Student Learning Outcomes at El Camino College

The mission of El Camino College (ECC) is to make a positive difference in people’s lives by offering quality, comprehensive educational programs and services that promote educational success among students from our diverse community.  Central to this mission is student learning, which is not restricted to interactions between students and instructors in a classroom.  Instead, the entire campus works together to support student learning in all of the courses, programs, and services it offers.

The college has identified learning outcomes at multiple levels.

• Course-level Learning Outcomes (SLOs) reflect specific knowledge, skills, and other learning that students are expected to demonstrate after they have completed a particular course.

• Program-level Learning Outcomes (PLOs)reflect specific knowledge, skills, and other learning that students are expected to demonstrate after they have completed a particular program of study (e.g., a specified sequence of courses, a specified series of programmed activities).

• Service Area Outcomes (SAOs) reflect specific knowledge, skills, abilities, and/or attitudes that students are expected to demonstrate as a function of his or her engagement with a particular service area (e.g., financial aid, Counseling, Business Office) beyond the college’s academic disciplines.

• Institution-level Learning Outcomes (ILOs)reflect a general set of core competencies that students are expected to demonstrate as a function of their overall educational experience at the college.

Although the initial impetus for measuring student learning represented assessment at the course level, outcomes assessment is currently a college-wide effort which includes the development and assessment of outcomes statements in such areas as Student Services and Administrative Services.  Consequently, the college uses the language of “outcomes assessment” (rather than the more narrowly defined “SLO assessment”) to describe its campus-wide efforts at all levels of assessment.

The college strives to create a culture in which outcomes assessment continually improves the quality of student learning and institutional effectiveness.  ECC has a documented process to ensure that learning outcomes assessment works in conjunction with curricular review, program review, and annual planning.  A formal committee structure exists to facilitate ongoing evaluation of student achievement of the stated learning outcomes at each level of assessment.  The committee of faculty and staff representatives from academic and student support programs across campus regularly meet to ensure that faculty: 1) regularly analyze assessment data, 2) formally report actionable plans to respond to any assessment findings (e.g., student achievement gaps), and 3) strategically link assessment to other college processes (e.g., program review, planning).

El Camino College believes that ongoing assessment is the vehicle to promote continuous improvement in its courses, programs, and services.  The material and links presented on the learning outcomes webpages are intended to serve as resources for students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community members to learn about ECC’s commitment to the assessment of student learning and about the actions the college takes to promote student success.