Simpson College Assessment

What is a Curriculum Map?

A curriculum map is tool used to visually display where and how students progressively learn. It illustrates the relationship between a program’s sequence of courses and each program learning outcome. The more coherent the progression in learning is across the curriculum, the greater the likelihood that the students can achieve the outcomes.

At Simpson, every major is required to identify the Student Learning Outcomes for the major as well as a Curriculum Map identifying where each SLO is Introduced, Reinforced, and Mastered throughout the requirements for the major. 

Why create a Curriculum Map?

This mechanism promotes continuous program improvement by helping faculty:

• engage in empowering discussions and build consensus about program content,

• determine where outcomes are covered in a curriculum,

• identify potential gaps in the curriculum,

• identify where to best gather student work for assessment,

• decide if and where the outcomes need modification, and/or

• use the evidence for change towards a more effective curriculum (providing students multiple opportunities to apply, practice and integrate what is learned).

What does a Curriculum Map look like?

A curriculum map is a table with the first column listing each course required in the major and the first row listing each student learning outcome (SLO). Within each cell of the matrix, faculty members determine the extent in which the student learning outcome(s) are addressed in the various courses. The visual representation allows faculty members to easily view (a) what opportunities students are given to learn about, practice and/or master each outcome, and (b) how many outcomes students are exposed to in any given course.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison breaks down the best approach to writing SLOs for both course and programs.  

UW-Madison Writing Student Learning Outcomes

Teacher Education – Elementary, Secondary, Music, and PE Education Licensure Candidate Pathway

Teacher Education – Education Studies Major

Foundations and Writing Reinforcement courses are assessed each year.  Artifacts are collected every time a course with these designations are taught, faculty provide an artifact that showcases student development related to the Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs).

Foundations SLOs:

• SLO1: Summarize, synthesize, and analyze an element or issue tied to civic engagement or well-being 
• SLO2: Use relevant evidence to support analysis 
• SLO3: Develop or engage in a main idea 
• SLO4: Communicate clearly using appropriate writing structure and organization 
• SLO5: Demonstrate an understanding of the rhetorical situation (such as the influence of audience) 

Writing Reinforcement (WR) SLOs:

• SLO 1: Summarize, Synthesize, and Analyze an Element or Issue Tied to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 
• SLO 2: Synthesize Credible Evidence to Support Claims 
• SLO 3: Develop a Thesis or Argument 
• SLO 4: Communicate Clearly Using Appropriate Writing Structure and Organization in Relationship to the Audience 
• SLO 5: Demonstrate an Understanding of the Rhetorical Situation 

Assessment Process: 

• Step 1: Artifacts are collected in Portfolium every time a course with a WR or Foundations designation are taught. This should provide approximately 350 artifacts each year.  
• Step 2: The Assessment Committee conducts and inter-rater reliability session with the Associate Dean of General Education and Assessment.  
• Step 3: Portfolium randomly selects 45% of the artifacts submitted and each artifact is reviewed by two separate Assessment Committee members. 
• Step 4: After all artifacts are reviewed, the committee meets to analyze the result and draft a formal report including suggestions for improvement.
• Step 5: The report is shared with the Director of First Year Programs, the Director of the Writing Center, the Associate Dean of Student Success and a select group of faculty that teach in the designated area.  This group determines a specific set of action plans based off the final report. 
• Final Step: The Associate Dean of General Education and Assessment shares the action plan with the Academic Dean and follows up with each responsible party to see the progress with each action plan item.  

Sample Reports and Action Plan Documents:

• SC 110 Foundations Core Review Fall 2024 – LINK HERE

Mission, Inquiry, and Experiential Learning courses are assessed on a rotating schedule.  Artifacts are collected from the SC 385: Synthesis course that is taught in each term every year.  The Simpson Core Assessment Cycle is as follows: 

• 2024-2025 Collection Year

• 2025-2026 Collection Year

• 2026-2027 Inquiry

• 2027-2028 Mission

• 2028-2029 Experiential Learning

• 2029-2030 Inquiry

• 2030-2031 Mission

• 2031-2032 Experiential Learning

For each category of the Simpson Core, a rubric was created based of the SLOs.  The Assessment Committee will follow the same step-by-step process when assessing these artifacts as they do when they assess Foundations and WR. The formal report for these designated areas are reviewed by the Associate Dean of General Education, the Director of the Teaching and Learning Center, and a minimum of 5 faculty who commonly teach in the designation area. 

Inquiry SLO: As a result of taking Inquiry courses, students will be able to articulate the ways practitioners in different academic fields gain knowledge and draw conclusions. 
Inquiry Rubric

Mission SLO: As a result of taking Mission courses, students will be able to explain how civic engagement and/or DEI inform the ways they apply the knowledge they have gained and influence the ways they draw conclusions. 
Mission Rubric

Experiential Learning SLO: As a result of taking Experiential Learning courses, students will be able to explain how at least one of the college’s core values informs their experience of the high-impact practice.

Experiential Learning Rubric