SLOA
Get Your SLOA ON!
Hey YC Faculty, especially my Liberal Arts amigos! This is your one stop shopping place for all things SLOA. Do you have questions about when to turn things in and due dates? Do you have questions about which form to fill out or how to fill out the forms? Do you want to see some sample forms or video tutorials that explain the process? Do you have questions about why SLOA exists? Do you have questions about why you exist? It's all here for you, compadre! Click on the topics that interest you below and start slaloming down the systematic slopes of SLOA.
Below and at left you will find documents related to the SLOA process. At right I have posted videos and links of videos that highlight important aspects of the SLOA process. Please read the descriptions of each item before clicking on something you don't need or might not be important to utilize right away.
New Features! Frustrated with the assessment process here at YC? Gripe about it on our SLOA discussion forum! Want to test your SLOA knowledge? Click on the SLOA Pop-Quiz! Give back!
SLOA Documents
Disclaimer: All up-to-date SLOA forms can be dowloaded from theYC SLOA website. Below are links to the forms as well. I will try to keep them up-to-date. However, they all open in .docx format for the reason that some of their features do not work in earlier versions of MS Word. I suggest you use MS Word 2007 to open these documents.
Faculty Forms
Form 1-(Outcomes Assessment Division Plan [Section 1])
Click here to download the first of two forms that you will fill out for SLOA. This is typically due at the end of September or the beginning of October. This form tries to determine what course(s) you will assess, which learning outcomes you will assess, what assignments you will use to elicit (or gather evidence regarding) these learning outcomes and how you will assess these learning outcomes (or, what grading criteria will you use to assign grades for those assignments, typically rubrics or other pre-established benchmarks). Remember, SLOA doesn't want to dictate how you assess, rather they want you to share how you show evidence that your students have obtained mastery over the learning outcomes. As long as you can show that students have obtained the learning outcomes, feel free to assess in any way that you choose. Just tell us how you did it.
Form 2--(Outcomes Assessment Division End of Year Reporting [Section 2]) In this form you are asked to reflect on the assessment process. How well did your students do at obtaining the learning outcomes highlighted in Form 1? You might also want to articulate some possible explanations for your students' performance. Additionally, you should come up with some strategies for improving student performance in the future. Try to keep in mind that this form is meant to improve your teaching, not to fulfill college requirements. So fill it out in a way that makes sense to you and benefits you. Note: Keep in mind that you are generally asked to attach some data, for example, you might simply state that 87% of my class received a score of 'C' or better on learning outcome number 1.
Division deans will harvest information from Form 2 that has been turned into them by faculty. They will then lump individual courses into programs and fill one 'form 3' out per program based on the information housed on the Form 2's that they receive from faculty. Some division deans preside over many different programs, some only oversee one or two programs. Division deans concern themselves with program objectives and the way in which the learning outcomes from individual courses funel into these more broad program objectives.
Form 4--SLOA Committee Member Form
At the end of the assessment cycle, usually in May, SLOA members will evaluate, primarily the division dean's forms. They will give suggestions regarding the assessment process, primarily to the division dean him/herself. The dean will then work with faculty to improve assessment and/or learning outcomes. Division deans should also count on their division's SLOA representative to help with these assessment tasks, as well as in the training of faculty.
Sample SLOA Forms:
Although the SLOA forms are always changing, here is an example of some SLOA forms already filled out for you. You should be able to use these forms as an example of what to do when you are filling out your own assessment forms.
Try out our experimental forms!!
SLOA Videos
1. YC SLOA Tutorial:
This video will guide you through the SLOA assessment loop process, and give you step-by-step instructions regarding how to fill out the forms related to assessment here at YC.
2. The SLOA Timeline (Abbreviated):
This video will give you a brief overview regarding when SLOA forms are due and how to get them turned in to the correct people.
3. The SLOA Process Timeline (Expanded):
This is a month-by-month guide for Faculty, Division Deans and SLOA committee members. It informs, in detail, regarding the SLOA process, due dates and time-frames for all the involved stake-holder groups.
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Other SLOA Discussion Videos That Might Interest You
Check out these other SLOA videos below:
They might answer some of the deeper questions you might have regarding assessment at Yavapai.
Assessment of Courses Offered Only in the Spring--Some Options
Campus Wide Versus District Wide Assessment