Assessing Student Learning is a standard reference for college faculty and administrators, and the third edition of this highly regarded book continues to offer comprehensive, practical, plainspoken guidance. The third edition adds a stronger emphasis on making assessment useful; greater attention to building a culture in which assessment is used to inform important decisions; an enhanced focus on the many settings of assessment, especially general education and co-curricula; a new emphasis on synthesizing evidence of student learning into an overall picture of an integrated learning experience; new chapters on curriculum design and assessing the hard-to-assess; more thorough information on organizing assessment processes; new frameworks for rubric design and setting standards and targets; and many new resources. Faculty, administrators, new and experienced assessment practitioners, and students in graduate courses on higher education assessment will all find this a valuable addition to their bookshelves.

LINDA SUSKIE is an internationally recognized writer, speaker, trainer, and consultant on assessment in higher education. Her previous positions included serving as Vice President at the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Associate Vice President for Assessment and Institutional Research at Towson University, and Director of the Assessment Forum of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE).

List of Tables vii

List of Lists ix

List of Figure xiii

List of Exhibits xv

Preface to the Third Edition xix

Introduction 1

Part 1 Understanding Assessment

Chapter 1 What Is Assessment? 7

Chapter 2 The Many Settings for Student Learning and Assessment 15

Chapter 3 What Are Effective Assessment Practices? 23

Part 2 Laying a Foundation for Assessment Success

Chapter 4 Learning Goals: Articulating What You Most Want Students to Learn 39

Chapter 5 Designing Curricula to Help Students Learn What’s Important 63

Chapter 6 How Will Your Evidence of Student Learning be Used? 85

Chapter 7 Planning Assessments in Academic Programs 93

Chapter 8 Planning Assessments in General Education, Co-curricula, and Other Settings 105

Part 3 Building a Pervasive, Enduring Culture of Evidence and Betterment

Chapter 9 Guiding and Coordinating Assessment Efforts 117

Chapter 10 Helping Everyone Learn What to Do 127

Chapter 11 Supporting Assessment Efforts 139

Chapter 12 Keeping Assessment Cost-Effective 149

Chapter 13 Collaborating on Assessment 165

Chapter 14 Valuing Assessment and the People Who Contribute 175

Part 4 The Assessment Toolbox

Chapter 15 Designing Rubrics to Plan and Assess Assignments 189

Chapter 16 Creating Effective Assignments 205

Chapter 17 Writing Multiple-Choice and Other Objective Tests 215

Chapter 18 Assembling Evidence of Student Learning into Portfolios 235

Chapter 19 Selecting Published Instruments 245

Chapter 20 Other Assessment Tools 259

Chapter 21 Assessing the Hard-to-Assess 273

Part 5 Understanding and Using Evidence of Student Learning

Chapter 22 Setting Meaningful Standards and Targets 287

Chapter 23 Summarizing and Storing Evidence of Student Learning 305

Chapter 24 Analyzing Evidence of Student Learning 319

Chapter 25 Sharing Evidence of Student Learning 333

Chapter 26 Using Evidence of Student Learning to Inform

Important Decisions 355

References 367

Index 377