Assessment Gallery

Submit to the Assessment Gallery

The submission form is designed to help programs showcase their assessment work while providing the context needed to understand their assessment process. We encourage programs to focus on reflection, intentionality, and continuous improvement rather than presenting a perfect assessment story.

Through the submission form, programs are invited to share:

• The assessment cycle stage that best represents the focus of their work and how it demonstrates the key considerations for that stage.
• Their assessment journey, including what they have learned about student achievement and how those insights are informing continuous improvement.
• Supporting artifacts that provide evidence of their assessment work.
• How their work reflects Northwestern's Strategic Framework for Assessment Core Values.

Form selections are described below to provide additional context and guidance on each component of the form.

Select the assessment cycle that best represents the primary focus of the submission.

We encourage you to review the webpage for your selected stage before completing your submission.

Stage 1: (Re)Define Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) describe the knowledge, skills, and attitudes all students to achieve by the time they complete your program. For guidance on writing and revising PLOs, see our "Developing Learning Outcomes" resource. 

Stage 2: (Re)Design PLO Assessment Methods

Assessment methods are the tools your program uses to validate and collect direct or indirect evidence of students' progress towards achieving each of the PLOs, such as rubrics, tests/quizzes, and surveys. Programs at Stage 2 should have developed specific assessment methods that help distinguish students' learning and their degree of achievement for each PLO. For guidance on developing assessment metods, see our "(Re) Designing Learning Outcomes Assessment Methods" resource. 

Stage 3: Map PLOs to Courses and Activities

For Stage 3, programs develop maps that align each PLO to the individual courses or experiences within the program. In addition, maps show what specific activities (e.g., assignments, projects, tests) within each course or experience align to the PLOs. For guidance, see our "Mapping Learning Outcomes to Curriculum" resource. 

Stage 4: Gather and Analyze Evidence

Programs at Stage 4 have a systematized process for gathering and analyzing evidence collected from the assessment methods. The systemized process may include features such as annual timeline, a data collection tool (e.g., Canvas or a Google Form), and a designated person for creating data visualizations or reports based on the data collected. For guidance, see our "Gathering & Analyzing Evidence" resource. 

Stage 5: Identify and Implement Changes

Programs at Stage 5 regularly review the data collected and analyzed and then close the feedback loop by identifying potential changes to the curriculum that will improve achievement of the PLOs for all students. Once those changes are agreed upon, the program creates an implementation plan. For guidance, see our "Identifying and Implementing Changes" resource. 

Assessment is an ongoing process of learning and continuous improvement. Please respond to the two reflection questions below (500 words max total) and provide a short title that captures what was most significant or meaningful about your program’s recent assessment experience.

Question 1—What prompted this work?

      Describe the student learning question, need, challenge, opportunity, or priority that motivated this work and, if applicable, how it builds on previous assessment efforts.

Question 2—What did your program learn, and what are your next steps?

    Describe what your program learned about student learning during the selected assessment cycle stage and how these insights have informed, or will inform, future assessment, curricular, pedagogical, or programmatic improvements.

As you discuss your program’s assessment work, cite the evidence that supports your reflection using parenthetical citations that include either the file name of the supporting artifact or a direct link to it. You will be asked to provide the cited evidence by uploading or linking to it in the next question.

You may submit your reflection by uploading a .pdf or .docx file or by copying and pasting your response into the text field provided.

Submit evidence based on the area(s) of focus you selected and the stage(s) of the assessment cycle your program worked on. For each evidence type selected, you will be prompted to either upload a document (.pdf, .docx, .jpeg,  or .png files only) or provide a url. 

The evidence should be directly related to assessment of student learning. Your program likely has other methods and data used for informing curricular change, such as grade analysis and CTECs. However, those data points do not disaggregate student learning based on the specific PLOs nor address the curricular changes made based on student progress towards the PLOs and, therefore, do not need to be included in your submission. 

Here are the types of evidence that most commonly reflect program-level work with assessment of student learning:

• Assessment Reports: A synthesized compilation of PLO data that may included comparisons over time or action steps for the future. 
• Assessment Plan or Process: Documentation of the program's assessment process. This may be a legacy document that a future chair, director, or committee member could use to keep the process going. 
• Curriculum Maps: Spreadsheets or pictures of whiteboards and stickies that show how each course aligns to one or more of the PLOs along with the complementary course activities. 
• Documents Using Direct Measures of Assessment: Where and how are the data collected being used and shared? Newsletters, new course proposals, grant applications? 
• Faculty Expectations and Evaluation Processes: Is participating in program-level assessment an expectation or requirement for members of your program? If so, share evidence such as relevant handbook pages, job descriptions, or committee assignments. 
• Meeting Minutes and Agendas: These documents often capture important conversations about and decisions based on assessment of student learning within committees, departments, school/college/office, or faculty senate. Because minutes and agenda can include non-assessment topics, you can submit redacted or excerpted copies. 
• Program Learning Outcome Statements: PLOs may be listed on the website, in handbooks, or in other program documentation. If your program revised their PLOs, include pre- and post-drafts.
•  Rubrics: Include any program-level rubrics you created or use to assess student learning. 
• Professional Development: Document professional development completed to build assessment expertise (e.g., Searle Program Assessment Cycle Badge, MSHE Executive Education Certificate in Assessment in Higher Education, Student Affairs Assessment Group).

If your evidence does not fall into one of these categories, select "other" for an option to include it.

The Strategic Framework Core Values provide a foundation for value-driven assessment practice. Select the Core Value(s) reflected in your program’s assessment work and briefly describe (250 words max) how the selected value(s) influenced your program’s assessment processes, decision-making, or implementation.

Select the Strategic Framework Core Value(s) reflected in your work:

• Student-Centered
• Equitable
• Authentic
• Reflective
• Localized
• Empathetic

You may submit your reflection by uploading a .pdf or .docx file or by copying and pasting your response into the text field provided.