Faculty Handbook

The LBCC Faculty Handbook is a guide that includes information on our students; teaching strategies; retention strategies; helpful resources; curriculum issues; and policies, regulations and procedures important in the operation of the Long Beach Community College District.

Faculty Handbook

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Following are some of the commonly raised concerns about the push for assessment on college campuses. After each concern that has been raised, the Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes (ASLO) Committee has provided a response that we hope will address some of these legitimate concerns.

1. Who actually does this assessment?
   
   
   The general answer is that assessment should be a college-wide endeavor; that is, everyone should be involved. The more specific answer is that who is responsible for conducting assessments depends on the situation. For example, assessment at the individual course level is the responsibility of the instructor, whereas assessments conducted as part of a program review are the responsibility of the department.
2. Why do you want to know what I'm doing and how I'm doing it; is there a problem with how I'm doing my job?
   
   
   We know that people are doing good work, but we don't know how to show it. We could use Outcomes Assessment evidence to demonstrate our effectiveness.
   
   On the other hand, you can be the best presenter there is, but unfortunately that doesn't mean that your students are learning what you want them to learn, so that needs to be verified.
   
   Also, the Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes Subcommittee created a framework of Institutional Learning Outcomes that we collectively, as a College, agree fulfills its mission to provide quality transfer, career, and life-long learning programs that prepare students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in an interconnected world.
3. We're asked to write student learning outcomes for our courses and programs, but what are they anyway?
   
   
   Student learning outcomes (SLOs) are the knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes that a student attained at the end of (or as a result of) his or her engagement in a particular set of collegiate experiences. SLOs are statements that typically beginning with "Students should be able to . . . " SLOs include a measurable expectation; define outcomes in the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective areas, as appropriate; are learner-centered, not instructor-centered; are results-oriented, i.e., what is the evidence that learning took place? SLOs occur at two levels: course and program.
4. Is this just more busy-work? Don't we have enough of this kind of thing?
   
   
   In an era of ever-narrowing funding, prepared justification-including assessment in terms that can be understood by higher education officials-has become extremely useful and will lead out into the future.
5. Isn't this just a fad that will pass, as so many others have?
   
   
   Assessment of learning outcomes is more than a fad; it is an indication of our commitment to our students and our programs to satisfy their information needs.
   
   Performance funding has become an integral part of education. The Outcomes Assessment Process allows us to set standards, demonstrate how we meet our standards, and how we intend to improve institutional effectiveness in all its aspects. It is here to stay.
   
   Some faculty believe assessment to be a passing fad; however, assessment was integrated into the other regional accreditation reviews over a decade ago. The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) was able to evaluate and incorporate lessons learned in other regional areas. In June 2002 Eligibility Requirements for Accreditation were revised and Outcomes Assessment was included as institutional criteria.
   
   We are living in an "age of accountability" where the public, political leadership and governmental organizations are expecting public institutions, including all higher education institutions, to provide periodic reports on the status of their missions and functions. This is a development that is a permanent part of our political and economic reality. The fiscal crises of the states, the growing demand for higher education, and the fierce competition for public funding are major factors driving the accountability movement. Higher education institutions now have to "make their case" in the form of public reports that show that students are gaining what they need to be productive citizens in this nation.
   
   There is little doubt that assessment of higher education in general and student affairs programs, services and facilities in particular is here to stay. Once thought of as just another educational "fad," assessment is now the cornerstone of our ability to plan, improve, and most importantly, to survive. Countless examples of the successful use of assessment to justify and improve our programs, services, and facilities, and to provide systematic information that helps frame policy and practice are available.
6. Isn't this an infringement on the principle of academic freedom?
   
   
   Please refer to the Document Links on this website for the complete document of Academic Freedom and Professional Responsibilities set forth by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU).
   
   Asking instructors to declare what they are intending for the students to know and/or be able to do after taking a course does not interfere with the tenants of academic freedom as stated below. Further, asking instructors to devise a means for checking whether students have actually learned the material that they were meant to learn in a course does not interfere with academic freedom.
   
   Academic Freedom
   * Teachers are entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication of the results, subject to the adequate performance of their other academic duties; but research for pecuniary return should be based upon an understanding with the authorities of the institution.
   * Teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter, which has no relation to their subject. Limitations of academic freedom because of religious or other aims of the institution should be clearly stated in writing at the time of the appointment.
   * College and university teachers are citizens, members of a learned profession, and officers of an educational institution. When they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations. As scholars and educational officers, they should remember that the public might judge their profession and their institution by their utterances. Hence they should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking for the institution.
7. We're doing just fine without it.
   
   
   Remember, the ultimate goal of Outcomes Assessment is to improve student learning, so if assessment is done well it allows the college to do a better job of helping students learn.
8. We're already doing it.
   
   
   Okay, but it is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning (Angelo, 1999).
9. We're far too busy to do it.
   
   
   As part of the pedagogical process Outcomes Assessment is the responsibility of all professionals at the College. When all participate it is not overwhelming.
10. The most important things we do can't/shouldn't be measured.
    
    
    And not everything measurable should be measured, but let's see if we can agree on how we can tell when we're succeeding in these most important things.
11. We'd need more staff and lots more money to do assessment.
    
    
    Since we're unlikely to get more resources, how, what, and where can we piggyback, embed, and substitute? The point of Outcomes Assessment Process is to provide helpful information to improve student learning. The faculty's ability to keep this process simple yet meaningful is their responsibility.
12. They'll use the results against us.
    
    
    No! As mentioned above, assessment is concerned with how much students are learning, not the teaching skills of individual faculty members.
13. No one will care about or use what we find out.
    
    
    The College's commitment is to embed Outcomes Assessment as part of department and program planning and review processes. This, in turn, is how institutional decision-making for improved effectiveness will occur. But beyond that global view, Outcomes Assessment is only as meaningful and helpful as the stakeholders want it to be. Make it your own for the good of your students and the education you provide.