Assessment Toolbox

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Program Assessment Resource Kit with green sprout

Program Assessment Resource Kit 

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Resources

Gathering feedback from students can be a useful source of information when the survey instrument includes questions that go beyond student satisfaction. It’s important to remember that the purpose of the survey is to gather actionable information instructors can use to improve the course, their instruction, and, as appropriate, the program.

General Principles

  • To yield results that are “actionable,” distinguish between items related to student learning, instructor behavior, and course delivery / organization.
  • Use variety of item types (e.g., scaled, selected-response, open-response) to increase utility of the results.
  • Ask appropriate questions for the audience.
    • NOTE: Questions about whether a course provided adequate preparation for a future course, or whether an instructor is up-to-date in her/his/their field are outside the scope of students’ expertise.
    • Conversely, questions about an instructor’s / course organization do relate to students’ experiences, and are therefore potentially useful.

Sample Items

Adopt or adapt items as they pertain to your context.

Student Learning

Please indicate your level of agreement / disagreement with each of the following statements. Scale: [1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Agree, 4=Strongly Agree]

  1. As a result of taking this course:
    1. My understanding of the course concepts increased.
    2. My understanding of the relationships among course concepts increased.
    3. I increased my ability to think critically about [course topic].
    4. I have an increased ability to interact with diverse groups of people.
  2. What are your 2-3 key “takeaways” from this course? [open]
  3. On average, how many hours per week have you spent on this course outside of class / lab? (For example: reading, reviewing notes, writing papers, and any other course-related work.) [0-1; 2-3; 4-6; 7-10; 11 or more]
  4. How many class sessions did you miss? [0-1; 2-3; 4-6; 7-10; 11 or more]

Instructor Behavior

Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements. Scale: [1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Agree, 4=Strongly Agree]

  1. The instructor:
    1. clearly articulated the course goals
    2. clearly communicated expectations for student learning and performance
    3. provided guidelines for how to prepare for tests, quizzes, papers, and other coursework
    4. explained the grading / scoring criteria in advance of assignments / tests, etc.
    5. provided clear and timely feedback
    6. encouraged student questions and participation
    7. was able to answer questions about course content
    8. was available outside of class during scheduled office hours and/or by appointment
    9. created opportunities for students to consider the ideas and perspectives of others
    10. encouraged me to take an active role in my learning
  2. Please describe one or two ways the instructor’s teaching practices helped you learn. [open]
  3. Please describe one or two ways the instructor could improve his/her/their teaching of this course. [open]

Course Organization

Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements. Scale: [1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Agree, 4=Strongly Agree]

  1. The course
    1. description accurately reflected the content of the course.
    2. syllabus included course learning outcomes.
    3. provided a balanced mixture of [X] and [Y] (e.g., explanation and practice; discussion and lecture; group and independent work).
    4. homework / assignments helped me learn the content and/or skills related to the course.
    5. [exams / projects / major assignments] provided opportunities for me to effectively demonstrate my learning of course content.
  2. [open] Please identify two or three strengths of the course.
  3. [open] Please identify two or three ways you think the course could be improved.
  4. [open] What advice would you give to another student who is considering taking this course? 

Assess what matters. Promote learning. Cultivate success.

"Rules" for tools:

  • Select, adapt, and/or develop tools that align with the purpose of the assignment.
  • Explain to students how the tool will support their learning as well as provide the instructor feedback about their attainment of one or more of the learning outcomes for the course.
  • Ensure the tools you use to assess student learning are fair, transparent, and effective.

Develop Surveys for Assessment of Learning

The Basics

A survey (or questionnaire) is a multi-purpose tool for gathering information about a particular topic from a group of people. The ease with which it is possible to create and distribute a survey makes it easy to forget that survey research is an established field of scholarship to which people dedicate careers. The purpose of this resource is to provide tips and tricks for adopting this tool to gather information about student learning. This guide is not intended as a substitute for research methodology expertise and/or coursework.

What do you want to know?

The absolute, no-question-about-it, mandatory first step is to articulate your guiding question for the inquiry. There are, of course, many purposes for inquiry. When developing survey instruments to aid in assessment of student learning, the primary distinction is whether the inquiry is exploratory or confirmatory?

Write survey items that align to the purpose

Type of Inquiry: Exploratory

Item type: Open
  • Sample: What tools did you use to help yourself learn in this course?
  • Response Characteristics: Participants answer in their own words.

NOTE: Open-response survey items yield direct evidence of student learning only if the item asks learners to demonstrate their learning. Items about how students feel about a course or other learning activity do yield not yield direct evidence of learning. While indirect evidence is useful to provide context, it is not appropriate for inclusion in assessment inquiry.

Type of Inquiry: Confirmatory

Item type: Closed
  • Sample: What tools did you use to help yourself learn in this course? (Select all that apply: clickers, learning management system, textbook, instructor's blog, etc.)
  • Response Characteristics: Participants choose from a predetermined set of responses.

Tips and suggestions

Regardless of type, strive to write items that are clearly written, precise, and accessible. To do this: use sentence structures and vocabulary that are appropriate for the audience; eliminate difficult or unclear terminology (OR undefined acronyms!); and avoid potential cultural and/or linguistic barriers.

  • Avoid asking for information that is available elsewhere.
  • If you can collect an identification number (e.g., student ID aligned to records), don't ask people to answer questions about demographics, major, etc.
  • Focus on items that will yield actionable information.
  • Consider what you will do with the data. When the goal is gathering student perspectives to inform instructional planning, avoid questions about global concepts, such as "instructor effectiveness." There is not much an instructor can do with students' views of effectiveness without specific characteristics, etc. 
    Alternative: What 2-3 characteristics of the course or program supported your learning? What elements made learning challenging for you?

Plan backward. Teach forward.

Wiggins and McTighe (2005) describe a course or curriculum design process which begins with the desired end. The principle of backward design “calls for us to make our goals or standards specific and concrete, in terms of assessment evidence, as we begin to plan” (p. 19).

  1. Begin by identifying your goals for student learning. What is the purpose of the assignment? What do you want students to learn as a result of completing the assignment
  2. Define the evidence of learning you need. What evidence do you need to observe the degree to which students are progressing toward mastery of one or more of the course learning outcomes.
  3. Create assessment activities that will yield the evidence you need to observe student performances in relation to course expectations for their learning.

“Courses designed this way put learning first, often transcend the traditional skill set boundaries of their discipline, and usually aim to achieve more ambitious cognitive development than do classes that begin—and often end—with content mastery as the primary focus” (Burkholder, 2016, para. 4).