Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide [Paperback]

Assessing Student Learning is a standard reference for college faculty and administrators, and the third edition of this highly regarded book continues to offer comprehensive, practical, plainspoken guidance. The third edition adds a stronger emphasis on making assessment useful; greater attention to building a culture in which assessment is used to inform important decisions; an enhanced focus on the many settings of assessment, especially general education and co-curricula; a new emphasis on synthesizing evidence of student learning into an overall picture of an integrated learning experience; new chapters on curriculum design and assessing the hard-to-assess; more thorough information on organizing assessment processes; new frameworks for rubric design and setting standards and targets; and many new resources. Faculty, administrators, new and experienced assessment practitioners, and students in graduate courses on higher education assessment will all find this a valuable addition to their bookshelves.

List of Tables vii

List of Lists ix

List of Figure xiii

List of Exhibits xv

Preface to the Third Edition xix

Introduction 1

Part 1 Understanding Assessment

Chapter 1 What Is Assessment? 7

Chapter 2 The Many Settings for Student Learning and Assessment 15

Chapter 3 What Are Effective Assessment Practices? 23

Part 2 Laying a Foundation for Assessment Success

Chapter 4 Learning Goals: Articulating What You Most Want Students to Learn 39

Chapter 5 Designing Curricula to Help Students Learn What’s Important 63

Chapter 6 How Will Your Evidence of Student Learning be Used? 85

Chapter 7 Planning Assessments in Academic Programs 9lC3