Pathways Assessment

Instructors teaching a Pathways course should first consult the official course proposal to determine which core and integrative concepts and respective student learning outcomes are addressed in the course. Instructors are responsible for assessing ALL of the Pathways concepts and student learning outcomes specified in the official course proposal. See full descriptions of the Pathways Concepts and Outcomes.

To obtain your official course proposal, you may want to reach out to your Department Chair or course coordinator (for multi-section courses), or your department may maintain a Canvas site or Google drive with these materials.

Still having trouble? See the useful tool below to find exactly which concepts and outcomes should be addressed in your course.

Watch the Step 1 video for extra help.

For EACH Pathways student learning outcome addressed in the course, instructors should select a piece of student work (i.e. a direct measure of student learning) that aligns with that outcome. Pathways instructors should select the type of student work that best fits with their course and assessment plans.

One of the key features of Pathways assessment is that each student learning outcome needs to be assessed independently. Instructors may use the same essay, project, presentation, etc. to measure multiple student learning outcomes as long as different components or aspects of the assignment are used to measure the different student learning outcomes.

The Pathways Rubrics have different criteria for each of the student learning outcomes to help instructors measure the student learning outcomes separately. If an instructor uses a quiz or exam to assess multiple student learning outcomes, each student learning outcome should be assessed with a unique set of quiz/exam questions that aligns with the specific student learning outcome.

More specific information related to selecting student work for Pathways assessment is available in the FAQs, specifically FAQ #6 and #7.

Instructors may find it helpful to review the Pathways Rubrics for the core and integrative concepts addressed in their course prior to selecting student work for Pathways assessment.

Watch the Step 2 video for extra help.

Instructors will apply the Pathways Rubrics to the student work they selected in Step 2 to determine student competency levels for each student learning outcome addressed in the course. Instructors will rate students as below competent, competent, or above competent.

Applying the Pathways Rubrics

Depending on the student work that is selected, instructors may choose to use a Pathways Rubric as is to assess student performance, or the instructor may interpret a Pathways Rubric to determine the extent to which a student has gained the knowledge, skill, or ability articulated in a specific student learning outcome. For example, if an instructor chooses to use 9 multiple choice items from a final exam in order to measure a Pathways student learning outcome, the instructor could rate students who answer 5 or fewer of the 9 items correctly as “below competent”; 6 or 7 of the 9 items as “competent”; and 8 or 9 of the items as “above competent.”

Which Students Need To Be Assessed?

For Pathways courses with large student enrollments, faculty may choose to collect and report assessment data for a minimum sample of 20 randomly selected students per course section. If instructors choose to utilize sampling for their Pathways course, all students in the course should complete the same assignments, but only the work of the sampled students would need to be reviewed by the instructor and reported.

Watch the Step 3 video for extra help.

Instructors will report the number and percentage of students who are below competent, competent, and above competent for EACH student learning outcome addressed in the course. Data will be submitted each time a Pathways course is taught.

The Pathways Assessment Reporting Excel Form is for instructors to use when reporting Pathways assessment data. See three completed examples in Excel with detailed instructions for filling out the form.

Pathways Assessment Reporting Excel Form Examples

• Assessment Reporting Form Example: Critical Thinking in the Humanities
• Assessment Reporting Form Example: Reasoning in the Natural Sciences
• Assessment Reporting Form Example: Critique and Practice in Design and the Arts

A Word version of the Pathways Assessment Reporting Form is also available for instructors who do not use Excel. See a completed example Pathways Assessment Reporting Form in Word with detailed instructions for filling out the form. 

When complete, please submit your Pathways Assessment Reporting Form by clicking on the below link.

As an alternative, instructors may send their completed reporting forms to Molly Hall or Bethany Bodo in the Institutional Effectiveness unit in the Office of Analytics and Institutional Effectiveness.

Deadlines for submitting data are:

Watch the Step 4 video for extra help.

Pathways assessment data will be used for multiple purposes. Most importantly, Pathways assessment data will used to inform and improve the Pathways curriculum to enhance student learning at Virginia Tech. Assessment data will be used to evaluate and improve the Pathways curriculum, not evaluate individual instructors or courses, as outlined in the Pathways Assessment Data Use Statement (approved by UCCGE May 2019). Submitted data will be aggregated at the student learning outcome level, ensuring that data are not student, instructor, or course identifiable.

At the end of each academic year, the Institutional Effectiveness unit in the Office of Analytics and Institutional Effectiveness will create a summary of assessment data for all Pathways student learning outcomes and concepts that will be disseminated by the Office of General Education.

Watch the Step 5 video for extra help.