Improving Academic Program Assessment: A Mixed Methods Study

Starting with the premise that better assessment leads to more informed decisions about student learning, we investigated the factors that lead to assessment improvement. We used “meta-assessment” (i.e., evaluating the assessment process) to identify academic programs in which the assessment process...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Innovative higher education 2013-11, Vol.38 (5), p.383-395
Main Authors: Rodgers, Megan, Grays, Makayla P., Fulcher, Keston H., Jurich, Daniel P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Behavioral Objectives
Consultation Programs
Curriculum development
Education
Educational Assessment
Educational Environment
Evaluation Methods
Higher Education
Improvement
Learning
Meta Analysis
Mixed Methods Research
Outcomes of Education
Student Participation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Starting with the premise that better assessment leads to more informed decisions about student learning, we investigated the factors that lead to assessment improvement. We used “meta-assessment” (i.e., evaluating the assessment process) to identify academic programs in which the assessment process had improved over a two-year period. The use of both quantitative and qualitative methods allowed us to understand the factors leading to assessment improvement better. Through these efforts, we discovered that a program’s assessment environment and use of resources were the predominant factors leading to improvement. One resource in particular, assessment consultation, was the most cited reason for improved assessment.
ISSN:0742-5627
1573-1758
DOI:10.1007/s10755-012-9245-9