Article: Assessment and the Value of Big, Dumb QuestionsAuthor: Matt Reed
Publication: Inside Higher Ed
Date: October 4, 2015
In this opinion piece, Reed described outcomes assessment's importance in defending and measuring the offerings of a curriculum. He asserts that assessment initiatives can sometimes become bogged down with "false precision," in which the temptation becomes to choose student learning outcomes that are too narrowly focused. Reed offers an alternative:
Instead, I’m a fan of the “few, big, dumb questions” approach. At the end of a program, can students do what they’re supposed to be able to do? How do you know? Where they’re falling short, what are you planning to do about it?I think this article leads us to ask a crucial question that all assessment should start with: what do I choose to measure about my program, and does that reflect our values? By doing deep thought about what are the essential outcomes of a program, assessment can become more streamlined and, even more importantly, more meaningful. The trick, then, becomes defining student learning outcomes so they are both broadly applicable AND measurable with some validity. See your friendly neighborhood assessment director for help exploring wordings that can satisfy both criteria to best fit the needs of your program or course.
Click here to read more of Reed's take on outcomes assessment.
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