Assessing Teaching & Learning

Assessment of student learning involves examining student work to determine whether our students have learned what we claim they will learn at PSU. As affirmed in our values statement, PSU "endeavors to improve continuously as a university through reflection and open assessment of our activities." We seek to improve our teaching practices and academic decision-making, and contribute to program and institutional quality, based on what we know about how our students are learning.

PSU tends to be decentralized, and our assessment practices reflect that. We see assessment as the responsibility of the individual schools, colleges, and departments, and value assessment work that stays close to the classroom. We seek to build institutional self-knowledge based on the amassed results of our program-level student learning assessments.

Please visit the Institutional Assessment Council homepage for more details on assessment processes at PSU, and to read about the meaning behind and the rationale for each of the Campus-Wide Learning Outcomes.