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
Section 5
Course Assessment
Section
6
Program Assessment
Section
7
Closing the Loop
Recording Data
Using Data
Budgeting, Planning, and Improving
Issues
Principles of Good Assessment
Section
8
Implementing Assessment Training on
Campus
Section
9
References & Resources
Assessment Issues for Faculty, Administrators, and Students
The table below summarizes typical issues which should be discussed openly; they are common to institutions across the US and ignoring them will simply impede the ability to close the loop. Some of the problems can be addressed by looking at the benefits faculty have reported in the next table.
Potential Problems, Roadblocks, and Difficulties with Assessment |
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Faculty |
Administrators |
Students |
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Nature of Problem |
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Logistics |
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Workload |
Increased workload |
Increased workload |
Time to take assessments |
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Time to develop outcomes, select tools, interpret data. |
Time to coordinate assessment processes and data usage |
Extent of sampling or population assessment collection |
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Evaluating and reporting data |
Organizing and reporting data |
- |
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Training |
Adequate training
to evaluate and report data. |
Aligned with accreditation standards and other external requirements. |
Loss of faculty contact time in office hours or courses. |
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Concern over who is in control of training and assessment |
Consistent with administrative and institutional vision |
- |
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Time and pay for training |
Time and pay for training |
- |
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Decision-making |
Time and effort for collaborative resolutions |
Time and effort for collaborative resolutions. |
Use of data e.g. high stakes or grading inferences |
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Costs |
To courses and programs for labor and materials |
Institution-wide costs in labor and materials |
Transferred costs? Losses in service? |
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Unfunded by institution |
Unfunded by agencies or states |
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Negative Attitudes |
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Value |
Ineffective due to potential ineffability of important outcomes |
Potential ineffability of important outcomes or inability to determine long term measures |
Potentially of no individual value to the student producing marginal effort |
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Redundant to grading, course goals, and objectives |
External mandate |
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Valueless/faddish |
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Fears |
Potential misuse of data for evaluation |
Use of data for evaluation |
Fear of abuse of data privacy issues |
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Potential misuse of data to curtail programs |
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Bureaucratic intrusion |
Loss of class and program autonomy |
Loss of institutional autonomy |
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Academics |
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Reductionism |
Reducing vital concepts to a few measurable factors |
Potential threat to individual institutional values and missions |
May reduce choices and narrow focus |
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Teaching to the test |
Reducing comprehensive focus to a few measurable outcomes |
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Academic freedom |
Threatening to academic freedom |
Responsive to academic freedom but providing continuity |
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Faculty Comments on the Benefits of SLOs and Assessment |
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Faculty interaction Promotes good discussion between faculty. Makes lunchroom conversations healthier. Prevents departmental favoritism because it is based on performance. Stimulates productive departmental conversations. Enhances interdisciplinary cooperation. |
Curriculum and program review Results in useful discussions concerning sequential courses. Produces more rigorous curriculum review with a focus on outcomes. Provides a holistic picture of the course from beginning to end. Focuses syllabi, daily activities, and assessments on a single target- SLOs.
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Teaching practices Helps to improve teaching practices. Formalizes thoughts about courses. Focuses teaching practices. Validates both what we are teaching and why we are teaching it.
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Students Helps students to be more successful. Informs students of the expectations up front. Directs our teaching practices to be more student/learning-centered. Gives students more responsibility. |
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Course standards Produces consistency of standards between sections. Maintains high standards. |
Budgeting Provides evidence to substantiate costs that contribute to learning.
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Proceed to
Principles of Good Assessment
Resources and Links
Potential Problems, Roadblocks, and Difficulties Word Document
Janet Fulks
Assessing Student Learning in Community Colleges (2004), Bakersfield
College
jfulks@bakersfieldcollege.edu
07/11/2006