Assessment of Program Effectiveness, an
Ongoing Project.........
In the early stages of program
evaluation, the emphasis was on the educational process: what we was
being taught. However,
this did not measure what students learned, how prepared they were for
their professional careers. The Commission on Dental Education's Document
on Outcomes Assessment tells us that:
During
the past decade, accrediting bodies have embraced the concept of assessing
educational outcomes; that is, institutions are being asked to describe and
document what their students have learned.
It is no longer sufficient that subject matter has been presented (or
taught) in a course. What is of critical importance is whether the students have
learned that subject matter. Demonstrating
that students have, indeed, learned what has been taught is part of what
entitles institutions to the confidence of the educational community and the
public.
The
American Dental Association Council of Dental Education's Standard 2-4b states
that:
The
dental hygiene program must have a formal, written curriculum management plan,
which includes:
a) an ongoing curriculum review and evaluation process with input from
faculty, students, administration and other appropriate sources; b) evaluation of all courses
related to the defined goals and competencies of the program; and c) a defined mechanism for coordinating instruction among program faculty
as well as between dental hygiene faculty and other faculty who teach dental
hygiene students.
The Dental Hygiene program is
committed to
continuous
quality improvement through the use of a formal and ongoing
planning and assessment process. This Program Effectiveness Portfolio is a dynamic
documentation of our efforts. The
four quality improvement concepts that we follow are: Plan, Do, Check,
and Act. You can click on the links below to access samples of our
activities.
Plan: Statement
of Program Mission, Goals, and Competencies.
Assessment
Plan for Goals
Assessment
Plan for Competencies
Do: Data
gathering activities
Administer
surveys
Course
inventories-template
Course
charters
Check: Analysis of data
Program
Accreditation
Survey
reports (program access only)
Sample of
survey reports
Assessment of
Goals
Assessment of
Competencies
Act: Documentation
of Changes
Curriculum
meeting notes
Changes in
Practice
Original
goal
