Co‐Curricular Outcomes Assessment and Accreditation

Abstract

Student learning and development that occurs as a result of co-curricular activities is an integral part of the college experience. Students apply knowledge learned in the classroom and develop broad skills such as teamwork, cultural competence, effective communication, leadership, project management, critical thinking, and problem solving by engaging in meaningful out-of-class experiences. These experiences may be formal programs designed to complement the curriculum, such as service learning and undergraduate research, or activities such as membership in campus organizations, on-campus employment, and participation in campussponsored events and programs. Co-curricular initiatives can facilitate and reinforce student learning as well as prepare students for the workplace. The contributions of these initiatives to student learning and development have been well documented in higher education literature (see Kuh, 2008) and stakeholders are increasingly focused on these educational opportunities.Faculty, administrators, and student affairs educators understand the importance of co-curricular programs as well as the importance of assessing program outcomes for the purposes of improvement and accountability. These internal stakeholders, along with institutional researchers, regularly assess the learning and development that takes place through co-curricular activities and use that information to improve these initiatives. External stakeholders such as regional accreditors also recognize that co-curricular activities are an important part of the college experience, and include assessment of co-curricular learning as part of the accreditation process. This chapter outlines the role co-curricular outcomes assessment plays in NEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, no. 164

Conducting Comprehensive Assessment Within Community Colleges: Administrative, Educational, and Student Support (AES) Assessment with the Shults Dorimé‐Williams Taxonomy

“…While assessment practice and acceptance has grown, traditional approaches focusing on assessing student learning in curricular and cocurricular settings (Busby, ; Elkins, ) fail to consider the full scope of the student experience. This practice is evidenced by scholars and practitioners who argue for explicit connections between the work of student affairs professionals and the academic mission of an institution (Upcraft & Schuh, ).…”

Using Direct Measures in the Cocurriculum

“…Using direct measures is helpful in accreditation (Henning 2013) and provides significantly richer data and insight. Busby (2015) encourages institutional researchers to partner with student affairs educators as the access to students in the cocurriculum allows for exploration of demonstrated skills and competences outside the classroom. Although the perception may be that it is easy to create a questionnaire and ask students their opinions on the cocurriculum, measuring these outcomes indirectly will not elicit strong confidence in the results.…”

“…Using direct measures is helpful in accreditation (Henning 2013) and provides significantly richer data and insight. Busby (2015) encourages institutional researchers to partner with The focus of assessment has shifted from examining learning outcomes, to determining access to educational opportunities, to measuring persistence and completion, and will (or even is) returning to a review of learning outcomes. student affairs educators as the access to students in the cocurriculum allows for exploration of demonstrated skills and competences outside the classroom.…”

The Value of Co-curricular Experiences: Perspectives of Third-year Biomedical Engineering Students

“…Beyond those outcomes, co-curricular engagement has also been linked to outcomes such as self-efficacy and a sense of belonging, which can improve retention and persistence in engineering students [4], [5], [9]. Research on co-curricular experiences has led to an increased emphasis from higher education institutions on students' participation in cocurricular experiences [8], [10]. Biomedical engineering (BME) undergraduate students have explicitly implicated co-curriculars as a key part of preparing them for professional careers in their undergraduate experience [11].…”

“…), and estimated growth in various outcomes since college [2], [3]. While there is some debate on the predictive power of NSSE, studies using NSSE have linked student engagement in co-curricular experiences to student learning outcomes, increased retention, and four year graduation [8], [9]. Beyond NSSE, many other studies have linked student outcomes to co-curricular experiences.…”