Learning Achievement in Advanced Degree Programs: A Summary Analysis of the 2020 Graduate Program Assessment Reports

Abstract

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM) is a public research-intensive comprehensive university, accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). UHM faculty conduct program and institutional level learning assessment mainly for the purpose of improvement of teaching and learning. The learning assessment activities and reporting also help the institution maintain its accreditation status. The institutional accreditation standards require that systematic investigations of student learning achievement take place for all graduate degrees and that findings are applied to the design and improvement of curricula, pedagogy, and assessment methodology. The main mechanism used to document program level learning assessment activities is through the program assessment reports that the Assessment & Curriculum Support Center (ACSC) periodically collects from all academic degree programs. In 2020, the ACSC collected 140 reports on program learning assessment from 141 advanced degree programs at UHM, a 99% submission rate. This report summarizes the advanced degree program learning assessment status at UHM based on the analysis of these program assessment reports. In addition, this report describes how the Center has used the program assessment reports to analyze student learning achievement on Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs) for the advanced degree programs.