Direct Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes

Assessment of learning outcomes is an essential part of quality control and assurance for academic programs. For construction degree programs, this process is rather intensive because of the specific discipline requirements combined with institutional approaches and industry expectations. American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) recently revised their accreditation standards from a "process-oriented" assessment to an "outcome-based" process, which requires a continuous effort as a part of a structured quality improvement plan. ACCE currently defines 20 student learning outcomes (SLO) for the four-year baccalaureate degree programs using multiple bloom's taxonomy levels. Each learning outcome must be assessed using at least two measurements, one of which must be a direct assessment. This paper presents two examples of the direct assessment of learning outcomes at the highest and lowest taxonomy levels defined by ACCE. Assessment structure for "create construction project schedules" (SLO #5) and "understand the basic principles of structural behavior" (SLO #19) are described in detail in two different construction classes. The examples include detailed course structure, course learning objectives with the student learning objectives, measurement criteria, metrics, and target definitions. A discussion of possible indirect assessments for the selected learning outcomes and defining higher learning outcomes compared to the ACCE requirements are also included in the paper. The examples provided in this paper can be replicated to address different ACCE or program level outcome requirements in other classes in a construction curriculum.