Learn more about the learning outcomes assessment to be implemented at TRU during a town hall meeting scheduled for April 16, 2-3:30pm in the Alpine Room of the Campus Activity Centre.

When students graduate from a university program, exactly what knowledge and skills should they have learned? And how can you tell?

These are not easy questions, but they are some of the most important for any educational institution, and Thompson Rivers University is embarking on an institution-wide initiative to answer them.

VIDEO: Watch the town hall presentation by Peter Wolf, held April 16, 2013.

The initiative has two goals:

• establish learning outcomes for every TRU program and course
• measure how well TRU students are actually achieving these outcomes

Learning outcomes are direct statements describing what students should know and be able to do upon completion of a course or program. Outcomes focus on transferable knowledge, skills and behaviours that can be defined, evaluated and measured.

“Learning outcomes and assessment are used by leading institutions to measure educational quality, student satisfaction and academic excellence. They will help us meet a key commitment of our Academic Plan, which is to measure and improve the student academic experience,” said Chris Adam, TRU’s Dean of Students,

At TRU, the process will be guided by a Learning Outcomes and Assessment Advisory Committee (LOAAC) and managed through the TRU Centre for Student Engagement and Learning Innovation.

The LOAAC will include faculty and staff from across campus, and will begin its work right away. The committee will review different approaches to developing a learning outcomes and assessment plan in order to determine an appropriate process for TRU. The committee will also collaborate with academic faculties and departments to incorporate any learning outcomes that they may already have established.

At the same time, the Centre for Student Engagement and Learning Innovation will be supporting faculties, departments and individual faculty members by offering trained facilitators, resources and other tools to permit the development of learning outcomes and assessment for their specific courses and programs.

STAY IN THE LOOP
On an ongoing basis, the Centre for Student Engagement and Learning Innovation will also be keeping the community informed through its website.

MORE INFORMATION
Christine Adam
Dean of Students
Email: cadam@tru.ca
Phone: 250-852-5860