on previous assessments, or if they plan to make changes in the future. 

Below are some recent examples of how student learning evidence from Capstone [CAPS] Assessment for UCORE contributes to decision making intended to support student learning and quality educational programs. (For additional current and past examples of how student learning evidence from Capstone [CAPS] Assessment for UCORE contributes to decision making, see Uses of Capstone [CAPS] Assessment for UCORE.)