Assessment
The Curriculum, Assessment, and Scheduling Office serves to help campus-wide assessment efforts.
The office assists faculty and staff with the assessment of academic and institutional program reviews, goals, and outcomes, and provides training for AWC's assessment activities and reporting.
Mission Statement
The Curriculum, Assessment, and Scheduling Office supports the College vision by providing college-wide leadership in assessment, program review, and the collection of the educational data. These information services enhance the college's culture of evidence and assist 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.
Resources
| File Name | Downloads |
|---|---|
| Formative and Summative Assessment | Download |
| Characteristics of Good Measuring Instrument | Download |
| Writing Measurable Learning Outcomes | Download |
| Writing Effective Rubrics Guide | Download |
| SMART Process to Developing Measures | Download |
| Measures and Goal Statement Workshop | Download |
| Direct and Indirect Assessment | Link |
| Selecting an Assessment Measure | Link |
| Designing Effective Rubrics | Link |
| Assessment Basics | Link |
| LMU Assessment Resources | Link |
| AALHE Assessment Resources | Link |
| SALG Website for Instructors (create free evaluation tools) | Link |
| How Do We Analyze Data? |
Annual Report
| File Name | Downloads |
|---|---|
| 2021-2022 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% |
Freshman Composition I, ENG 101, benchmark: 75% of AWC students in Freshman Composition I classes will demonstrate a writing proficiency of a level of “3”(competent) or above (proficient, strong, and superior) 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 ENG 101 writing artifacts.
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 Assessment webpage.
State/National Exam Outcomes
| STATE/NATIONAL EXAM | ATTEMPTED EXAM | PASS | FAIL |
| Radiologic Technology National Registry, Spring 2023 graduates | 14 | 13 | 1 |
| Nursing NCLEX, Fall 2022-Spring 2023 | 63 | 62 | 1 |
| Nursing Assistant (C.N.A.) State Board, Summer 2022-Spring 2023 | 91 | 88 | 3 |
| Paramedic EMS- NREMT-EMS, Spring 2023 | 14 | 7 | 7 |
| EMT-B- NREMT, Fall 2022-Spring 2023 | 55 | 33 | 22 |
| International Fire Service Accreditation Congress, Firefighter 1 & 2, Fall 2022-Spring 2023 | 31 | 27 | 4 |
| International Fire Service Accreditation Congress, Hazmat First Responder Awareness (FRA) and Operations (FRO) | 31 | 25 | 6 |
| OSHA 30 Hour, Fall 2022-Spring 2023 | 30 | 30 | 0 |
| Culinary Arts ServSafe, Fall 2022-Spring 2023 | 38 | 11 | 27 |
| LETA, Arizona Peace Officers Standards & Training (AZPOST), Fall 2022-Spring 2023 | 25 | 25 | 0 |
| Air Conditioning EPA Section 608, Fall 2022-Spring 2023 | 29 | 29 | 0 |
| Refrigerant Handling Certification, EPA 609, Fall 2022 | 22 | 21 | 1 |
| Automotive ProCut, Spring 2023 | 17 | 17 | 0 |
| American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC), Spring 2023 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA), Fall 2022-Spring 2023 | 32 | 28 | 4 |
| Certified Phlebotomy Technician (NHA), Fall 2022-Spring 2023 | 48 | 40 | 8 |
| AWS, D1.1 SMAW/FCAW/GMAW Welding Certification, Spring 2023 | 17 | 14 | 3 |
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:
- Insuring 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 an assessment of teaching, learning, services, and business practices.
- Engage in diverse, creative, and innovative discussions in support of institutional assessment.
Committee membership include faculty, staff, and administrators.
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