As part of preparing for Case Western Reserve University’s accreditation review and site visit, the university and its academic departments focused on creating outcomes for courses and programs that can be used as measures of learning. However, the value of specifying such outcomes goes far beyond meeting accreditation needs. They are a valuable source of information that can be used to systematically improve the quality of education students obtain, and can form the basis of a feedback loop that can result in an upward spiral.
A framework called the Degree Qualification Profile (DQP) is currently a popular topic in national higher education news since its recent update. The DQP document provides a model for specifying what students should be able to do as a result of having a degree, which would result in both students and faculty having a clearer understanding of what they should be learning and thus create curricula that are aligned much more closely with it.
At the next UCITE session, Director of Outcome Assessment Susan Perry will discuss the DQP and how it can be used to improve the educational mission of the university.
The discussion is on Thursday, March 26, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Herrick Room in the Allen Memorial Medical Library Building.
Pizza, sodas and water will be provided at this session. RSVP to ucite@case.edu.