This newsletter provides updates on the NILOA project and on student learning outcomes assessment.
NILOA Occasional Papers
Connecting the Dots Between Learning and Resources by Jane Wellman
With all the talk about the need for more accountability, surprisingly little is known about what kind of resources an institution needs in order to produce a given level of student attainment. Jane Wellman charts this territory and discovers some surprises, such as how conclusions about cost-effectiveness change when the metric is cost-per-degree rather than the traditional cost-per-enrollment. One result is that, contrary to popular belief, community colleges are not cheap when it comes to cost-per-degree. Another important insight—again against the grain of conventional wisdom—is that simply investing more money does not appear to produce more or better outcomes. As Wellman points out, the key to productivity is intentionally targeted investments.
Three Promising Alternatives for Assessing College Students' Knowledge and Skills by Trudy Banta, Merilee Griffin, Teresa Flateby, and Susan Kahn
Of the various ways to assess student learning outcomes, many faculty members prefer what are called “authentic” approaches that document student performance during or at the end of a course or program of study. In this paper, assessment experts Trudy Banta, Merilee Griffin, Teresa Flateby, and Susan Kahn describe the development of several promising authentic assessment approaches. The contributors draw on their rich assessment experience to illustrate how portfolios, common analytic rubrics, and online assessment communities can more effectively link assessment practices to pedagogy.
Assessment, Accountability, and Improvement: Revisiting the Tension by Peter Ewell
In 1987, Peter Ewell delivered a paper at the AAHE Assessment Forum entitled “Assessment, Accountability, and Improvement: Managing the Contradiction.” This NILOA Occasional Paper analyzes what is the same and what has changed over the past two decades, and offers suggestions for how institutions can manage the persistent tension between the twin purposes of assessment in the current higher education environment.
News
We collect news items from a variety of sources related to learning outcomes assessment for our website. Listed below are some from the past month:
Going Public
Douglas C. Bennett, President of Earlham College, suggests each institution having a public learning audit document and gives the example of what this means for Earlham College as a way for public accountability.
Measuring Student Learning, Globally
This article discusses the possibility of having a world learning outcomes assessment spearheaded by the OECD.
More Transparency
Martha Kanter, from the US Education Department, calls for more transparency in the way higher education does accreditation.
What's Next?
Paul E. Lingenfelter, President of SHEEO, writes an informal and conversational piece of his advice to coping with states' budget meltdowns.
Upcoming Conferences
A number of conferences and retreats on learning outcomes and assessment are listed on our online calendar. Below are some that will take place soon:
- On Feb. 19-20 the Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching & Learning is putting on the conference, "Assessment for the Changing Learning Environment," in Bloomington, MN. Please visit their website for more information.
- On Feb. 21-23 the 10th Annual Texas A&M Assessment Conference, "Seeing 2020: Building on a decade of assessment" will take place at College Station, TX. Visit their website for more information.
- On March 9th from 3-4:30 EST, Innovative Educators is hosting a webcast given by Terri Flateby entitled, "Designing Meaningful Assessment to Improve Student Affairs Outcomes and Satisfy Accreditation Demands." More can be found at IE's website.
- March 19th is the deadline for proposals to the 2010 Assessment Institute in Indianapolis. More can be found at their website.
We are updating a few things on our website and need your help:
- Are you part of a learning outcomes assessment community, either online or local? We would like to include a directory of these communities on our website. Please let use know about your group here.
- Help us make our website better by filling out a short five question survey.
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