UDLA recognizes the need to prepare life-long learners who develop knowledge and skills in classroom settings and deepen their learning through experiences beyond those walls, who communicate and collaborate across cultures in an increasingly competitive world. For these reasons, assessment is essential to guide, empower, and integrate student learning. Assessment is not an isolated activity or merely the evaluation of student work, but rather a way to encourage students to engage in their own learning, especially through reflection, and a means by which to measure the effectiveness of the university’s programs, their curricula and teaching-learning processes. Thus, the principal objective of assessment is to support the learning process of every student and stimulate meaningful learning, as well as academic achievement and personal growth, consonant with established institutional and program learning outcomes.

UDLA’s institutional learning outcomes form both the underpinning reason for all teaching and learning activities that take place and serve as a framework for activities that contribute to students’ overall development. They are linked to the mission of forming “capable, enterprising individuals with an international perspective and a firm commitment to society, based on ethical principles and values,” as well as the core competencies specified by WSCUC and other transversal learning outcomes.

INSTITUTIONAL LEARNING OUTCOMES

Critical Thinking: Thinks clearly and accurately to solve problems or generate ideas based on the critical analysis of evidence in order to formulate valid conclusions.

Innovation and creativity: Innovates and creates with knowledge, independence, entrepreneurial spirit and orientation toward achievement in diverse contexts, grounded in professional ethics.

Collaborative work: Engages actively in teamwork, contributing to the achievement of common objectives through collaboration based on defined roles.

Citizenship and a global vision: Demonstrates a multicultural and global vision, as well as respect for diversity, fulfilling obligations and responsibilities as a citizen and a professional.

Communication in Spanish: Communicates ideas with clarity and fluency, taking into consideration purpose and context, and using effective oral and written language.

Communication in English: Communicates effectively in English in the four basic language domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Information literacy: Uses technology effectively to access and evaluate information, applying ethics and scientific rigor in research and other scholarly endeavors.

Quantitative reasoning: Applies quantitative reasoning to interpret data and solve everyday problems, as well as complex challenges.

The UDLA approach applies assessment cycle thinking to “capture” learning achievement in a systematic way and drive continuous improvement. This is based on:

  • The alignment of student learning outcomes at various levels (ILO-PLO-CLO) through curricular mapping
  • The Institutional Multiannual Assessment Plan (IMAP) that informs the programs’ own MAPs over each 5-year period
  • Rubrics that reflect learning outcomes and performance standards in their criteria

INSTITUTIONAL ASSESSMENT PROCESS AND RESULTS


Fall period begins in September of the year established in the figure and it ends in March of the following year.
Retention figures show new enrollment for the Fall period compared with total enrollment of the following two Fall periods.
Graduation figures show students who earned their degrees from Fall 2015 to Fall 2020.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT RESULTS BY PROGRAM

College of Architecture & Design

College of Business & Economics

College of Communication & Audiovisual Arts

College of Dentistry

College of Engineering & Applied Sciences

College of Health Sciences

College of Law

College of Medicine

School of Gastronomy

School of Hospitality and Tourism

School of Music

School of Psychology

School of Social Sciences

Graduate Programs