ASSESSMENT Basics:
What is Assessment?
The term assessment in higher education encompasses both academic programs and administrative support units, as Trudy Banta and Catherine Palomba describe in their book, Assessment Essentials, 2/e:
Assessment is the process of providing credible evidence of
- resources,
- implementation actions, and
- outcomes
undertaken for the purpose of improving the effectiveness of
- instruction,
- programs, and
- services
in higher education.
Therefore, we can categorize assessment into two broad categories: operational and student learning.
Operational Assessment
Operational assessment examines the effectiveness of processes and programs offered. This type of assessment helps institutions to determine whether their programs are meeting their goals and objectives.
- Measures types of services/programs students want/need
- Who are we serving? What do they need/like?
- Measures who is using services, what services are being used, & when services are being used
- Scope - what is the reach of our program or service?
- Measures to what extent students are satisfied with programs/services
- Do students like what we have to offer?
- Evidence that resources are well spent
student learning assessment
Student learning outcomes assessment focuses on measuring the knowledge, skills, and abilities that students acquire as a result of their educational experiences.
- Focuses on measuring the knowledge, skills, and abilities that students acquire as a result of their educational experiences.
- Helps institutions to determine whether their programs are effective in preparing students for their future careers.
- Many academic programs obtain specialized accreditation from such organizations as ABET, CAEP, and ACEN. These organizations develop standards and outcomes specific to areas of practice (for example, teaching, nursing, and engineering).
- Benchmarking, Best Practices, etc.
- NSSE, BCSSE, and other national surveys
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