Assessment FOR Student Learning—Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Assessment is a type of action research to help us gather indicators that will be useful for improving student learning through our curriculum and teaching strategies. It focuses on student learning and what the student will be able to do and not so much on what we are going to teach. The following Q & As will attempt to provide answers to some frequently asked questions that may further your understanding of the assessment process.

Q. Why do we assess FOR student learning?
A: To do assessment for the goal of doing assessment and writing a report would be a waste of time. Link your assessment practices to compelling, powerful, and consequential processes such as department review or program validation. You can link it to curriculum revisions, distance learning, retention, service learning, and improving student learning and teaching strategies.

There is considerable evidence that assessment drives student learning and curriculum. Most importantly, our assessment tools tell our students what we consider to be important and make clear our expectations of what the student will do to be successful in the course or program. They will learn what we guide them to learn through our assessments. By using appropriate assessment techniques, we can encourage our student to raise the bar. Think of assessment for learning as the “learning process” where our students and we receive significant feedback to improve learning.
It’s not always the assessments, but the changes they lead to, that are important. Change and innovation take courage, but they’re also at the heart of the teaching profession.

Q: I already give tests and grades. Isn’t that assessment?
A: Not really. Tests and quizzes are an evaluation of learned material. Assessment involves a sample of behavior from your student that can be observed and judged on the basis of specific criteria developed and assessed in multiple modes and contexts, the learning process. For example, a project, presentation, a number of writing assignments, labs, and more. Traditional testing methods are limited measures of student learning and of limited value for guiding student learning. We can’t just say that 73% of our students are getting As and Bs, so we must be doing okay. A letter grade itself does not give enough information about the learning that is occurring.

Q. Aren’t student learning outcomes specific tasks that the student will perform?
A: No, not tasks. Student learning outcomes are generic abilities that can be developed/improved and assessed. (See the Glossary for terms—competency vs. learner-centered outcome)

Q. What is an outcomes-based course?
A. An outcomes-based course is supported with multiple learning opportunities for the student to achieve the learning outcomes.

Q. What is the syntax of pedagogy?
A. Student learning outcomes, taxonomy, assessment—for each learning outcome the faculty will develop/provide at least three (assessments) with measurements, more specifically, opportunities for the students to learn with meaningful feedback.

Q. When we validate program outcomes (3-year cycle) in Career and Technical Programs, aren’t we assessing individual students?
A: No. We are assessing programs and program outcomes. We want to determine how well our programs are actually achieving what they profess to achieve. Program outcomes validation seeks to determine if program and general education outcomes are appropriate to meeting current academic, business, trade, and/or professional/technological standards.

Q: How does assessment FOR learning help faculty?
A: It provides teachers with useful information about their students, including the quality as learners and readiness for learning. Ongoing assessment informs the teachers about the pace and progress of student learning in their classroom.

Q. Is this something extra for me to do? Who should be doing assessment?

A. No, it’s not extra. You’re already assessing. It’s those learning opportunities that you have designed in your curriculum where you can give your students on-going feedback so that they can improve learning. Only faculty who guide the learning process can identify the student learning outcomes of that process, what it is they expect to happen to/for the student. It is the faculty who teach in that program, who can interpret the results, and recommend improvements in pedagogy and curriculum.

Q. How can I assess attitudes and understandings which are simply not quantifiable?
A. It seems a common misunderstanding that assessment requires that everything be reduced to statistical measures. The thrust of assessment is objective results such that anyone will know that the learning goals are being met; but this need not be quantifiable. If the faculty identify as an important result that which is not quantifiable, the process simply asks them to specify some objective means to demonstrate that the results are happening as intended.

Q. Does student assessment information results affect faculty evaluation?

A. No. We’re focusing on the classroom level. Assessment is informed by the expertise and professional judgment of the faculty. Faculty in an academic department or program, interpreting the results of an assessment measure, might collectively decide to give more attention to certain outcomes, and might even recommend changes in pedagogy.

Q. Why is the Higher Learning Commission making us assess?
A. Right now, higher education is concerned with two national issues: the learning college and accountability. Most faculty have been engaged in some type of assessment throughout their teaching careers and have found it to be a tool for understanding what their students are learning.

Q. Are adjunct faculty involved?

A. Yes, by all means. All faculty—full and part-time are involved in student learning. We have many creative and dedicated adjunct faculty at CSCC

Q. What is the connection among the various levels of assessment?

A. The focus of assessment is student learning. The most significant educational interaction happens between students and faculty in the classroom. The individual class section is part of a course, and courses are parts of programs. These levels reflect different, yet interrelated, facets of a student’s education.

Q. How will assessment improve learning?

A. Assessment is a tool; however, it is a tool by which we can communicate with our students about learning with learning opportunities and ongoing feedback. Assessment does not accomplish learning—but it provides information to the student and the faculty who may use it to improve learning.

Q. How does classroom assessment relate to program/discipline assessment, and how does program/discipline assessment fit in with the College’s overall assessment efforts?

A. Classroom assessment involves assessing student learning in a particular course. This can be accomplished using Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs), which are quick, ungraded, classroom assignments used to provide feedback for determining student understanding of particular lessons. It is an ongoing process with the primary purpose of improving course-level instruction and student learning.

This is accomplished through an annual process where each program/discipline designs and implements an Assessment Plan (see pg. 22), measures learning outcomes, analyzes the data collected, communicates the information, and uses these results to develop an action plan aimed at improving student learning.
College assessment efforts include classroom assessment, program/discipline assessment, and assessment of general education. The goal of assessment of student learning at Columbus State is to improve student learning and support the College in fulfilling its educational mission. Assessment provides evidence of how well Columbus State is meeting its mission and helps identify areas for improvement.

Q. How many faculty of a given program should participate in the assessment process?
A. All faculty, both full time and adjunct, should participate in assessment. All have a stake in the success of their respective program or discipline.

Q Does an Assessment Plan have to be prepared for each course within a program/discipline or within a sequence of courses?
A. No, only one assessment plan is required for an entire program/discipline or sequence of courses. This plan should reflect the cumulative learning outcomes for the students in the course. Nonetheless, to achieve this goal, a particular course within a program/discipline may become the focus of the Assessment Plan; for example, to assess the cumulative learning outcomes for students who have completed composition courses at Columbus State, the composition program may decide to measure the achievement of students completing English 112.

Q.If a program/discipline is offered every quarter, is the department required to have a Plan for each quarter?
A. No, data and results only have to be gathered, analyzed, and reported to the Division and College Assessment Committees once during each yearly cycle. A department may decide for internal purposes to implement a plan each quarter but only the yearly plan should be submitted and reported to the Division and College Assessment Committees.

Q. Can a program validation be moved from one year to the other?
A. Although not recommended, if circumstances necessitate the change, such as enrollment or scheduling change within a program/discipline, a request in memo form from the department chair should be made to the Assessment Committee requesting approval of the change.

Q. What’s the purpose of Program Validation?
A. In campus statements of mission and goals, we have committed to providing our students with excellence in student learning and preparing to meet the world. Validation reveals our linkages between programs and the community it serves. Validation contributes to planning for the future or our programs. All together, it promotes campus wide understanding of the contributions of each program to the mission of the college.

Q. How, why, or when would or should a department rotate courses to be assessed?
A. Faculty within a department may decide to assess student learning in one or more courses as a means to gain insight into the level of success of student learning throughout the program. There is no real rule that courses need to be rotated.

Q. How do faculty within a department identify student learning outcomes?
A. Some learning outcomes can be mandated by outside agencies or advisory boards. Others are identified through discussion among faculty who have tried to answer the question of what knowledge or skills their students should demonstrate upon exiting the course or program. Learning outcomes inform our curriculum, teaching, and assessment.

Q. Who chooses lead instructors for assessment in the department/discipline?
A. This is a departmental decision. Typically the department chair would make this decision.

Q. Where do lead instructors or department chairs submit their assessment plans?
A. Plans are submitted to the Division Assessment Committee and Office of Assessment.

Q. Where can we get help for developing an assessment plan?
A. The Assessment Committees are here to help. There are a number of individual members of the Assessment Committees who, through research, attending conferences, and hands-on experience, have gained significant expertise with assessment of student learning. The committee as a whole and these individuals will be glad to do what they can to help. A list of current Assessment Committee members can be found at the assessment website. The director of the office of assessment who is located in the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation can also help you in developing an Assessment Plan.

Q. What is a program outcome?
 A. Think about what your students will need to be able to DO “out there” (in the rest of life) that you are responsible for in your program?” (The Outcomes Primer, 2002. Stiehl, Lewchuk)
When developing your program outcomes, encompass several levels of learning through the learning sequence of the program. One program outcome will encompass more than one course. Look at the big picture, not tiny details of skills that could be checked off.

Q. What’s the difference between assessment and evaluation?
A. Our colleagues from Sinclair Community College, Dayton, Ohio, have created a chart explaining the differences. Please see Chart 1 below. (We are using the chart with permission.)

Q. What’s the difference between an objective and an outcome?
A. Objectives describe skills, tools, and content that enable a student to achieve the outcome. Objectives are teacher-centered. Objectives may be impossible to assess because they can often be numerous, specific, and detailed.
Outcomes describe the overarching product(s) that students will generate by applying skills, tools, and content. Outcomes are learner-centered. Outcomes require the use of higher-level thinking such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation in order to demonstrate the student’s ability to apply the skills, tools, and content in authentic contexts for learning.
Outcomes can be assessed. They are products that can be observed as a behavior, attitude, skill, or discrete usable knowledgeable and can be measured against criteria (rubric, checklist, Likert scale, survey)

Chart 1 Assessment and Evaluation

Assessment is the analysis and use of data by students, faculty, and/or departments to make decisions about improvements in teaching and learning. 

Evaluation is the analysis and use of data by faculty to make judgments about student performance.  Evaluation includes the determination of a grade or a decision regarding pass/fail for an individual assignment or a course.

Examples
Assessment	Evaluation
A faculty member provides feedback to a student regarding performance on an examination. The student uses that feedback to study differently in order to improve learning and performance.	A faculty member corrects an examination and assigns a grade of 82% to a student.
A team of faculty members analyzes examination results of all students in a course and discovers that 65% of the students did not demonstrate understanding of an important concept. Faculty members investigate possible causes and plan changes in teaching/learning strategies to improve student understanding.	Pop quizzes are given in a class to determine if students have read sections of the text that cover important concepts. Simple Pass/Fail grades are assigned and tallied at the end of the quarter. The quizzes count for 5% of the total course grade.
A student delivers an oral presentation in class. The faculty member provides a critique of delivery and content so that improvements may be made in the student’s subsequent presentations.	A student delivers an oral presentation in class. The faculty member provides a critique of delivery and content accompanied by a grade for the assignment.
A faculty member analyzes the results of oral communication checklists completed for all students in the course section who delivered oral presentations in class in order to determine opportunities for improving teaching and learning.	An Allied Health faculty member uses a rating scale to assign numbers (1-4) that indicate the level of achievement of clinical criteria based on observation of a student’s performance of patient care.
The class attendance record indicates that a student has been absent multiple times. The faculty member advises the student in order to facilitate improved attendance, as studies suggest that regular class attendance contributes to student success.	Points are deducted from a student’s grade for each class absence in accordance with a department policy.
Students are videotaped interacting with the children in the Early Childhood Education Centers. They view their videotapes and develop self-assessment narratives in which they describe and evaluate their performances. They then develop specific plans for improvement.	Students are videotaped interacting with children in the Early Childhood Education Centers. A faculty member evaluates each videotaped performance based upon course criteria and assigns a letter grade.
A student reads another student’s essay and gives feedback on the content and correctness of the essay as a way to improve the writing.	A faculty member reviews a student peer reader’s feedback and assigns a point value to the documentation to indicate satisfactory completion of the assignment.

Created by Sinclair Community College, Dayton, Ohio.  (reproduced with permission)