Assessing Student Outcomes: why, who, what, how? by
This volume offers administrators and practitioners a summary guide to assessment in higher education, from the reasons for undertaking assessment to the delivery of findings. It opens with the questions that precede an effective study and drive research design: To what extent is the study aimed at educational improvement, and to what extent is it aimed at external accountability? Are the results expected to demonstrate goal attainment, improvement, comparison to others, meeting standards, cost-effective investment? What is the population from whom assessment data are being collected: Are we measuring the knowledge and skills of individuals and making decisions about their remediation, certification, or development? Or are we sampling from particular groups of students and comparing them to each other, or perhaps to themselves over time? The core of the volume is devoted to the objects of assessment: basic skills, general education knowledge, attainment in the major, personal growth, attitudes and satisfaction, and alumni outcomes, keeping in mind both cognitive and noncognitive measures. One chapter describes common obstacles to effective assessment; others describe conceptual models, research methods, and data collection strategies and instruments. The concluding chapter underscores the importance of communicating research results effectively. This is a special volume of the Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly report series New Directions for Institutional Research. Always timely and comprehensive, New Directions for Institutional Research provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.
Critical Assessment and Strategies for Increased Student Retention by
Student retention has become a difficult issue within higher education. As such, it is imperative to examine the causes, as well as provide educators with strategies to implement to improve retention rates. Critical Assessment and Strategies for Increased Student Retention is a pivotal reference source for the latest progressive research on a variety of current student success and attendance perpetuation issues. Featuring a broad range of coverage on a number of perspectives and topics, such as academic performance, counseling, and culture, this publication is geared towards practitioners, academicians, and researchers interested in understanding the difficulties with maintaining student retention.
Evaluating the Undergraduate Research Experience: a guide for program directors and principal investigators by
The current movement toward more and better research experiences for undergraduates has spread across disciplines in the arts, humanities, science, mathematics, and engineering beyond the "research university" to the full range of post-secondary institutions of higher education. Along with this spread of practice is the need to take stock of the programs and make use of evaluation to inform program improvement and to communicate an understanding of the worth of the program to funders, institutional administ
Proving and Improving: tools and techniques for assessing the first college year by 
Putting Assessment into Action: selected projects from the first cohort of the Assessment in Action grant by
Are you new to library assessment? Are you tasked with conducting an assessment project and don't know what methods to use, or which ones are the most effective (or practical)? The methodological issues addressed in Putting Assessment into Action are based on the real world, practical experience of librarians who participated in the first cohort of the Assessment in Action project.
Putting Assessment into Action: selected projects from the first cohort of the Assessment in Action grant by
Are you new to library assessment? Are you tasked with conducting an assessment project and don't know what methods to use, or which ones are the most effective (or practical)? The methodological issues addressed in Putting Assessment into Action are based on the real world, practical experience of librarians who participated in the first cohort of the Assessment in Action project.
The Student Assessment Handbook by
A guide to current practice in assessment, particularly for those professionals coming to terms with new pressures on their traditional teaching practices. Increased use of IT, flexible assessment methods and quality assurance; affect assessment, and the need to diversify and adapt traditional assessment practices to suit new modes of learning is clearer than ever. The Student Assessment Handbook looks at the effectiveness of traditional methods in the present day and provides guidelines on how these methods may be developed to suit today's teaching environments. It is a practical resource with case studies, reflection boxes and diagnostic tools to help the reader apply the principles to everyday teaching. The book provides advice on a wide range of topics including: * assessing to promote particular kinds of learning outcomes * using meaningful assessment techniques to assess large groups * the implications of flexible learning on timing and pacing of assessment * the pros and cons of online assessment * tackling Web plagiarism and the authentication of student work * mentoring assessment standards * assessing generic skills and quality assurance.
Using Typological Approaches to Understand College Student Experiences and Outcomes by
Facing a new round of criticisms on the quality of undergraduate education in American colleges and universities, higher education administrators are eager to find'or create'effective programs and practices that can enrich student experiences and enhance outcomes. In order to do that, those who work at colleges and universities need to have a better understanding of their students. Institutional researchers, with access to a wealth of student data, have the analytical expertise to supply information that can guide institutional policy and practice. Typological frameworks particularly can be used to generate such information, and this volume presents rich examples of typological approaches to the study of college students. Typological research can reveal patterns in students? characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors and how those patterns are related to desirable outcomes such as learning and persistence, or to the nature, meaning, and utility of student-faculty interactions outside the classroom. Such information can help campus leaders and other concerned groups gain a deeper understanding of their students, design better targeted and intentional interventions to optimize student experiences, and maximize student learning and personal development outcomes. This is a special supplemental issue of New Directions for Institutional Research. Always timely and comprehensive, this series provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.