Capella University programs are based on the scholar-practitioner model, which focuses on connecting theory to practice in real-world situations. To ensure you develop the competencies necessary to succeed with your degree, the educational outcomes established for your program are grounded on the current, professional knowledge of your field sourced from relevant professional publications and associations.
Educational outcomes are the knowledge, skills, abilities, and professional attributes a learner is expected to demonstrate at the end of an educational program or offering. To help you achieve those outcomes, your courses are designed based on course competencies, which are achievable, measurable goals that directly reflect the program outcomes. The faculty members in your program analyze the educational outcomes and deconstruct them into sets of competencies that are believed necessary to demonstrate each of the outcomes. These competencies form the basis of all Capella courses. They connect theory to practice in real-world situations.Â
To demonstrate the course competencies, you will complete assessments that are directly linked to each competency and, by extension, to the program outcomes. Each assessment is evaluated according to scoring guide criteria that correspond to the course competencies. Supporting and measuring specific competencies in this way ensures that the outcomes-based model is put into practice in your coursework. By successful achieving the scoring criteria in each assessment, you will be demonstrating proficiency in your course competencies.
The following information will help you understand what a scoring guide is, and how you can use it to enhance your learning, so you can achieve better results.
Learners have indicated that an effective approach to starting each assessment is to examine its scoring guide alongside the assessment description. The scoring guide criteria identify what you are intended to accomplish in a given assessment. Along with the assessment description, the scoring guide criteria help to define what you need to do, so that you can start your work with a clear understanding that will maximize your ability to demonstrate the competencies successfully. By specifying the aims of the assessment in advance, you can plan your work, reflect on your own progress, and keep yourself on track to meet performance expectations.
Examine the scoring guide before you begin each assessment, so that you are sure you understand the specific performance expectations. Faculty members use the scoring guide criteria to evaluate how well you have demonstrated each course competency. The use of scoring guides allows for fair and transparent assessment of specific course competencies. This criterion-referenced approach is radically different from a norm-referenced approach, which is based on a comparison of your performance with the performance of your peers.
There are several types of scoring guides, but almost all scoring guides at Capella University are either checklists or rubrics. In a checklist, the criteria are simply evaluated as being demonstrated or not. Checklists are not as commonly used as rubrics. They are usually reserved for a type of assessment that requires absolute answers, such as in mathematics.
A rubric contains a list of criteria, with a description of how each criterion can be demonstrated at multiple levels of performance. Capella rubrics contain four performance levels for each criterion: Non-performance, Basic, Proficient, and Distinguished. In the scoring guide, the Distinguished performance level represents the highest level attainable for a criterion. By examining the Distinguished performance column, you will know the specific standards that faculty members will use to evaluate outstanding performance.
You can use the assessment rubrics and checklists to help prepare your assessment and to understand how faculty members will evaluate your work. Complete the following steps to efficiently orient your approach and ensure you understand the stated requirements of the assessment.