Assessment FAQs
Pathways assessment is now conducted on a 4-year cycle, providing time for the Pathways community to collect and review aggregated data and make any necessary revisions to the program.
- Years 1 and 2 of the cycle focus on data collection. A representative sample of 200+ course sections will submit assessment data each fall and spring semester during the first two years of the cycle.
- In Year 3, faculty working groups will analyze and discuss the data collected and recommend improvements to the Pathways program.
- In Year 4, recommended improvements will go through the university governance process as needed.
- Starting in Fall 2024, only a sample of Pathways instructors will be asked to submit data during each data collection semester. 200+ Pathways sections will be selected to report assessment data during the fall and spring semesters in Years 1 and 2 of the 4-year assessment cycle.
- Pathways instructors will no longer be tasked with collecting and reporting Pathways assessment data each time they teach a Pathways course.
Pathways assessment data are now submitted electronically through Canvas course sites. The new Pathways Assessment Tool in Canvas enables Pathways instructors to select student work that will be used for assessment and then assess this work as part of the normal grading process.
The new Pathways assessment process utilizes random sampling and aims to obtain data from a subset of Pathways course sections that are representative of the Pathways curriculum as a whole. By collecting data from a sample of Pathways course sections rather than all course sections, more individual support can be provided to instructors engaged in the assessment process. The revised plan aims to improve data quality while lessening the burden on instructors.
Since grading and Pathways assessment may now take place at the same time, the deadline for submitting Pathways assessment data is the same as the deadline for submitting final grades at the end of the semester. For the Fall 2024 semester, Pathways data should be submitted by December 20, 2024. For the Spring 2025 semester, Pathways data should be submitted by May 16, 2025.
Virginia Tech’s University Curriculum Committee for General Education (UCCGE) revised the Pathways assessment process with the following goals in mind:
- To lessen instructor burden
- To provide more individual support to instructors throughout the process
- To collect less – but more accurate and usable – data
- To make program improvements in a timely manner
Under the new process, instructors will submit assessment data for a section of a specific course a maximum of once every four years instead of every time the course is taught. This involves submitting data for each Pathways student learning outcome for which the course is approved. Large courses may still submit data for a sample of students.
- The new Pathways Assessment Tool in Canvas benefits all Pathways instructors by listing the specific Pathways student learning outcomes that have been approved for their course.
- For instructors of sampled course sections, the tool enables instructors to submit assessment data directly through Canvas. Instructors of sampled course sections can select the student work that will be used for Pathways assessment, assess this work as part of their normal grading process, and then submit the data electronically.
- Although the type of student work assessed is up to the instructor, the work should be a required course activity that all students complete.
- Strong alignment between the student work selected and the Pathways student learning outcome being measured is key. Instructors need to assess each Pathways student learning outcome approved for their course independently (i.e., separately from the course’s other Pathways student learning outcomes).
- Instructors are asked to select one piece of student work per Pathways student learning outcome. If instructors have multiple pieces of student work that align with a particular Pathways student learning outcome, they are encouraged to select a piece of student work from a point later in the semester so that students have more time/opportunities to obtain the knowledge, skill, ability, or competency outlined in the Pathways student learning outcome.
- For Pathways instructors who are interested in using group work as a measure of student learning, instructors are encouraged to assess each student in the team individually rather than giving one rating for the entire group since high-performing students can mask the poor performance of other team members.
- An asynchronous training video is available through VT’s Professional Development Network (Asynchronous Zoom training) as well as the Pathways Assessment website.
- If instructors have questions after watching the training, professionals from Institutional Effectiveness, the Office of General Education, and TLOS are available to provide one-on-one assistance. For help with questions or to set up an individual consultation, please contact:
- Institutional Effectiveness: Molly Hall
- Office of General Education: Jenni Gallagher
- TLOS: Jason Mickel
- Institutional Effectiveness: Molly Hall
- Pathways Office Hours are held on the first Friday of each month to help instructors with questions related to Pathways course proposals, grants, assessment, etc. For more information about monthly office hours, please email Jenni Gallagher.
- Instructor Guide
Individual consultations are available to all Pathways instructors. If you have questions or would like to set up an individual consultation, please contact:
- Institutional Effectiveness: Molly Hall
- Office of General Education: Jenni Gallagher
- TLOS: Jason Mickel
Who should I contact if I’m not sure if my course section has been selected for Pathways assessment?
To double check whether or not your Pathways course section has been sampled for assessment, please email Molly Hall.
Yes, any interested Pathways instructor is welcome to collect and submit assessment data.
- Pathways assessment data are used to inform and improve the Pathways curriculum to enhance student learning at Virginia Tech, not to evaluate individual instructors or courses. Submitted data are aggregated at the student learning outcome level before being shared, ensuring that data are not student, instructor, or course identifiable.
- In addition to informing improvement, aggregated Pathways assessment data are also used to help Virginia Tech meet requirements for SACSCOC regional accreditation and SCHEV, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
- Individual course instructors are encouraged to use their own Pathways assessment data to improve teaching and learning in their course. Aggregated data are used to inform improvements related to the general education program as a whole. Assessment data help determine overall student achievement related to Pathways, the extent to which Virginia Tech is achieving its mission for general education, and if improvements need to be made to the outcomes, the program, or both.
- Virginia Tech’s regional accrediting body, SACSCOC, requires each accredited college/university to create and measure student learning outcomes for its general education curriculum and to demonstrate that it is using these findings to seek improvement.
- The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s (SCHEV’s) policy on Student Learning Assessment and Quality in Undergraduate Education requires each college/university in Virginia to report assessment data related to six competency areas, including Critical Thinking, Written Communication, and Quantitative Reasoning. Data from selected Pathways concepts and student learning outcomes are reported to SCHEV to fulfill this requirement.