University Assessment at TTU includes many processes to improve student learning, provide feedback for faculty improvement, and present valid reliable data to impact program changes. Centered in Academic Affairs, assessments are implemented in conjunction with THEC Performance Funding requirements, and SACS COC guidelines.

The Assessment Calendar for the current planning cycle is aligned with reporting requirements, and provides a clear and timely schedule for administration of assessment measures in the planning cycle. Results from assessment data collection are analyzed and posted for campus dissemination at the following website, www.tntech.edu/strategicplanning/ttu-assessment-data. Please see the Assessment Calendar for specific availability of results.

Individual and/or programmatic reports of current data can be produced upon request. Please send any requests to the Director of University Assessment, Dr. Theresa Ennis, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , 931-372-6124.

Assessment Instruments

• Assessment Calendar (PDF)
• NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement); see tab above
  • NSSE Survey (PDF)
• CCTST (California Critical Thinking Skills Test); see tab above
• Alumni Satisfaction Project (PDF)
• Employer Satisfaction Project (coming soon)
• CLICK HERE for Assessment Data (TTU Strategic Planning website)

NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement)

NSSE 2011 Survey (PDF)

What is student engagement?

• Student engagement represents two critical features of collegiate quality. The first is the amount of time and effort students put into their studies and other educationally purposeful activities. The second is how the institution deploys its resources and organizes the curriculum and other learning opportunities to get students to participate in activities that decades of research studies show are linked to student learning.

What does NSSE do?

• Through its student survey, The College Student Report, NSSE annually collects information at hundreds of four-year colleges and universities about student participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development. The results provide an estimate of how undergraduates spend their time and what they gain from attending college.
  
  NSSE provides participating institutions a variety of reports that compare their students' responses with those of students at self-selected groups of comparison institutions. Comparisons are available for individual survey questions and the five NSSE Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice. Each November, NSSE also publishes its Annual Results, which reports topical research and trends in student engagement results. NSSE researchers also present and publish research findings throughout the year.

What is the survey about?

• Survey items on The College Student Report represent empirically confirmed "good practices" in undergraduate education. That is, they reflect behaviors by students and institutions that are associated with desired outcomes of college. NSSE doesn’t assess student learning directly, but survey results point to areas where colleges and universities are performing well and aspects of the undergraduate experience that could be improved.

How are the survey results used?

• Institutions use their data to identify aspects of the undergraduate experience inside and outside the classroom that can be improved through changes in policies and practices more consistent with good practices in undergraduate education. This information is also used by prospective college students, their parents, college counselors, academic advisers, institutional research officers, and researchers in learning more about how students spend their time at different colleges and universities and what they gain from their experiences. More than 1,400 different colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada have participated in NSSE since it was first administered in 2000.

CCTST: California Critical Thinking Skills Test (Insight Assessment)

TTU General Education Learning Outcomes Exit Exam

Founded in 1986, Insight Assessment supports thinking well by providing world class instruments to measure those core critical thinking skills and habits of mind essential for reflective human problem solving and thoughtful, fair-minded decision making.

The California Critical Thinking Skills Test is based on the Delphi Expert Consensus Definition of Critical Thinking.  Used throughout the United States and in many countries and languages around the world, the CCTST has been proven to predict strength in critical thinking in authentic problem situations and success on professional licensure examinations. The CCTST has been optimized in its different versions and forms for use with professionals, workers and students at all educational levels. It is trusted as a valid, objective and reliable measure of core reasoning and critical thinking skills.

In educational settings the CCTST is recommended for evaluating program applicants, advising individual students, learning outcomes assessment, program evaluation, accreditation and research. At TTU the CCTST is used as a senior exit exam each semester to assess general education learning outcomes of our graduates.

The CCTST provides an objective measure of critical thinking skills. CCTST questions engage the test-taker's reasoning skills. Different questions progressively invite test-takers to analyze or to interpret information presented in text, charts, or images; to draw accurate and warranted inferences; to evaluate inferences and explain why they represent strong reasoning or weak reasoning; or to explain why a given evaluation of an inference is strong or weak. Thus, the CCTST permits test-takers to demonstrate the critical thinking skills required to succeed in educational or workplace settings where solving problems and making decisions by forming reasoned judgments are important.

For more information about Assessment at TTU, please contact:

Dr. Theresa R. Ennis
Director of University Assessment
Tennessee Tech University
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 931-372-6124
Office: Farr Building (FB) Room 201C
TTU PO Box 5136
Cookeville, TN 38505

Lorraine McCracken
Academic Affairs Coordinator
Tennessee Tech University
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 931-372-3463
Office: Derryberry (DB) 204
TTU PO Box 5017
Cookeville, TN 38505