A Learning Outcomes Assessment Level Dashboard Based on Standard Terminology

Continuous improvement of education programs hinges greatly on the assessment of program and course learning outcomes. Great effort and attention has been given to the identification of various elements that embody a strong program assessment process from establishing measurable learning outcomes at the course and program levels to the mapping and the assessment details. Computer dashboards that provide quick summary of the learning outcomes achievement level in real-time during the learning sessions can be very useful for learners, educators, and administrators. However, a dashboard that does not use a concise terminology to describe the mapping level at which we have been able to assess a particular program can eventually produce unreliable results. This paper is an attempt at creating a dashboard that is based on a terminology that focuses on the level of learning outcomes assessment as determined by the level of assessment mapping to learning outcomes. The terminology uses three basic assessment level quality attributes: coverage, validity, and focus. Established algebraic function quantifiers are used for nomenclature to describe achieved assessment mapping level of learning outcomes. Assessment types are classified as a Function or not and then are further classified as Onto, Onto-Many, Onto-All-Many, Many, All-Many or none. This classification is done both at the course level as well as the program level where the program level is further divided into Program and Program-Curriculum. The details of this dashboard using the standard classification are presented.