Higher Learning Commission

Innovative Practices

Completing the Assessment Data Documentation

• Click here for full eCAR overview

Each semester, faculty are expected to complete a Course Assessment Record (CAR) document for at least one course outcome for at least one course (more are encouraged). The assessment data that is collected at the course level helps provide assessment at the program and institutional level, as well. On a yearly basis, the CAR data is compiled into a Course Assessment Record Database (CARD), first by division and then by the institution. These composite data are then evaluated by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning (IEP) to look for trends across the curriculum – especially in the area of General Education. An annual report is published related to the CARD. Programs are formally evaluated on five‐year cycles using a Program Review (PR) process. During the Program Review, the PR committee will complete the Program Assessment Record (PAR) using assessment data previously reported on the CAR.

In the past, data had to manually transferred from one document to another – a time-consuming retyping of the information from the CAR to the PAR or CARD. Beginning in fall 2009, LCCC faculty will be entering data electronically into the Electronic Course Assessment Record (eCAR) site that has been created using Microsoft SharePoint. This site will have many benefits:

1. Course information will be present in the system and available to the faculty menu via pull-down menus;
2. The site can be accessed easily from both on and off campus;
3. The data will be input in a much more consistent format which will lead to more reliable and comparable data; 
4. The data will be directly entered into an electronic database and downloadable to an Excel spreadsheet;
5. The downloaded data can be easily manipulated by faculty and staff to extract needed information (training will be provided at a future time); 
6. The electronic data can be easily transferred (via cut‐and‐paste) to other documents, as needed;
7. The electronic format will save reams of paper each semester, which is great for the environment. The paper versions of the CAR will no longer be used.