Assessment Primer:

Assessment Planning
Questions which assessment helps address:

We are spending time and resources trying to achieve student learning is it working?
When we claim to be graduating students with qualities like critical thinking or
scientific literacy, do we have evidence of our claims?
We have the impression that our students are weak in areas X would more systematic
research back up this impression and help us understand the weaknesses more
thoroughly?
When we identify a weakness in our students' learning, how can we best address the
problem?
How can we improve learning most effectively in a time of tight resources?
(Assessment Clear and Simple by Walvoord 2004)

Successful assessment requires developing meaningful assessment plans

Planning may occur at the institutional, division, and department levels

Institutional planning may be involved with general education assessment, campus-wide
assessment activities, and establishing requirements for unit plans
Elements of an assessment plan should include such things as purpose for assessment,
methods that will be used, the timeline for administration, the framework for using the
assessment information, and provisions for administering the plan. Assessment plan
outline:
o Departmental Goals describe what the department intends to accomplish, how
the departments goals relate to campus mission, and purposes for assessment
o Learning Objectives describe what students must know, do, and value
o Techniques and Target Groups indicate how you will determine whether
learning objectives have been met, including methods, target groups, and any
impact on students
o Time Line indicate when data will be collected and analyzed, when reports will
be available, and when recommendations will be made
o Provisions for Administration indicate who has responsibility for seeing the
plan is carried out, who will conduct and analyze data, and who will
summarize/report results
o Use of Information describe provisions for sharing information with internal and
external audiences, and for making recommendations and decisions
o Assessment Evaluation indicate how the assessment program itself will be
evaluated

(Assessment Essentials: planning, implementing, and improving assessment in higher education

by Palomba and Banta 1999)
Components of an Assessment Plan
(Assessing Academic Programs in Higher Education by Allen 2004)
How is this
objective aligned
with the
curriculum?

How will this

objective be
assessed?

Who will be
involved in the
assessment?

Learning
Objective

Objective #1

A summary of
what was learned
about each
objective and the
impact of these
findings could go
in this column to
provide a written
record of the
assessment
activities.

Entries in this
column identify
courses and other
aspects of the
curriculum that
help students
master each
objective.

Objective #2
Etc.
Program or Course Assessment Planning Matrix*
(Assessing Academic Programs in Higher Education by Allen 2004)
Objectives
What should
your
students
know and be
able to do?

Objective #1

Performance Implementation Assessment

Criteria
Strategy
Methods

Timeline

Feedback

How will you

know the
objective has
been met?
What level of
performance
meets each
objective?

When will
you collect
data?

Who needs to
know the
results?
How can you
improve your
program/course
and your
assessment
process?

What learning
activities will
help students
meet each
objective?

What
assessment
methods will
you use to
collect data?
How will you
interpret and
evaluate the
data?

Objective #2
Etc.
*Modified from Olds, Barbara & Miller, Ron (1998). An Assessment Matrix for Evaluating
Engineering programs, Journal of Engineering Education, April p. 175-178.

The Basic, No-Frills Departmental Assessment Plan

(Assessment Clear and Simple by Walvoord 2004)
1. Learning goals/objectives
2. Two measures:
a. One direct measure
i.
Review of senior work by faculty teaching seniors
ii. If students take a licensure or certification exam, this will be added as a
second direct measure
b. One indirect measure
i.
Senior student surveys and/or focus groups asking three questions:
1. How well did you achieve each of the following departmental
learning goals?
(Use scale such as "extremely well, very well, adequately well, not
very well, not at all")
[List each department goal/objective, with scoring scale for each]
2. What aspects of your education in this department helped you with
your learning, and why were they helpful?
3. What might the department do differently that would help you
learn more effectively, and why would these actions help?
ii. Second choice: Alumni surveys
iii. In some fields, job placement rates will be important
3. Annual meeting to discuss data and identify action items

Questions to consider when establishing or evaluating an assessment program:

Does assessment lead to improvement so that the faculty can fulfill their responsibilities
to students and to the public? Two purposes for assessment: the need to assess for
accountability and the need to assess for improvement they lead to two fundamentally
different approaches to assessment.
Is assessment part of a larger set of conditions that promote change at the institution?
Does it provide feedback to students and the institution? Assessment should become

integrated into existing processes like planning and resource allocation, catalog revision,
and program review.
Does assessment focus on using data to address questions that people in the program and
at the institution really care about? Focusing on questions such as
o What do we want to know about our students learning?
o What do we think we already know?
o How can we verify what we think we know?
o How will we use the information to get to make changes?
o allows use of the data for improved learning in our programs.
Does assessment flow from the institutions mission and reflect the facultys educational
values? The mission and educational values of the institution should drive the teaching
function of the institution.
Does the educational program have clear, explicitly stated purposes that can guide
assessment in the program? The foundation for any assessment program is the facultys
statement of student learning outcomes describing what graduates are expected to know,
understand, and be able to do at the end of the academic program When we are clear
about what we intend students to learn, we know what we must assess.
Is assessment based on a conceptual framework that explains relationships among
teaching, curriculum, learning, and assessment at the institution? The assessment
process works best when faculty have a shared sense of how learning takes place and
when their view of learning reflects the learner-centered perspective.
Do the faculty feel a sense of ownership and responsibility for assessment? Faculty must
decide upon the intended learning outcomes of the curriculum and the measures that are
used to assess them this assessment data must then be used to make changes that are
needed to strengthen and improve the curriculum. Assessment may be viewed as the
beginning of conversations about learning.
Do the faculty focus on experiences leading to outcomes as well as on the outcomes
themselves? In the learner-centered paradigm, the curriculum is viewed as the vehicle for
helping students reach our intended learning outcomes assessment results at the
program level provide information on whether or not the curriculum has been effective.
Is assessment ongoing rather than episodic? Assessment must become part of standard
practices and procedures at the institution and in each program.
Is assessment cost-effective and based on data gathered from multiple measures? No one
assessment measure can provide a complete picture of what and how students are
learning both direct and indirect measures should be used.
Does assessment support diversity efforts rather than restrict them? Assessment data
help us understand what students are learning, where they are having difficulty, and how
we can modify instruction and the curriculum to help them learn better the process
helps populations of non-traditional students.
Is the assessment program itself regularly evaluated? Ongoing evaluation of assessment
efforts helps maximize the cost-effectiveness of assessment in that faculty and student
efforts are used productively.
Does assessment have institution-wide support? Are representatives from across the
educational community involved? Administrators should play two key roles that of
providing administrative leadership and that of providing educational leadership.

(Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses: shifting the focus from teaching to

learning by Huba and Freed 2000)
Matrix for Assessment Planning, Monitoring, or Reporting
(Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses: shifting the focus from teaching to
learning by Huba and Freed 2000)
Intended
Outcome
= intended
learning
outcomes of
the program

Relevant
Experiences
= courses,
practica,
internships,
labs, etc. that
the faculty
provide to
help students
reach the
learning goal

Meaures
= measure(s)
faculty have
identified or
developed to
assess each
learning goal

Results
= summary of
results
obtained from
administering
the measures

Changes
Based on
Results
= list of
changes that
have been
made based on
the results

Stakeholders
Informed
=
stakeholders
who have
been
informed
about the
process

Architecture
students
should be
aware of the
values,
behaviors,
and
traditions of
diverse
cultures and
individuals

Courses 221,
223

External
examiners

None

Students,
alumni

Study Abroad
semester

Senior
diploma
project review

exceptional
strength a
model
program in
this regard

Etc.

Favorable
review