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Assessment

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING

MATC has three primary branches of student learning that we assess regularly and formally: institutional-level, program-level and course-level. 

Across all assessment activities, we focus on the most important learning goals that will contribute to student success. Our efforts are guided by our mission, the MATC Standards of Teaching Excellence (pdf) and a shared commitment to continuous quality improvement through the Plan-Do-Check-Adjust (PDCA) model. At MATC, we use the continous quality improvement cycle of PDCA to ensure effective and consistent delivery of course outcomes, program outcomes and Career Essentials.

  • Plan: Identify ways to improve learning outcomes and how to test those improvements.
  • Do: Reinforce and reteach key concepts and skills, or alter instruction to create stronger student engagement.
  • Check: Systematically assess learning outcomes using established criteria and provide feedback to students.
  • Adjust: Based on assessments, refine learning outcomes and consider modifying curriculum.



Institutional Learning Outcomes

MATC's institutional learning outcomes are known as Career Essentials. These are the skills, knowledge, habits, and attitudes that all students will demonstrate by graduation, workforce entry, or transfer.

All MATC programs teach and assess three Career Essentials:

  1. Effective Communication: Communicate effectively through writing, listening, and speaking to convey ideas clearly and respectfully in various contexts
  2. Effective Problem Solving: Solve problems efficiently and creatively by applying technical knowledge and structured problem-solving methods
  3. Professionalism: Demonstrate professionalism by being reliable, responsible, respectful, ethical, and accountable in all interactions and tasks

Faculty integrate Career Essentials into each program’s curriculum and identify courses suitable for introducing, practicing, and assessing each Career Essential. Career Essentials are also reinforced through cocurricular activities.

Aggregated assessment data is updated every semester and available to faculty via myMATC.

MATC course essentials spring 2025

Program Learning Outcomes

Program outcomes represent technical skills required by employers for entry-level jobs in specific fields. These outcomes are developed collaboratively by program faculty across the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) to ensure preparation of students.

The process for developing and assessing program outcomes includes:

  1. Identification of technical outcomes by faculty
  2. Approval by the program Advisory Committee and WTCS
  3. Integration into courses to introduce and practice
  4. Demonstration through Technical Skills Attainment (TSA) assessment
Program outcomes are regularly reviewed and can be found in the MATC Course Catalog.

Course Outcomes

Each MATC course has a Course Outcome Summary (COS) that outlines expected learning outcomes. These outcomes are shared with students via the syllabus and are reviewed by faculty every three years, including review by the program Advisory Committee. The COS development and review process is governed by Procedure EE0121.

For additional information, email the Quality, Planning and Assessment department at learning-assessment@matc.edu,