Assessing Student Learning in Higher Education
Section 1
Introduction
Section 2
Background and Rationale for Assessment
Section 3
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
Section 4
Assessment Tools and Data
Quality Data
Defining Terms
Assessment Tools
Grades & Assessment
Primary Trait Analysis
Rubrics
Selecting the Tools
Creating a Tool
Quiz
Your SLOs
Section 5
Course Assessment
Section
6
Program Assessment
Section
7
Closing the Loop
Section
8
Implementing Assessment Training on
Campus
Section
9
References & Resources
Definitions
Workbook
Using Materials from
this Website
Grading and Assessment
But how does assessment fit with GRADING?
Paul Dressel (1976) has defined a grade as "an inadequate report of an inaccurate judgment by a biased and variable judge of the extent to which a student has attained an undefined level of mastery of an unknown proportion of an indefinite material.” Miller, Imrie, & Cox 1998, p. 24
“An interesting aspect of the GPA is that it tells us very little about what a student knows or what that student’s competencies or talents really are. The GPA is thus primarily a relativistic or normative measure. That is, the primary information contained in a course grade pertains to the student’s performance in relation to other students.” Astin, 1993, p. 11
Walvoord and Anderson (1998) in their book Effective Grading suggest that grading, when based upon explicit criteria, can become a structural framework for course embedded assessment. This creates a criterion-referenced and valid means of assessing student learning that occurs in the process of teaching, rather than as an additional task layered upon daily course activities.
Effective Grading Ideas
Make the course assignment-centered. Do not ask, "What should I cover in this course?" but "What should my students be able to do?”
 | Rethink the use of in-class time. (What wastes your time or the students’ time? Assess the competency of your students at the beginning; some may be lacking in pre-requisite skills) |
| Give students explicit directions for each assignment. (This saves you time grading and allows students to create a better product.) |
| Determine assessable criteria, use grading scales, checklists, or rubrics that are assignment-specific. Construct a Primary Trait Analysis (PTA) scale referencing highly explicit criteria and develop rubrics based upon the PTA. |
| Make grading time-efficient. (Grade things to a certain point in the paper; if the same mistakes are occurring repetitively, draw a line and indicate this is a systemic recurring problem and that you have stopped making specific comments. Use a checklist for simple content or components of assignments, but provide detailed feedback for formative development.) |
| Use authentic types of assignments. |
| Employ multiple types of assessments. |
| Address a variety of learning styles. |
In the process of rethinking assignments to make them valid and reliable assessments, faculty grading becomes more efficient and effective, and student performance improves due to the explicit expectations that faculty have articulated. The next sections discuss assignments and exams based upon standards and criteria using primary trait analysis.
Resources and Links
Why Aren't Course Grades Enough?
CSU System
What is the
difference between assessing a program and assessing a student?
NC State University
Primary Trait
Analysis:
Grades vs. Assessment
Eder (SIUE)
Teaching to the test
Carnegie Foundation
Grade Inflation
Carnegie Foundation
Janet Fulks
Assessing Student Learning in Community Colleges (2004), Bakersfield
College
jfulks@bakersfieldcollege.edu
07/11/2006