Assessment

Examples of Direct Evidence of Student Learning

  • Ratings of student skills by their field experience supervisors or employers
  • Scores and pass rates on appropriate licensure or certification exams such as Praxis or National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) or other published tests such as Major Field Tests that assess key learning outcomes
  • Capstone experiences such as research projects, presentations, theses, dissertations, oral defenses, exhibitions, and performances, scored using a rubric
  • Other written work, performances, and presentations, scored using a rubric
  • Portfolios of student work
  • Scores on locally designed multiple choice or essay tests such as final examinations in key courses, qualifying examinations, and comprehensive examinations, accompanied by test blueprints describing what the tests assess
  • Score gains between entry and exit on published or local tests or writing samples
  • Observations of student behavior (such as presentations and group discussions), undertaken and with notes recorded systematically
  • Summaries and assessments of electronic class discussion threads
  • Think-alouds, which ask students to think aloud as they work on a problem or assignment
  • Classroom response systems (clickers) that allow students in their classroom seats to answer questions posed by the teacher instantly and provide an immediate picture of student understanding
  • Feedback from computer-simulated tasks such as information on patterns of action, decisions, and branches
  • Student reflections on their values, attitudes, and beliefs, if developing those are intended outcomes of the program

(Excerpted from Suskie, Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide (2nd edition; 2009). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.)