DESCRIPTION

In March 2003, the Psychology Department at Irvine Valley College began a 
project to develop learning outcomes for students studying psychology. The 
faculty reviewed the college’s mission statement and accreditation standards, 
and the department’s course outlines. They also reviewed the American 
Psychological Association’s guidelines, which describe what students with a BA 
in psychology ought to know and be able to do as a result of their coursework. 
They developed learning outcomes for the introductory psychology course, and 
course instructors administered the same thirty objective questions and three 
short essay questions for the final exam. The faculty reviewed the results of this 
work at the beginning of the 2004 spring semester, made some modifications for 
the introductory psychology course, and began developing outcomes for the 
physiological psychology and introductory statistics courses.

RESOURCES FOR DOWNLOAD

• >> Powerpoint Presentation on Developing Psychology SLOs  (Powerpoint, 1.99 MB)
• >> Pre- and post test for psychology students  (MS Word, 112.50 KB)
• >> Report from IVC Psych department on their experience developing SLOs  (MS Word, 34.00 KB)
• >> APA Report on Learning Goals and Outcomes for Psychology Majors  (PDF, 78.12 KB)

EVIDENCE OF IMPACT/SUCCESS

The faculty consider their work in developing and assessing student learning 
outcomes to be positive and productive. They agree on what students 
should know and make instructional changes when assessments produce 
evidence of unsatisfactory learning. They have developed different teaching 
strategies, which have improved the students’ performance on SLO 
assessments. They have seen the benefit of pre- and post-testing students, and 
of using rubrics for scoring essays and other student products. The faculty is 
gaining experience with assessment terminology and strategies, and there is 
greater interest in and focus on student learning as a result of the department’s 
work.

Download the pdf file in Resources for a full report on the department's work with 
SLOs.

TARGET STUDENTS

• Students Intending to Transfer