Accountability and Integration in Assessment: Identifying Learning Goals.

Abstract

This paper explores a process for identifying learning goals in assessment of student learning. By actively engaging key stakeholders such as employers, institutions can identify learning outcomes important to those employers and thus address the issue of accountability. Many such outcomes may also help address the issue of what general education should include, and may thus contribute to integration of the curriculum across majors and disciplines.

Introduction

An important and timely trend in higher education is assessment. The purpose, implicitly, of assessment is not merely to generate data but to enable an institution to determine its performance and progress, and determine ways to continually improve the quality of its programs and services. Thus a variety of questions may be asked, and possibly answered, through systematic assessment. For example, an institution may wish to assess the effectiveness of its student retention efforts, or the effectiveness of its student services functions. Very commonly, assessment efforts are directed at student learning. Indeed, as Pascarella and Terenzini (1991) note, the enhancement of student learning is central to the mission of colleges and universities. Several important questions may flow from this. Are students learning what we want them to learn? What do we do if we are not satisfied with the quality of student learning? While the jargon varies somewhat from one expert to the next, the basic concept of such assessment is very straightforward: What are students supposed to be learning? How do we know if they are, indeed, learning those things? If we conclude that our students are not effectively learning what we have decided they should learn, we may need to examine possible solutions, such as curricular changes or strategies to improve teaching.

Clearly identifying what students are expected to learn and tracking progress towards those goals can be beneficial to programs and institutions in a variety of ways. One important concern that can be addressed is accountability. Programs and institutions may be accountable to a variety of stakeholders, including accrediting agencies, budgetary decision-makers, taxpayers, prospective students and their parents, and certainly current students and their parents.

In the context of accreditation, there are literally hundreds of different accrediting agencies. Some focus on very specific programs, such as business, computer science, or early childhood education. Others focus on institution-wide accreditation, such as the North Central Association. Many if not most accrediting agencies mention assessment of appropriate student learning outcomes as one of their requirements. For example, the Association for International Management (AIM) lists a number of area-specific outcomes, including those related to finance, economics, or behavioral science as well as a general education component as necessary components for business programs. AACSB also mentions systematic monitoring of each degree program to assess its effectiveness. Likewise, the North Central Association mentions "assessment of appropriate student academic achievement in all its programs and "structured assessment processes that . . . provide meaningful and useful information (NCA Commission, p. 14).

In many institutions, particularly public institutions, which are largely dependent on state budgets, clear articulation and assessment of student learning outcomes can positively impact budgetary decisions. A program or institution that can clearly state, "This is what our students are able to do upon graduation," and "This is how we track our students' progress" is better able to demonstrate the continuous improvement that may often drive resource allocation decisions. Likewise, articulating and continuously assessing learning outcomes can assist with attraction of students. If a prospective student is trying to decide between two different institutions, he or she may be more likely to enroll in an institution at which the goals are clear, and the institution's progress towards goal attainment is made public. This may also be beneficial to students who are nearing graduation. It is easier for a student to market himself/herself if he/she can say "this is what I know how to do, and here is evidence that I can actually do it."