Assessment Quiz and Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)

Quiz on Assessment
Note: the term "assessment" here refers to assessment of departmental student outcomes
at UND in accordance with best practices and institutional/accreditation expectations.

1. Assessments of students, such as grades, can become departmental assessments.
    a. Yes, as recorded
    b. Yes, if properly summarized
    c. No
Answer to Question 1

2. You can't assess attitudes and dispositions.
    a. True
    b. False
Answer to Question 2

3. The most important part of an assessment report is
    a. The student outcome
    b. The means of assessment
    c. The results of assessment
    d. The action taken by the department (use of results)
Answer to Question 3

4. _________________ are the best assessment.
    a. Portfolios
    b. Standardized tests
    c. Course assignments
    d. Surveys
    e. All of the above
    f. This is a trick question and here's why:_____________________________
Answer to Question 4

5. Assessments should be conducted outside of courses.
    a. True
    b. False
Answer to Question 5

6. Assessments should be conducted at the end of the program.
    a. True
    b. False
Answer to Question 6

7. Before the department decides on assessments, they should decide on outcomes.
    a. always
    b. usually
    c. never
Answer to Question 7

8. The department should look at the results of assessment to help in making changes to the program.
    a. always
    b. usually
    c. never
Answer to Question 8

9. Faculty comments, such as notes written on term papers or notes on applied music exams, form a good assessment:
    a. For the student
    b. For the department
    c. Both
    d. Neither
    e. Only if:__________________________________
Answer to Question 9

10. The department should assess all the student outcomes every year so as not to leave out any student.
    a. True
    b. False
Answer to Question 10

 

Frequently Asked Questions (with few definitive answers) about Assessment

1. Can grades be assessment?  Well, grades are based on information about student work. Grades are
designed to tell students how satisfactorily they have completed work required by a specific
assignment or course. But assessment looks at learning around an individual learning outcome and
across many students.  So the trick is to tease that assessment information out of the grade, i.e.,
to be able to tell which part of the grade is about one specific learning outcome rather than
achievement generally. For that matter, part of a grade may reflect, e.g., a “late paper” penalty
or docked points for too few sources
– which is important within the class and as a message to the student, but is not an indication of
how well a specific learning outcome was demonstrated.
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2. Is it possible to assess attitudes and dispositions:  Yes, they can be assessed, but it’s trickier.
And it’s important to be certain, when naming learning outcomes, that you name thoughtfully and
accurately. We’re usually interested in students being able to do certain things (analyze, apply,
define, critique, explain), so consider if that should be the real outcome.  In some fields (e.g.,
medical areas), certain “dispositions” are considered essential traits for practice.  In other
fields, dispositions and attitudes might be thought of as “aspirational” (we hope our engineers
value the arts, e.g.) rather than outcomes to which we commit and which we assess. It may be the
ability to “evaluate” that really matters, rather than to “appreciate” or “value.”  Still, I remind
you of the Swine Management program in Iowa where one learning outcome was “Appreciate the pig.”
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3. Our faculty are having trouble agreeing on goals.  What’s the most important part of good
assessment?  It’s wonderful to get your goals right, it’s impressive to use elegant methods, it’s
satisfying to have detailed results – but what really matters is whether you’re finding information
that helps you improve the program.  Closing the loop is what moves assessment from
compliance-focused to value- added for your faculty and program.
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4. What’s the best kind of assessment?  A good assessment should meet two criteria.  First, it should
provide useful information that helps you understand student learning around an outcome that
matters. Second, it should be manageable.  So the question is less about the kind of strategy or
tool that you use and more about the quality of information you’re getting. As a general principle,
you might prefer strategies that provide more information rather than less (e.g., allowing you to
see learning related to multiple goals). Another principle is to consider multiple methods
including both direct and indirect measures.  Information that seems more trustworthy to your
faculty is best, but that can vary.
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5. Should we be collecting assessment information within our courses?  Students usually do their best
work in courses, where it’s linked to grades. It makes sense that you’d look to that work to see
what they’re capable of doing and what kinds of learning they are able to demonstrate.
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6. And what about end-of-program assessment vs. assessment in every course?  Although there is value
in a wide variety of kinds of measures and assessments, finding out what students can do at the end
of a program of study is a logical place to start. If you find a problem at that level, you’ll want
to look at earlier points in the program of study to understand more fully what’s happening. But
the most important single indicator (i.e., telling you when additional action may be needed) is
whether your students can do what they should be able to by the time the graduate.  So start there. 
And see what else you want/need to find out.
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7. Could we start with interesting assessment methods?  Or is it essential to start with learning
outcomes? You’ll usually want to know what you’re trying to find out before you decide how and
where to look for answers. And you definitely want to know how well students are achieving your
intended learning outcomes. But sometimes you stumble across a great idea for collecting
information and just want to see what you learn.  Why not go for it? Learning new ways to think
about student learning is generally good. Remember, though, that implementing an assessment
strategy takes time and energy (yours and the students’).  If you don’t think the information will
be used in any way, be cautious about the investment.
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8. Do program changes need to be rooted in assessment?  You absolutely should look at assessment
results when considering program changes, but there may be changes needed that are driven by
factors other than assessment. You have increasing numbers of students aiming at research careers
rather than practice careers, or headed toward classrooms rather than business or industry. They’re
doing well on the learning outcomes, and you still value all those outcomes. But maybe you want to
provide additional emphasis in the areas most directly aligned with students’ ambitions. That may be a
logical change, but perhaps not explicitly driven by assessment.
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9. Can faculty comments serve as assessments?  If faculty comments are in response to looking at
individual student work products AND if those comments are explicitly focused around program goals,
they can be the basis of an excellent narrative assessment which is qualitative, direct, and
substantive. Comments on student papers are often more general (i.e., not linked to specific
learning outcomes). These are useful for students but usually not for assessment. Or comments may
be impressionistic rather than systematic. Impressionistic comments (i.e., “here’s what I observed
about learning this semester….”) can be deeply influenced by the students who stand out most –
generally the most satisfying or most frustrating students from the semester. The 50% of students
in the middle may be overlooked entirely.
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10. Should we collect information every year in order to ensure that we capture learning outcomes for
every student?  SOME assessment should be done every year. But the point is not to assess every
student in relation to every learning outcome. Your aim is to find patterns across students that,
once discerned, will help you make programmatic decisions. And you won’t see the patterns or use
them to make good decisions if you are so buried in data that you don’t have time to look up across
all those factoids. Assess regularly. But assess manageably.
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Where can I go for more information?  Contact Joan Hawthorne, UND’s director of assessment.
Visit with a member of the University Assessment Committee or contact one of UND’s Assessment Consultants.