Assessment Resources
If you are new to assessment, you might first want to review Creighton University's Assessment Glossary. Compiled by the University Assessment Committee, the glossary provides and defines assessment-related terms used across the university and within each college, school, and the Division of Student Services. The glossary is provided as a pdf so you use the Bookmark function to quickly scroll through the terms in the glossary.
Teachers can use Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) to gather evidence of the extent to which their students are achieving the stated learning objectives and outcomes. Based on Angelo and Cross' 1993 text, Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers, CATs are a powerful tool in a teacher's assessment toolkit. You may check out that book from Reinert Alumni Library (call number: LB2822.75 A584C 1993) or borrow a copy from the Office for Academic Excellence and Assessment.
A large number of helpful web sites exist that can introduce you to assessment theory and practice. Among the most useful are:
- The Mathematical Association of America offers a FAQ page that provides a very good assessment primer. The page content is not math-specific, so it is relevant to teachers in all disciplines.
- The Higher Learning Commission regularly convenes the Making a Difference in Student Learning: Assessment as a Core Strategy workshop. Faculty and staff from Creighton participated in this intensive, multi-day workshop in 2005.
- Doug Eder's assessment web site at Southern Illinois University is quite good. His comparison of grading and assessment within Primary Trait Analysis is particularly helpful.
- Our Division of Student Services is actively developing systems through which to assess student learning that occurs in co-curricular programs or is related to college or school-specific learning outcomes. If the idea of Student Services assessment is new to you, Schuh and Upcraft's article about the Facts and Myths about Assessment in Student Affairs will be a useful orientation.
- ABET is the organization that is accredits programs in applied science computing, engineering, and technology. Their assessment support page, managed by Dr. Gloria Rogers, has a wide array of information pertaining to
- assessment rubrics,
- data collection,
- using grades, surveys, and questionnaires, and
- information from assessment articles and presentations.
- Alverno College focuses on "ability-based education", their label for "learning the abilities to put knowledge to use". Their web site explains their focus as applied to the liberal arts and professional education.
- Jon Mueller's Authentic Assessment Toolbox is a great place to start for people new to assessment.
- The University of Massachusetts Amherst web site has useful assessment information for persons at any level of assessment expertise.