Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

List of Tables

List of Lists

List of Figure

List of Exhibits

Preface to the Third Edition

Introduction

Part 1: Understanding Assessment

Chapter 1: What Is Assessment?

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 2: The Many Settings for Student Learning and Assessment

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 3: What Are Effective Assessment Practices?

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Part 2: Laying a Foundation for Assessment Success

Chapter 4: Learning Goals: Articulating What You Most Want Students to Learn

What do students need to learn?

Characteristics of effective learning goals

How to identify what you most want students to learn

Learning goals for specific settings

Examples of meaningful, effective learning goals

Integrating learning goals throughout your college

Putting your learning goals to work

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 5: Designing Curricula to Help Students Learn What's Important

What are the characteristics of effective curricula?

Curriculum design in specific settings

Curriculum maps

Other tools to understand curricula

Using curriculum maps and other tools to improve curricula

Curriculum review is not a one-and-done process

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 6: How Will Your Evidence of Student Learning be Used?

Why are you assessing?

What decisions will your evidence inform? Who will make them?

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 7: Planning Assessments in Academic Programs

Choosing the best places in program curricula for assessment

Choosing the best assessments for program learning goals

Developing written plans that work out the logistics

Regularly reviewing and updating your plans

Time to think, discuss, and practice.

Chapter 8: Planning Assessments in General Education, Co-curricula, and Other Settings

Planning assessments in general education curricula

Planning assessments in co-curricula

Planning assessments in other settings

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Part 3: Building a Pervasive, Enduring Culture of Evidence and Betterment

Chapter 9: Guiding and Coordinating Assessment Efforts

What guidance and coordination are needed?

Who should provide guidance and coordination?

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 10: Helping Everyone Learn What to Do

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 11: Supporting Assessment Efforts

Time

Technologies

Other resource needs

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 12: Keeping Assessment Cost-Effective

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 13: Collaborating on Assessment

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 14: Valuing Assessment and the People Who Contribute

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Part 4: The Assessment Toolbox

Chapter 15: Designing Rubrics to Plan and Assess Assignments

What is a rubric?

Why use a rubric?

Creating effective analytic rubrics

Additional steps to consider

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 16: Creating Effective Assignments

Some valuable ideas you'll find in this chapter

What is a great assignment?

Crafting effective assignments

Countering plagiarism

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 17: Writing Multiple-Choice and Other Objective Tests

Planning an objective test

Writing good multiple-choice items

Pulling an objective test together

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 18: Assembling Evidence of Student Learning into Portfolios

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 19: Selecting Published Instruments.

Why use a published instrument?

Identifying potential published instruments

Evaluating potential published instruments

Is a published instrument right for you?

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 20: Other Assessment Tools

Reflective writing

Rating scales

Surveys

Interviews and focus groups

Journals

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 21: Assessing the Hard-to-Assess

Some learning goals are promises we can't keep

We can't see into the soul

Performances are harder to assess than products

Some learning goals can't be assessed with graded assignments

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Part 5: Understanding and Using Evidence of Student Learning

Chapter 22: Setting Meaningful Standards and Targets

Choosing an appropriate perspective for comparison

How to set an appropriately rigorous benchmark or standard

How to set an appropriately rigorous target for the proportion of students achieving your standard

Standard- and target-setting as iterative processes

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 23: Summarizing and Storing Evidence of Student Learning

Planning your summary

Summarizing quantitative evidence

Summarizing qualitative evidence

Documenting and storing evidence

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 24: Analyzing Evidence of Student Learning

Some valuable ideas you'll find in this chapter

Answering the most important question: How well did students learn what you wanted them to learn?

Answering another key question: Stewardship

Documenting and analyzing the effectiveness of your assessment strategies

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 25: Sharing Evidence of Student Learning

Share evidence in ways that will lead to decisions

Create great visuals and reports.

Make evidence easy to find and access

Be open, honest, balanced, and fair

Share disappointing outcomes honestly and with context

Share your assessment story with accreditors

Move from sharing to action

Time to think, discuss, and practice

Chapter 26: Using Evidence of Student Learning to Inform Important Decisions

Some valuable ideas you'll find in this chapter

Using student learning evidence to recognize and celebrate successes

Use student learning evidence to give students the best possible education

Use student learning evidence to ensure stewardship

Changes to assessments don't count

Use student learning evidence for broad impact

Use student learning evidence fairly, ethically, and responsibly

Time to think, discuss, and practice

References

Index

EULA.