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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.)
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Student Learning at the Senior Level: AY 2020-21 [CAPS] Course Assessment Results
As reported in the AY 2020-21 [CAPS] Course Assessment Reporting Summary of Key Evidence for UCORE, assessment results indicated that 82% of students met or exceeded expectations at the graduating undergraduate level for Information Literacy. Additionally, 83% of students met or exceeded expectations for Integrative Learning. In courses where faculty members found enough elements to evaluate student learning on additional learning goals, instructors indicated that 82% of the students met or exceeded expectations for Scientific Literacy, and 81% for Quantitative Reasoning.
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Assessing Student Learning at the Senior Level: AY 2019-20 [CAPS] Course Assessment Results
As reported in the AY 2019-20 [CAPS] Course Assessment Reporting Summary of Key Evidence for UCORE, assessment results indicated that 83% of students met or exceeded expectations at the graduating undergraduate level for Critical & Creative Thinking. Additionally, 81% of students met or exceeded expectations for Written Communication. In courses where faculty members found enough elements to evaluate student learning on additional learning goals, instructors indicated that 88% of the students met or exceeded expectations for Oral Communication, and 88% for Diversity.
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Assessing Student Learning on WSU’s Seven Learning Goals: AY 2018-19 [CAPS] Course Assessment Results
As reported in the AY 2018-19 [CAPS] Course Assessment Reporting Summary of Key Evidence for UCORE, fall 2018 assessment results indicated that, for the four required Learning Goals in [CAPS] courses, 82% of students met or exceeded expectations at the graduating senior level for Critical & Creative Thinking, 83% for Information Literacy, 82% for Integration of Learning, and 83% for written communication.
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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.)
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Using Assessment to Inform Decision-making in AY 2020-21 UCORE Capstone [CAPS] Courses
As part of AY 2020-21 [CAPS] Assessment Reporting for UCORE, instructors were asked if they planned to make any changes in future semesters based on assessments from the current semester. Overall, 51% of instructors indicated that they planned to make a change to their course based on assessment.
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Using Assessment to Inform Decision-making in AY 2019-20 UCORE Capstone [CAPS] Courses
As part of AY 2019-20 [CAPS] Assessment Reporting for UCORE, instructors were asked if they planned to make any changes in future semesters based on assessments from the current semester. Overall, 58% of instructors indicated that they planned to make a change to their course based on assessment.
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Using Assessment to Inform Decision-making in AY 2017-18 UCORE Capstone [CAPS] Courses
As part of AY 2017-18 [CAPS] Course Assessment reporting, instructors who indicated they had taught their [CAPS] course before were asked to report if they had made any changes to their courses based on assessments from previous semesters. Additionally, instructors indicating that they would be teaching their [CAPS] course again in the future were asked if they planned to make any changes based on assessments from this semester. Overall, 68% of instructors indicated that they had made or planned to make a change to their course based on assessment.
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