Assessing Student Learning
Pilot Grant Funding for Departments
Presidential Chair Fellows Funding ("Improving Student Learning") ~ Extended deadline - September 1.
Assessment is playing an increasingly important role in higher education, for individual courses, departments, and universities as a whole. The materials on this page provide introductions to the various kinds of assessment undertaken 1) during a semester in a class, 2) at the end of the semester to measure whether students have reached course learning goals, and 3) developing and evaluating program or department learning goals.
I. Assessing Throughout the Term
Too often instructors wait until midterms to find out how students are doing, and by then it might be too late for students who are not doing well. A good habit to develop is occasional, non-graded, and quick assessments that let instructors and students know how students are doing. A parallel set of assessments lets the instructor know how students think the class is going.
Suggestions for Early Feedback
Early Feedback Working Group Report
II. Developing Course Learning Goals
Although instructors have in their minds a very specific set of goals for a class, these goals are often implicit. Developing a written set of goals and giving them to students helps students immensely in two ways: students are able to see a structure and overall arc of a course and they are able to check their own learning as the course progresses.
Rubric for Evaluating Written Assignments
III. Assessing Capstone Experiences
While there are many varieties of capstone experiences, the most common one is the Honors Thesis. We present here a rubric for evaluating an honors thesis developed by the International and Area Studies Teaching Program. In addition to a thesis itself, programs sometimes ask students to write a reflective piece on the process; such a piece provides an excellent source for assessing the student’s knowledge. Finally, asking students to provide a critical annotated bibliography is another avenue for assessing their knowledge. The reflective piece and annotated bibliography here are not from an honors thesis, but provide an excellent example of how these can be used.
International and Area Studies Honors Thesis Rubric
International and Area Studies Honors Thesis Evaluation Form
Sample Research Paper, Annotated Bibliography, and Reflection
IV. Developing Program-Level Outcomes
Program- or department-level learning outcomes/goals can bring coherence to a curriculum and help both students and faculty see how courses in a program interact with and build on each other.
V. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Rubrics
VI. Rubrics for Assesment
There are many resources on the web that provide examples of rubrics that can be used in assessment. In "Other Resources," below, the long UCLA document provides some excellent examples. IN addition the Association of American Colleges and Universities has an excellent set of "Value Rubrics" which we include below. All are Reprinted [or Excerpted] with permission from Assessing Outcomes and Improving Achievement: Tips and tools for Using Rubrics, edited by Terrel L. Rhodes. Copyright 2010 by the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Value Rubrics Packet, including rubrics on:
Creative Thinking
Critical Thinking
Information LIterary
InquiryAnalysis
Oral Communication
Problem Solving
Quantitative Literacy
Reading
Written Communication
VI. Other Assessment Resources
UCLA Guidelines for Developing and Assessing Student Learning Outcomes for Undergraduate Majors
9 Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning (pdf)
Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education
Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education--Journal
National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assesment
Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Educational Effectivness Framework
WASC General Education Assessment
Classroom Assessment Techniques, Angelo and Cross—the standard reference book
UC Berkeley’s Undergraduate Student Learning Initiative