Student Learning Outcomes
Definition and Rationale
All students need to develop skills and abilities in order to function effectively in an increasingly complex, diverse, and rapidly changing world. Learning outcomes at the college enumerate these skills and abilities at the course, activity, program and college level.
College Wide Outcomes
The college, through its shared governance processes, worked for two years to identify and enumerate these skills and abilities, and their efforts have produced two sets of learning outcomes. The goal of these learning outcomes is to assure that our students develop particular habits of intellectual inquiry, a significant base of knowledge and skills, and a broad pluralistic perspective of the world. These outcomes inform how the college structures and assesses its programs and services as it seeks to provide a rich and inclusive environment that assists students in achieving these outcomes. The College Wide Student Learning Outcomes enumerate the most critical broad skills that students gain over the course of their experiences at CRC. The GE Student Learning Outcomes enumerate the skills and abilities that reflect students' understanding of the basic concepts and major modes of inquiry used in the disciplines that have been identified as the components of general education by Title V.
In addition, the college has been engaged in the process of defining student learning outcomes at the course and program level. Course outcomes, which are included on the course outlines, enumerate the most important skills and abilities that students obtain from our courses. Instructional Program Learning Outcomes are broad statements of the most important skills and abilities that students obtain from our instructional programs. Student Support/Services or Instructional Support/Administrative Serivces Outcomes are broad statements of the important skills and abilities that students obtain from their participation in student support programs or are broad measureable expectations of administrative or instructional support program staff or processes.
Goal and Purpose
The goal of the outcomes-assessment cycle is to improve programs, services and student learning at the college. This goal is achieved part because outcomes assessment includes:
- a clear definition and communication of learning goals to students,
- dialogue in response to the collection of evidence regarding student learning and program effectiveness,
- changes in response to the dialogue
- links between planning and resource allocation and the outcomes-assessment cycle
Information that documents and supports the college's implementation of outcomes assessment can be found by accessing the Outcomes Assessment Task Force website or by following the navigation buttons to the left.