Are faculty already doing student learning assessment? How is student learning assessment different from regular evaluation of students?
Assessing students in class is often called “classroom assessment,” as opposed to “program assessment” or “student learning assessment.” Within “classroom assessment,” faculty regularly conduct assessment to determine how much students have learned in a class and to provide a calculation of a course grade. Building upon these class-level activities, a comprehensive approach for student learning assessment assesses how the university is fulfilling the mission by looking at assessment results of groups of students in many or all programs. When assessment is summarized and reviewed as a group effort and not as performance of individual students, then results provide an expanded perspective of effectiveness. Results can then be used to inform curricular review and revision.
