The Office of Assessment, Program Review, Curriculum and Articulation serves to help campus-wide assessment efforts.
The office assists units with the assessment of academic and institutional program reviews, goals, and outcomes, and serves as the Unit Administrator and provides training for AWC's Tk20 system.
Mission Statement
The Office of Assessment and Program Review supports the College Vision by providing college-wide leadership in assessment, program review, and the collection of the educational data. These informational services enhance the college's culture of evidence and assists administrators and faculty in data-driven decision making at all levels of the college. We are dedicated to accessibility, communication and innovation.
Learning-Centered Values
- Arizona Western College graduates will demonstrate competency in critical inquiry, communication, civic discourse, quantitative analysis, scientific literacy, and digital literacy.
- Arizona Western College graduates will demonstrate expertise in their selected fields of learning.
- Arizona Western College graduates will be able to interact, communicate, and work effectively with partners, teams, and networks.
- Arizona Western College graduates will be able to participate actively in the political, ethical, and aesthetic aspects of community life.
Statement of Purposes
The College...
- creates an environment for growth through impassioned teaching and learning that encourages higher orders of thinking and performance, advocates the free exchange of ideas and is responsive to changes in technology, delivery structures and markets;
- awards associate degrees and certificates to students who successfully complete programs of study and prepares students for work, for meeting personal goals or for transition into other studies;
- enhances the cultural climate through visual and performing arts and offers physical and recreational development to the community;
- assists students to achieve success by providing support services, including academic advising, career counseling, financial direction, learning support and activities for student enrichment;
- establishes opportunities for lifelong learning through partnerships with public/private schools and colleges, universities, governmental agencies, and economic development organizations; and
- provides access to learning for students, staff, and community through environmentally safe and sound facilities and equipment.
Tk20
There is so much happening in assessment. If you feel overwhelmed, do not worry because the Assessment and Program Review is here to help!
Entering outcomes and measures is not all you can do in Tk20. Check out all it has to offer:
- Juried Assessments
- Portfolios
- Faculty Qualifications
- Curriculum Mapping
- Course Evaluations
| Form/File Name | File |
|---|---|
| Assessment/Tk20 Glossary of Terms | Download |
Log in and check it out!
Training Resources
| Form/File Name | File |
|---|---|
| Faculty Assessment Workshop 1 | Download |
| Faculty Assessment Workshop 2 | Download |
| Administrative Departments Assessment (Part 1) | Download |
| Administrative Departments Assessment (Part 2) | Download |
| AWC Academic Program Assessment Plan Rubric | Download |
| AWC Academic Course Level Assessment Plan Rubric | Download |
| AWC Institutional Department Assessment Plan Rubric | Download |
Assessment Happenings
| Form/File Name | File |
|---|---|
| 2018 August Assessment Happenings Newsletter | Download |
| 2017-2018 Assessment Report | Download |
Institutional Benchmarks
Quantitative Analysis: 70% or more of students enrolled in GE courses designated Quantitative Analysis will be able to identify and extract relevant data from given mathematical or contextual situations; and/or select known models or develop appropriate models that organize the data into tables or spreadsheets; and/or obtain correct mathematical results and state those results with appropriate qualifiers.
2016- 2017 Proficiency Results
| Competency | Measures | Proficient |
|---|---|---|
| Demonstrate a fundamental understanding of exponential and logarithmic functions | Set up and evaluate an exponential growth model | 48% |
| Find the doubling time | 45% | |
| Investigate linear functions and use them to model real world data | Finding the line of best fit | 60.6% |
| Finding the correlation coefficient and interpreting | 51.6% | |
| Using the line to make a prediction | 49.2% | |
| Average rate of change | 53.5% |
Writing in the Discipline (Writing Intensive-WI) : 70% of AWC students in Writing in the Discipline (Writing Intensive) classes will demonstrate a writing proficiency of a level of “2”, or proficient, on a writing artifact evaluated by a blind juried assessment team comprised of disciplinary scholars. This percentage will be determined by a random sample of WI writing artifacts. Results are available on the Writing in the Discipline webpage.
Assessment Committee
Mission Statement
The Assessment Committee is dedicated to providing support, resources, and opportunities for faculty, staff, students, and administrators to discuss, conduct, and share thorough, thoughtful, critical analysis and reflection of student learning, services, and business practices provided at Arizona Western College and to encourage students to become agents in their own learning.
Goals
- Support and sustain a culture of assessment.
- Share information about assessment practices of curricular, co-curricular, institutional services, and business practices and develop a shared language and demonstrate understanding of assessment across the institution.
- Survey faculty, administrators, staff, and students on their understanding of assessment and current assessment efforts.
- Solicit feedback about faculty, staff, administrator, and student needs related to assessment.
- Provide opportunities for professional development on academic, departmental, and organizational goals and learning outcomes assessment.
- Encourage the use of assessment plan data to improve teaching, learning, services, and business practices.
- Develop, publish, and maintain a current display of academic, departmental, and organizational learning outcomes that align with the Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILO).
- Collect, analyze, and recommend interventions based on student feedback regarding their understanding and application of Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILO).
- Provide opportunities for students to develop an understanding of assessment and how learning outcomes relate to teaching and learning through course and program assignments, exams, and projects.
- Encourage students to become agents of their learning by:
- Ensuring they are being taught all identified learning outcomes
- Questioning how learning outcomes relate to course and or program assignments, activities, and or projects
- Engage in rater reliability activities with other community colleges in the state.
Membership Requirements and Structure
Committee members will be required to:
- Participate in the completion and submission of a course, program, departmental, and or organizational assessment plan annually.
- Participate in one or more Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILO) student feedback activity.
- Act as a resource and champion of the Assessment Committee to help faculty, staff, students, and administrators develop an understanding of the purpose and value in conducting and recording assessment of teaching, learning, services, and business practices.
- Engage in diverse, creative, and innovative discussions in support of institutional assessment.
Committee membership should include:
- the Director of Assessment, Program Review, Curriculum and Articulation.
- the Assessment Specialist.
- faculty chair.
- one faculty rep from each academic division (chair position will satisfy one division).
- two administrators.
- students.
- the Coordinator of Student Leadership and Activities
- three Classified employees.
Assessment Timeline
The steps Arizona Western College has taken to change the culture of assessment:
- 2007-2013 – academic assessment was discussed and monitored through the Learning Excellence Assessment Process (LEAP)
- 2013-2015 – academic assessment was encouraged through academic division Assessment Coaches
- 2016-2017 – institutional assessment (academic & departmental) encouraged and monitored through the Assessment and Program Review Office
- 2017-2018 – creation of the Assessment Coalition, made up of students, faculty, and administrators to discuss assessment across the institution and to educate all on the purpose and benefits of assessment
- 2018- Assessment Coalition was morphed into an official Assessment Committee made up of students, faculty, classified staff, and administrators to discuss, monitor, and assess newly implemented institutional learning outcomes, to educate all on the purpose and benefits of assessment, and encourage students to become agents of their learning by questioning how the learning outcomes are related to learning activities and assignments