Introduction

The Toolbox Collection • Volume 3: Assessment of Student Learning

INTRODUCTION

In our 21st century culture, higher education has taken quite a beating. Many say it’s not worth the expense, and that students would be better off simply enrolling in the “School of Life” or its graduate equivalent, “The School of Hard Knocks.” These kinds of observations are not uniquely new. In 1934, Stanford professor Walter Crosby Eells observed:

They say that our universities are aimless institutions that have prostituted themselves to every public whim, serving as everything from a reformatory to an amusement park; they are only service stations for the general public; they are a bargain-counter system presided over by quacks; they are places where pebbles are polished and diamonds dimmed. … The ultimate values of college education are best summarized in the well-known fact that with a Harvard diploma and a dime one can get a cup of coffee anywhere. The colleges are shamelessly robbing men of priceless years; in a half-century the degeneration of the American college will be complete. (pp. 187, 189)

Eells went on to take issue with these “picturesque exaggerations,” as he described them. It would appear that higher education has been, and will always be, under the microscope of public scrutiny.

For higher education professionals, it would be quite natural to take offense at negative comments about the perceived quality of the field in general, and, more specifically, the quality of instruction at the course level. Obviously, none of us can make the changes necessary to fix all of the prevailing concerns about the quality and value of a college degree. Each of us can, however, assure that the courses we personally teach are offered at an optimal level that responds to the learning needs of our students. As an example, consider the following questions as they relate to your own actions as a faculty member:

»» What is important for students to learn and demonstrate in the courses that you teach?

»» How do you know whether they are actually mastering the prescribed course content?

Sometimes we can’t quite put our finger on something important because we’ve got all of our fingers wrapped around a bunch of other things that are not important.--Craig D. Lounsbrough, counselor/writer

»» How well does your teaching contribute to this process?

»» Are there things you could do better (e.g., more of some things, less of others) to advance the quality and quantity of their learning?

»» How, and on what basis, will you answer these questions?

The place to begin seriously considering these queries is with the final one: “How, and on what basis, will you answer these questions?” Quite often, faculty members do so quite glibly and without any supporting evidence. This is not a criticism; rather, it is an observation about how decisions and generalizations are often shared as the truth in the absence of data in every aspect of culture (i.e., “truthiness,” in the words of Stephen Colbert). It is at this point, however, that we can begin to consider the assessment of student learning and its derived data as a guide to crafting verifiable statements of fact about our students, their learning, and the manner that teaching and learning practices contribute to or impede their attainment of course learning outcomes.

Suskie (2009) provided some basic principles to assist faculty in the design and use of student-based assessments:

»» The best assessments are those whose results are used to improve teaching and learning and inform planning and budgeting decisions.

»» The greater the variety of assessment evidence, the more confidently you can make inferences about student learning.

»» Students should have multiple opportunities to develop and achieve key learning goals.

»» It is unfair to place full responsibility for a key program or institutional goal on one faculty member or one course.

»» Assessment is a perpetual work in progress. (p. 36)

These words of wisdom can guide our thinking as we proceed through this volume of The Toolbox Collection. The chosen content aims to help faculty reflect on assessment strategies available in their courses and determine the level that student performance should inform how faculty choose instructional strategies and learning experiences. Additionally, a list of sample assessment strategies is included to encourage alternate ways of thinking about how student learning can be verified and documented.

www.sc.edu/fye/toolbox 3