Tracdat Getting Started Guide

Transcription

1 Tracdat Getting Started Guide Adding and Assessing Program Outcomes in Tracdat Tracdat website (this is accessible from anywhere): cos.tracdat.com Login: Use your regular COS login username and password (the same way you login to your computer or campus ). Step 1: Adding a program outcome 1. Before starting, ensure that you have rights to edit the program outcomes. This can be done by submitting a request to the COS Helpdesk ([email protected]). If you teach in more than one department/division, check to be sure you are in the correct unit at the very top of the page. Use the drop-down arrow to select the appropriate program (degree/certificate).

2 2. In the Home screen, you will see the summary of all the outcomes work for that program: the courses in the program, how many outcomes, how many assessed, etc. 3. Click on the Program Outcomes and Assessment tab. Then look for the action button at the bottom of the screen. Click on Add New Program Outcome.

3 4. Complete the fields on the New Outcome page. Give the outcomes a descriptive name that reflects its content (rather than Outcome #1, for example, you might choose Scientific Method to help tell one outcome from another). State the outcome in terms of what students will be able to do (understand, perform, etc.) by the end of the program. Each program should have 1-3 outcomes. These should be broadbased, concept-driven statements. Choose the assessment cycle for the program (when it will next be assessed and then all future assessment years (do this by holding down the CTRL key and clicking additional choices)). The Program Outcome Status will be active (previous outcomes may need to be reviewed and made inactive if they aren t being used currently). The Start Date is the day you entered the outcome into Tracdat (the date the outcome became active). 5. Look for the ACTION button at the bottom of the page. Click Save Changes. It will be gold if changes need to be saved and gray if the changes have already been saved. 6. Next, click on the Assessment Plan button and then on the ACTION button Add New Assessment Plan.

4 7. Add your Assessment Plan, including the Assessment Type and Outcome Goals and any Notes that might be helpful. Remember the ACTION button and Save Changes. 8. One simple assessment method for programs is to map the course outcomes to program outcomes and then analyze the results. You can do this easily in TracDat by clicking on the Related Courses button. Then, for each course, indicate whether the outcome is introduced, reinforced, emphasized or achieved. Save the page. You can then go to Reports and run the report called Curriculum Map to see a map of the results. Analyze that map for gaps in the curriculum or other elements that you notice.

5 9. The next button is for Related Items. Currently, it lists the Institutional Learning Outcomes, but may list other institution-related goals and objectives in the future. This is a place to connect the program to the larger campus planning processes. 10. In the Related Outcomes tab, you can see all the outcomes for each course that is associated with the program and their outcomes/assessments, etc. Note: you cannot change course outcomes here, as it is viewonly. But it might be helpful in determining which course outcomes connect to program outcomes.

6 10. After you have results for the outcome assessment, click on the Assessment Results tab. Find the ACTION button and click on Add Assessment Results. If you have previous results in the blue boxes, you can edit those by clicking on Show Results. 11. You ll see the list of outcomes in the next screen. Select the outcome for which you have assessment results: 12. Then click on Select in the pop-up box:

7 13. In the next screen, add your assessment results, including an analysis of the results. Find the ACTION button at the bottom and Save Changes. 14. Almost finished! For the last step, add an Improvement Plan.

8 15. Complete the Improvement Plan page and Save Changes.