Establishing Program-Specific Assessment Standards for Experiential Learning Courses

While technical communication faculty are in general agreement that learning in professional contexts is and should be a core component of any professional writing program, there are no national standards of assessment for experiential learning courses. This entry outlines a justification and a methodology for using course content guides to establish instructional goals and outcomes assessment standards for experiential learning courses. These guides ensure experiential learning courses best serve the technical communication program, the university constituents, and most importantly, the students. The chapter concludes by explaining how these standards may also be used to anticipate programmatic assessment and verification of experiential learning courses during the institutional accreditation process.