The last post explained how self-assessment is an important professional skill and how it’s a skill students should be learning, but aren’t in college. Here are some quick and easy ways to work with students on developing the skill.

I’ve been reading some articles on self-assessment—as in having students look at their own work and come to some conclusions about its quality. Most faculty don’t let students self-assess and for good reasons. Most students can’t get past the grade they would like to the one they deserve. Moreover, several of the studies I’ve read document that when given the opportunity, given the criteria, and even given some guidance, students still see the activity as an opportunity to figure out what the instructor wants and/or would likely give them on the completed work. Almost none of them see self-assessment as a useful skill.

Meaningful program assessment requires faculty participation. The challenge of getting faculty involved and staying involved lies in convincing them that the benefits of educational assessment are worth any additional work it generates.

Donna Saulsberry was in a bind. As an associate professor of computer and information technology at Doña Ana Community College, one of her jobs is to prepare her networking students for the Microsoft® Certified Systems Engineer certification test. Having survived a Microsoft certification boot camp herself, she began instructing her students in much the same way as she was taught: lecture, practice, and multiple choice tests.

The accreditation review process may never be stress-free, but with proper preparation you can at least minimize the stress that so often accompanies it. So just how far ahead should you start preparing for your accreditation review? At least two years, according to Belle S. Wheelan, president of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), noting that some schools begin even more than two years out.

If you think multiple choice tests are only good to assess how well students memorized facts, it may be time to rethink your testing strategy. Although they are not appropriate for every situation, when properly developed, multiple choice tests can used to assess higher levels of thinking, including application and analysis.

MAPP, CAAP, C-BASE, CLA, NSSE, to name just a few. With so many published assessment instruments available, how do you know the best one for assessing student learning at your school?

As an associate vice president at the University of Utah, part of my job is to oversee the continuing and distance education programs for the university, including accreditation visits from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

For some educators, student learning assessment is a little like exercise. Yes, we know it’s important, we feel better when we do it, and we can even see the results of our efforts, but it sure is a hassle to get started.