Education at OHSU

Education at OHSU

Assessment for Educators

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OHSU Academic Assessment Calendar

All academic program assessment reports and plans are due by November 1st each year.  See O2 page for detailed information on process.

Generalized Assessment Cycle
Date Event
November 1 Assessment plans and reports are due
January 1 Assessment Council reviews plans and reports
March 1 Feedback reports from Assessment Council reviews distributed to programs

Assessment Drop-In Sessions

Use Compass to register for a "Drop-In Session" with Sarah Jacobs - Assistant Director of the Teaching and Learning Center!

Register in Compass

Do you want to view prior Assessment Academy Planning and Reporting "Drop-In Sessions"?  Access the archive below!

Drop-In Session Archive

The Assessment Council

The OHSU Assessment Council advises academic leadership on matters concerning institution-wide assessment of educational programs, student learning outcomes and the resources needed to support such assessments. The council ensures that academic assessment and accountability are institutional priorities and supports OHSU's mission to educate health care professionals, scientists and leaders in top-tier positions.

  • Alex Breiding   - School of Medicine - Graduate Studies
  • Alexandra Shuford   - School of Medicine - Undergraduate Medical Education
  • Allison Fryer   - School of Medicine - Undergraduate Medical Education
  • Anna Teske   - Office of the Provost
  • Caleb Feldman   - Office of the Provost
  • Cherie Honnell   - Office of the Provost
  • Constance Tucker   - Office of the Provost
  • Crystal Paredes   - School of Dentistry
  • Deborah Messecar   - School of Nursing
  • Dylan Johnson   - Teaching and Learning Center
  • Jessica Walter   - School of Medicine - Graduate Studies
  • Julie McGuire   - School of Medicine - Graduate Studies
  • Kelsi Nagle-Rowe   - School of Medicine - Graduate Studies
  • Kevin McLemore   - School of Public Health
  • Kirstin Moreno   - Office of the Provost
  • Lawrence Williams   - Teaching and Learning Center
  • Lisa Marriott   - School of Public Health
  • Maria Thompson   - School of Medicine - Graduate Studies
  • Mark Rivera   - Office of the Provost
  • Richard Goranflo   - School of Nursing
  • Robert Halstead   - Office of the Provost
  • Robin Champieux   - Office of the Provost
  • Samantha Papadakis   - Student Representative
  • Sara Vlajic   - School of Nursing
  • Sarah Drummond   - School of Medicine - Graduate Studies
  • Sarah Jacobs   - Teaching and Learning Center
  • Theresa Filtz   - College of Pharmacy - Joint OSU
  • Yi Cao   - School of Nursing
Academic Program Review Hierarchy Chart
Reporting Structure for Assessment Council and Academic Program Review 2020

In an effort to support a positive culture of assessment as a collaborative effort, the Assessment Council will provide feedback to all programs on their yearly assessment report. The feedback from the Assessment Council will be collected during the Academic Program Review. Provost Office members include the Vice Provost for Educational Improvement and Innovation who serves as the Assessment Council Chairperson. The Provost/ Vice Provost for Educational Improvement and Innovation may appoint other members to the Council as needed to complete its charge and scope of work.

OHSU Learning Goals

We measure student learning outcomes against two primary sets of educational goals...

  1. Core Theme Indicators as identified by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities - read more
     

  2. OHSU Graduation Core Competencies

OHSU revised its graduation core competencies during the 2019-2020 school year in two significant ways.  First, we completed a thorough crosswalk of all specialized accreditors’ competencies across the institution to determine which ones were most frequently required of all of our programs.  We used this analysis to revise and shorten our list of graduation core competencies.  Second, we revised the definitions of these competencies to reflect a desire for our learners to grow as anti-racist, trauma-informed, and equity-minded clinicians, scientists, and professionals.  The new set of core competencies was adopted in September 2020.  Forthcoming publications on this work will be cited when available.

This document describes student service outcomes and provides links to key student service resources.

Reasons for Assessing Student Learning

  • It provides equitable student experiences: No matter a student's educational characteristics and assumptions, all students know what to expect on day one until they day they graduate.
  • Documents quality: Demonstrating and proving our graduates are competent when they graduate.
  • Ensures alignment: Our learning outcomes inform our curriculum, our curriculum and outcomes inform assessment methods and assessment results inform curricular change.
  • Differentiates ourselves regionally and nationally: OHSU is a trendsetter in education. We must continue to demonstrate what makes our educational experience unique.

History of Academic Assessment - OHSU

The following graphic shows our major recent and upcoming milestones:

history of assessment at OHSU

How Assessment Improves the Quality of Education

Assessment plans and reports are reviewed by the Assessment Council utilizing a rubric that examine the following criteria:

Element Goal
Communication of SLOs Student learning outcomes statements have been prominently posted on the program or department website and made available to students.
Progression/Differentiation The difference between unique degree/certificate levels is clearly defined in the SLOs. (i.e. There is a difference between certificate and terminal degree SLOs)
Clearly Written SLOs SLOs are clearly written (e.g., non-expert can understand what the learner will learn in the program)
Clear Alignment of SLOs to Core Competency Themes The program demonstrates clear alignment of at least one SLO to each of the core competency themes (titles).
Evidence of Learning and Impact Framework Alignment Evidence Framework Levels are appropriately aligned.
Element Goal
Targets Met/Not Met The program met all of their targets.
Interpretation of Targets Not Met Program demonstrates reflection on targets not met or partially met by providing possible explanations and whether any changes will be made as a result. Interpretations of targets not met/partially met should center students and student learning when relevant.
Engagement of Stakeholders in Program Assessment Planning & Review Groups and individuals engaging regularly include representatives from a) faculty; b) staff; c) students; d) alumni; e) external stakeholders; f) employers
Closing the Loop: Course Improvement There is evidence that the program collected, analyzed, and used assessment data to inform improvements to at least one course.
Closing the Loop: Course Improvement or Course Evaluation Feedback There is evidence that the program collected, analyzed, and used course level assessment data, not limited to course evaluation data, to inform student learning improvement.
Closing the Loop: Program Improvement Assessment data have been analyzed and used for program improvement.
Closing the Loop: Address Assessment Council Feedback Program responded to committee’s required feedback from previous assessment cycle and no further required changes are necessary
Inclusion of Sample Rubric Program submitted a sample assessment method (i.e., rubric) which is well aligned with an OHSU Core Competency.
Closing the Loop: Equity Considerations - Pilot Year Program response: 1) Identifies an assessment activity they are interested in exploring using an equity lens 2) Describes an equity lens/approach/data source to analyze data from the activity (e.g., participation, satisfaction, achievement)

How we do the Assessment Process

The following image describes the OHSU assessment framework and includes various important elements (I.e., alignment, stakeholders, and action plans) to stimulate reflection at the program level.

Assessment-Process.jpg
NWCCU Assessment Timeline 5 yr
OHSU Assessment Team

OHSU Reports

Some of the following reports are designated for internal audiences only and hosted on OHSU's "O2" employee site.   Internal reports require a login.

Assessment Council Reports

Lessons Learned in Assessment

Student Services

EII Annual Reports

Assessment In Action

Assessment in action highlights key reports, vignettes, and graphics that highlight how assessment data is being used at institutional, program, and course levels to improve education at OHSU.

Stakeholder Engagement Framework Report

This report describes the process that led to creation of a new, OHSU Stakeholder Engagement Framework.  This new  framework is the basis for asking a new set of stakeholder-related questions in 2019.

Core Competency Report

This presentation summarizes the results of the core competency study that was conducted during AY 2019.  The results were used to guide the revision of OHSU's Graduation Core Competencies.  This revision is focused on: 1) Reducing the number of the OHSU Core Competencies and 2) Updating them to be more measurable and specific.

Interprofessional Education Report

Student Services Survey and Presentation

This presentation shows the results of the January, 2019 Student Services Survey.  The survey was conducted to determine which central services are used by students, how those services are used, and what other services are needed.

Need Help?

Need Help?

For help with submitting assessment plans, reports, or are experiencing technical difficulties, please access the "Assess Learning" page on O2 .  The Assess Learning page contains key training documents, internal reports, the OHSU Assessment Handbook (login required), and contact information.  For general inquiries about OHSU Assessment .

Consultations and Workshops

For general inquiries about OHSU Assessment - assessment@ohsu.edu

How do I know my students are learning?
How should I assess my learners?
How effective are my test questions?
Am I giving my learners quality feedback? 

Explore these questions and more through the Assessment Academy series, which provides workshops and resources for faculty and staff to improve their assessment knowledge and skills.

​​​​​​Past and Current Trainings:

Train Your Brain is a learning series hosted by the Teaching and Learning Center. We cover a variety of educational topics, including test design, teaching and learning strategies, assessment, outcome measurement, curriculum mapping, Sakai tips and tricks, and Quality Matters training.

Assessment Related FAQ's

  • Improve assessment practices
  • Improve student learning  
  • Engage faculty in curriculum improvement and quality student learning environments
  • Be accountable and transparent about assessment and student learning to an array of stakeholders externally (NWCCU and other accreditors, parents) and internally (students, faculty, administrators)
    • Assessment is the ongoing systematic process of:
      • Establishing student learning objectives
      • Verifying/validating student learning objectives
      • Analyzing the results of assessments
      • Adjusting and improving the curriculum based on the assessment data.
    • Accreditation is a process to ensure specialty or institutional standards are rigorous, consistent and impartially applied. Assessment data should be used to support accreditation.

    ​​​​​​​

    • Assessment examines whether students achieved the learning goals established for them.
    • Evaluation judges the quality of a program and is not limited to student learning. Evaluation of an academic program can examine faculty recruitment and retention, research and cost-effectiveness.
    • Direct evidence of student learning is tangible, visible, self-explanatory and compelling evidence of what students have and have not learned (i.e., licensure exam scores, portfolio of student work, observations of student behavior, clicker responses and capstone experiences such as dissertations).
    • Indirect evidence is a proxy sign of what a learner is probably learning (i.e., course grades, retention/graduation rates, alumni perceptions, and student participation rates).
    • Learning is a cognitive exercise that is often invisible to others. Educators are charged with measuring what learners know through a process called assessment.
    • Scholarship of teaching and learning is scholarly inquiry into student learning which advances the practice of teaching by making inquiry findings public.
    • Curriculum design in health professions programs is often referred to as a cycle of:
      • Problem identification and general needs assessment
      • Needs assessment for targeted learners
      • Goals and objectives
      • Educational strategies
      • Implementation
      • Evaluation and feedback

    View Lending Library

    The Assessment Lending Library contains resources that will help faculty with the assessment process.

    View Resources

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    If you are interested in checking out a resource, please click on the "Request" button below. 

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