For Immediate Release
Lake Land College Celebrates Assessment Month
February is the month to celebrate assessment at Lake Land College. Students and staff members are encouraged to participate in this year’s activities to learn about the importance of assessment.
According to Lisa Madlem, director of academic support and assessment, the assessment process at Lake Land is essential in order to make informed decisions that ultimately improve the teaching-learning process.
“Assessment seems fairly straightforward, but in reality, it is an involved process that systematically measures student performance in order to improve the quality of educational programs, courses and the institution overall,” Madlem said. “Essentially, assessment is what students should know, value or be able to do upon the completion of a course, program or interaction with a department.”
Lake Land College uses institution-wide measures and program and course-specific measures to assess student outcomes. Learner outcomes have been established for each of the college’s associate degree and certificate programs, as well as all courses and departments at the college.
During Assessment Week, Feb. 3-7, Madlem will set up a student booth in the Luther Student Center with assessment information and prizes for students. On Feb. 4, Madlem will also have a student booth set up at the Kluthe Center in Effingham. Additionally, a quiz will be available for students to complete and earn a chance to win a $10 Subway gift card and a grand prize $50 gas gift card.
“Overall, the college is actively assessing course, programs and institutional departments,” Madlem said. “Each component of assessment is working toward assessing the student experience and we are continuously learning from the assessment process in order to make necessary changes and plans of action to ensure that every student at Lake Land College is provided with a continuous learning environment.”
Assessment is an important step in developing Lake Land College’s programs to best suit its students and their growing skills in order to prepare them to enter the workforce or transfer to a four-year university. It is thanks to a previous DACUM (developing a curriculum) assessment that the Agriculture Division has focused on integrating more precision agriculture information leading from a recommendation from the Lake Land College Agriculture Advisory Council. In addition, the Allied Health Division recently celebrated efforts for the new Medical Assistant Program (MAP). In its first year, Medical Assistant Program students received a 100% pass rate on the first attempt on their certification exam. In addition to passing the certification exam, all MAP students passed 142 skills on their skill check off assessment.
For more information about assessment at Lake Land College, contact Madlem at 217-234-5088 or lmadlem@lakelandcollege.edu or visit lakelandcollege.edu/assessment/.
