Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education - Couverture rigide

Dynamic changes are underway in American higher education. New providers, emerging technologies, cost concerns, student debt, and nagging doubts about quality all call out the need for institutions to show evidence of student learning. From scholars at the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA), Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education presents a reframed conception and approach to student learning outcomes assessment. The authors explain why it is counterproductive to view collecting and using evidence of student accomplishment as primarily a compliance activity.

Today′s circumstances demand a fresh and more strategic approach to the processes by which evidence about student learning is obtained and used to inform efforts to improve teaching, learning, and decision–making. Whether you′re in the classroom, an administrative office, or on an assessment committee, data about what students know and are able to do are critical for guiding changes that are needed in institutional policies and practices to improve student learning and success.

Use this book to:

• Understand how and why student learning outcomes assessment can enhance student accomplishment and increase institutional effectiveness
• Shift the view of assessment from being externally driven to internally motivated
• Learn how assessment results can help inform decision–making
• Use assessment data to manage change and improve student success

Gauging student learning is necessary if institutions are to prepare students to meet the 21st century needs of employers and live an economically independent, civically responsible life. For assessment professionals and educational leaders, Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Education offers both a compelling rationale and practical advice for making student learning outcomes assessment more effective and efficient.

Praise for Using EVIDENCE of STUDENT LEARNING to Improve HIGHER EDUCATION

"The NILOA leaders who authored this book are uniquely positioned to understand assessment policy, how assessment is implemented on campuses, and how faculty and administrators are using assessment findings. Their concrete examples of consequential as opposed to compliant use of assessment evidence will inspire additional efforts to improve student learning on campuses across the country."
Trudy W. Banta, professor of higher education and senior advisor to the chancellor for Academic Planning and Evaluation, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

"The authors of this volume aim to move the assessment agenda from checking the right boxes on somebody′s lists of requirements to essentially contributing to achieving greater student success. A must′read for those who want to use assessment to make their campuses, and their own work, better."
Michael S. McPherson, president, The Spencer Foundation

"To remain a world leader, the United States will need to hit a much higher bar for the level, quality, and scope of students′ learning in college. This book provides a wealth of advice for faculty, academic leaders, and external agencies alike on positioning assessment as an essential component in the needed quality improvement effort. Cogently crafted, deeply informed, and intelligently practical, this important volume will help educators tackle the next frontier for quality: (re)designing educational programs, within and across institutions, as guided learning pathways that successfully help students develop essential proficiencies and produce strong portfolios of meaningful work."
Carol Geary Schneider, president, Association of American Colleges and Universities