Educational Effectiveness Review
The third phase of the Occidental College reaccreditation process is the Educational Effectiveness (EE) Review. Preparation for the EE review will begin in fall 2009. Working groups - one for each WASC Standard - will be established under the aegis of the WASC Steering Committee.
The focus of the EE review is on learning: educational objectives and design, processes of review and educational results. The College proposes to build on what it learns about its capacities in the CPR phase as well as improvements it implements in the Educational Effectiveness review phase.
The EE review afford the opportunity to strengthen the culture of assessment throughout the curriculum and co-curriculum of the Colleges - with the ultimate goal of improved student learning. The review will also offer an important opportunity for enhanced faculty engagement in broad and deep assessment of student learning across the curriculum, in the Core, and within the departmental curricula and majors.
The WASC Team visit is scheduled for fall 2011.
Special Focus
The College has chosen as a special focus for the EE Review in the senior comprehensive experience. Review of the senior comprehensive experience across the College will provide faculty the opportunity to address and explore intellectual inequities across the major disciplinary requirements. Specific questions to be focused on as part of the senior comprehensive include:
- What is the role of the senior comprehensive 'capstone' experience in the context of Occidental's liberal arts education?
- How well is the senior comprehensive experience of each department aligned with its curriculum and learning outcome goals? Are the experiences appropriately summative in nature?
- Is the faculty of the College confident that the senior comprehensive experience requirements across all programs are appropriately comparable in rigor and that they demonstrate achievement of College-wide as well as programmatic learning outcomes?
- How well is the senior comprehensive helping students meet the learning outcomes of individual disciplines as well as broader institutional goals as introduced in the Core? How can such board institutional outcomes as critical thinking, research and oral presentation skills be more effectively addressed?
