GLOSSARY

Course-embedded assessment – A method in which evidence of student learning outcomes for the program is obtained from assignments in particular courses in the curriculum.

Course-level assessment – Assessment to determine the extent to which a specific course is achieving its learning goals. (For comparison, see Program assessment and Institutional assessment.)

Course mapping – A matrix showing the coverage of each program learning outcome in each course. It may also indicate the level of emphasis of each outcome in each course.

Direct assessment – Assessment to gauge student achievement of learning outcomes directly from their work. (For comparison, see Indirect assessment.)

Formative assessment – The assessment of student achievement at different stages of a course or at different stages of a student’s academic career. The focus of formative assessment is on the documentation of student development over time. It can also be used to engage students in a process of reflection on their education. (For comparison, see Summative assessment.)

Indirect assessment – Assessment that deduces student achievement of learning outcomes through students’ reported perception of their own learning or other measures that are not evidence of a student’s own work in the program. (For comparison, see Direct assessment.)

Institutional assessment – Assessment to determine the extent to which a college or university is achieving its mission. (For comparison, see Course-level assessment and Program assessment.)

Learning outcomes – Knowledge, skills, and dispositions that students should be able to demonstrate upon graduating from the program.

Portfolio – A purposeful collection of artifacts that demonstrate a student’s development or achievement.

Program assessment – Assessment to determine the extent to which students in a departmental program can demonstrate the learning outcomes for the program. (For comparison, see Course-level assessment and Institutional assessment.)

Reliability – An assessment tool’s consistency of results. This may be consistency of results over time (i.e., multiple administrations of the instrument) or internal consistency of results at a single administration (e.g., split-half reliability).

Rubric – A set of criteria specifying the characteristics of a learning outcome and the levels of achievement in each characteristic.

Self-efficacy – Students’ judgment of their own capabilities for a specific learning outcome.

Summative assessment – The assessment of student achievement at the end point of their education or at the end of a course. The focus of summative assessment is on the documentation of student achievement by the end of a course or program. It does not reveal the pathway of development to achieve that endpoint. (For comparison, see Formative assessment.)

Validity – The degree to which an assessment tool measures what it purports to measure.

Last Modified: October 19, 2012