Assessment and Educational Effectiveness
Mission
Assessment initiatives at Saint Mary’s College are designed to enhance student educational experiences driven by the mission of the College. To meet this goal, assessment practices are intentionally designed to focus on continual improvement on student-centered pedagogy, course designs, and curriculum.
The Office of Assessment and Educational Effectiveness provides resources to faculty and academic programs in their exploration of equity in student academic success and coordinates with campus partners to act on assessment findings. Primary activities of the office are supported by the Program Assessment Advisory Board.
2024-25 Events
Assessment and Educational Effectiveness
Three-part workshops on assessment focus on best practices in Program Learning Outcome and Curriculum Map development and revision, creating and following through on assessment plans, and ideas about closing the loop based on assessment results. Faculty in the programs under review in the next couple of years are highly encouraged to attend these workshops to start building the meaningful and sustainable assessment structure within the program.
Equity in Pedagogy and Grading Workshops
A series of workshops on equity in classroom instruction, course design, and grading is co-sponsored by CEET and the Office of Assessment and Educational Effectiveness. The goal of this series is to provide faculty with the opportunity to reflect on their own pedagogical approaches including grading and to facilitate discussion on the importance of identifying equity-gaps and teaching with cultural relevance to achieve academic success for all students.
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Toolkit and Resources
SMC Assessment Guide
The guide provides step-by-step tips for writing and revising program learning outcomes and curriculum maps, planning and implementing meaningful and sustainable assessment, and recommended practice.
Annual Funding and Resources
Assessment Mini-Grant is an opportunity for programs to seek funding for their assessment efforts, and resources provide materials shared at past workshops and events.
Assessment in Action
Degree-granting academic programs are expected to assess whether students in the program are sufficiently attaining the program-level learning outcomes. Not all programs assess learning outcome(s) every year, but they are expected to engage in continuous improvement through assessment on a regular basis. Each program has an assessment calendar that they update by June 1 of every year as part of the required Program Review's Action Plan Dashboard update.
Contact Us
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