Formative vs. Summative Assessment
Last week, I attended NASPA’s virtual Student Success in Higher Education (SSHE) conference. (It’s a great conference; you should think about attending). One of the sessions, Assessment Choices: Moving beyond [...]
The Overlap of Assessment, Marketing, and Fundraising
Lately, I have been thinking about the similarities and differences between assessment, marketing, and development/fundraising. They might have somewhat different purposes, but there are a few things they have in [...]
Fatigue, Survey Fatigue
Here we are in May 2021. If you are like me, you are thankful the semester is over and that you have made it this far. You may be experiencing [...]
Accountability vs. Improvement
In the assessment field, some folks emphasize the difference and conflict between assessment for accountability and assessment for improvement. I don’t see them in opposition to each other. In my [...]
Co-curricular Mapping
Have you ever thought about mapping your programs to help you understand the learning that takes place? If you haven’t, this might be a good time to think about it. [...]
Student Learning Competencies
Students come to college with previous knowledge, personal experiences, and specific expectations. As they travel through their college journey, they continue to accumulate knowledge, experiences, and expectations. At the same [...]
Benchmarking as an Assessment Tool
In student affairs, we don’t often talk about benchmarking and how it can be used for improvement. I know I spend more time thinking about student learning or satisfaction as [...]
Storytelling as Your Narrative
The National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (https://www.learningoutcomesassessment.org/) has an amazing wealth of resources for campuses interested in all aspects of assessment of student learning in higher education. There are [...]
Active Assessment in a Virtual Environment
Many student affairs/co-curricular programs have moved to a virtual environment, commonly on Zoom. This has changed the way we can do data collection with a “captive audience.” Before the pandemic, [...]
Different Year Different Assessment
This academic year will be like no other that we have experienced in our lifetimes. So much change, so much still unknown. While it can cause us stress and anxiety, [...]