Assessment and Planning
General Education
Aiken Technical College is required by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to determine core general education outcomes for all programs and to assess the extent to which graduates attain these learning outcomes. Aiken Technical College endorses and promotes the following core general education outcomes for all degree and diploma students.
- ATC's Core General Educational Outcomes
Aiken Technical College endorses and promotes the following core educational outcomes for all degree and diploma students:
- Graduates will demonstrate effective oral communication skills.
- Graduates will demonstrate effective written communication skills.
- Graduates will solve problems using critical thinking skills and formulate strategies to identify, collect, analyze, develop, and evaluate information.
- Graduates will demonstrate quantitative skills and analysis appropriate to their area of study.
- How We Assess These Outcomes
To assess the extent to which our students attain these learning outcomes, general education faculty have identified core general education courses at the College relevant to each student learning outcome (SLO). To assess the accomplishment of graduates, assignments are selected from these key general education courses and the achievement of the students on these SLO-focused assignments is assessed. Course/program improvements are developed and enacted by the faculty based on the results of these assessments. The impact of any developed improvements are reviewed in the subsequent year to ascertain their results and to prompt additional modifications to instruction or course/program design as required. A Desktop Audit of student course outcomes is also prepared for academic review each Fall. The results are collected into annual General Education Assessment reports for the College, and are analyzed by faculty and staff to find ways to improve student outcomes. In addition, questions on the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), administered each even spring, have been correlated to ATC’s core learning outcomes.
- Course Assessment
Programs are also expected to determine learning outcomes for all courses (and publish them in the syllabi), assess the student attainment of course learning outcomes, and again, use the assessment results to improve programs, courses, instruction, and student learning.
Course learning outcomes should be results-oriented statements that identify what successful students should know, think, and do/apply at the end of their course. Course learning outcomes are subcomponents of and are linked to the program learning outcomes.
- Classroom Assessment Techniques
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS) are in-class strategies that are used as a learning check. They answer questions such as: What do students know? What are they confused about? CATS can be used frequently during a course to help both instructors and students identify progress in achievement of learning. Example CATS include one-minute papers, muddiest point assessments, quick quizzes, or quick performance applications, all used to determine progress and corrective action to improve student learning.
