Course Assessment Strategies 

Overview

Within individual courses at NAU, student learning is assessed from multiple perspectives and on multiple occasions in order to ensure that instruction is fostering high-quality learning from the first to the last day of the class. For assessment to play a useful role in courses, it is essential that: (a) assessment techniques be clearly aligned with the learning outcomes and instructional processes of a course; (b) students be made aware of why, how, and according to what criteria their learning will be assessed; and (c) instruments and procedures be carefully designed to meet the intended uses for assessment. Such uses will typically include:

• Understanding student preparation for a course (to make immediate adjustments in the course syllabus or provide students with additional resources)

• Providing feedback to the instructor about student learning (for on-going instructional adjustment)

• Providing feedback to students about their learning progress (to encourage adjustments in study habits, motivation, attention to learning, etc.)

• Eliciting students’ perceptions on learning processes and instructional effectiveness (what helps, what hinders, what changes need to be made), during and at the end of a course (for improving pedagogy, materials, delivery, and other course features)

• Providing feedback about students’ learning outcomes at the end of a course (to make revisions in course content; to adjust the sequencing of courses; to improve overall degree program curricula)

• Summarizing students’ abilities and knowledge upon course completion (for communicating about the value of a course)

Key Activities

The Office of Academic Assessment works with faculty and students to ensure that assessment purposes are clearly understood and that assessment practices accomplish what they were intended to accomplish. Key activities include:

• Advising faculty on the design of effective course syllabi for communicating to students about learning expectations and assessment practices

• Disseminating innovative techniques and tools for assessment

• Designing targeted intake assessments (e.g., technological literacy) for use in determining student preparedness for specific courses

• Providing assistance in the implementation of mid- and end-of-semester student evaluation of learning and course features

• Disseminating information to students about the purposes and uses for assessment

• Consulting with department and university committees on the use of course-embedded assessment products as evidence for assessing student learning at the degree or institutional level

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