Select/Design Assessment Methods
Alignment of Outcomes, Assessment, and Assignments
How do we know our students are learning? Planning begins with the alignment and relationships between Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs), Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs), assessment and assignments, experiences, and activities.
| Program Learning Outcome | Course Learning Outcome | Assessment: How do you know learning happened? | Assignment/Experience/ Activities |
| Students will be able to construct and deliver a clear and effective oral presentation. | Students will be able to communicate publicly in a clear, engaging, and confident manner. | Using the rubric, do students:
|
Create a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the study completed. Present the PowerPoint using the criteria in the rubric. |
Direct vs. Indirect Assessment
Multiple assessment measures are used to asses student learning in academic programs and to provide data sources for curriculum changes and instruction modifications. Assessment tools, such as scoring rubrics, can be used to score student work and also to aggregate data, providing evidence for ways in which students are learning.
Faculty select measures most appropriate for their program learning outcomes and collect and assess direct evidence of student achievement. The multiple sources of evidence used at various points might include, but are not limited to, the examples provided below.
Indirect Evidence Student Perceptions of their learning |
Direct Evidence Assessment of behaviors or products of student learning |
| Self-assessments | Student work samples from assignments |
| Self-reflection/journal writing | Student performances |
| Program exit surveys | Oral presentations |
| Exit interviews | Instructor developed tests |
| Alumni surveys | Midterm and final exams |
| Employer surveys | Standardized tests |
| Focus groups | Course grades (using rubric/established criteria) |
| National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) | Interviews |
| Portfolios | |
| Capstone projects | |
| Field experiences | |
| Simulations | |
| Group projects | |
| Case analyses |
For more examples of Direct and Indirect Evidence, see
Barbara Wright (2003) "Assessment Methods - A Close-up Look"
For an excellent resource for designing an assessment of student learning, see:
D'Allegro, M. (2011). Any questions? Assessment Update, 23(4), 6-8. Retrieved January 30, 2011, from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/