Assessment Resources by Discipline
Below find numerous articles, tools, and examples arranged by discipline. If you know of additional resources or assessment tools that you think are helpful, please contact Academic Assessment.
Assessment in the Disciplines – A series of books published by the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) providing assistance to both faculty who have taken responsibility for assessing their academic programs and institutional researchers who are often asked to support student learning assessment. Current selections include: Chemistry, Writing, Engineering, Math, and Business.
- Art and Design - Designed to assist institutions and individuals to make assessments about undergraduate degrees and develop a holistic view of undergraduate study (NASAD - National Association of Schools of Arts and Design).
- A Communication Assessment Primer This publication is designed to help communication departments create the right assessment program and ensure that their students are learning everything they need to know (National Communication Association- NCA).
- Communication SLO'S: Assessing Presentation Skills (Wakefield 2012).
- The Competent Speaker Speech Evaluation Form This resource for teachers and administrators can be used to evaluate persuasive speeches in class as a tool for instructing and advising students; and to generate assessment data for departmental or institutional accountability (NCA 2007).
- Conversational Skills Rating Scale A multi-trait, multi-method approach to interpersonal communication competence. Clearly written with a thorough research base, this publication includes sample forms that can be copied and used in the classroom (Spitzer & Adams III, NCA).
- Speaking and Listening Competencies for College Students -This document summarizes two sets of competencies for college students as developed by various communication scholars, federal government agencies, and research centers. The competencies primarily represent speaking and listening skills that could help undergraduates communicate more effectively at school, in the workplace, and in society (NCA 1998).
- Assessment of Undergraduate Programs in Dance - Designed to assist institutions and individuals to make assessments about undergraduate degrees and develop a holistic view of undergraduate study (NASD- National Association of Schools of Dance).
- Assessment CyberGuide for Learning Goals & Outcomes in the Undergraduate Psychology Major - The 120 page CyberGuide compiled by Thomas Pusateri and Associates is divided into four parts to assist departments in developing assessment plans:1) Understanding Assessment: Departmental, Institutional, Educational, and Societal Perspectives, 2) Designing Viable Assessment Plans, 3) Sustaining an Assessment Culture, 4) Applying Assessment Strategies in Psychology (American Psychological Association- APA 2009).
- Multiple Capstones Provide Psychology Majors with Opportunities to Prepare for a Variety of Post-Baccalaureate Goals (Appleby, Bringle, Guare, Hazer, Jeschke, Johnson, Stewart, and Williams 2011).
- A Science-Based, Integrative Pilot Approach to Introduction to Psychology (Nancy Dess, Occidental College).
- "Assessment of Student Learning in Introductory Science Courses" - Describes an analysis of valid and reliable measures of student learning on the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and Mechanics Diagnostic (MD) Tests (Hake, R.R. 2002).
- Case Studies by Discipline - from Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Educators (LITEE).
- Cycles in Curriculum Planning - Provides insight into the RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) story and the institution's change in curriculum, computers, and teaching styles (John E. Kolb, Gary A. Gabriele, Sharon Roy: 2004).
- Departmental Transformation: A Case Study - University of Wisconsin-La Crosse - This case study was presented at the PKAL 2002 Summer Institute in sessions organized by the National Task Force on Undergraduate Physics (Gubbi Sudhakaran).
- Field-Tested Learning Assessment Guide (FLAG) - CATS for use in STEM courses.
- Laboratory Assignments - Ideas for Learning Tasks that Support Assessment & Making Scoring/Grading Useful for Assessment (University of Michigan).
- National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) - Over 419 peer- reviewed cases in all areas of science.
- Tools - discipline-specific instruments that are "nested" within CATs from FLAG (Field-tested Learning Assessment Guide for STEM).
- Using Student Reflective Portfolios to Assess Course and Program-level Outcomes Describes a ChemE-folio project that uses case study scenarios (examples included) to guide student refection and provides student survey responses to the assignment (Raisor & Fowler 2012).
- Writing Assignments Ideas for Learning Tasks that Support Assessment and Making Scoring/Grading Useful for Assessment (University of Michigan, College of Engineering).
- Specialized Professional Associations (SPAs) Resource Library - Includes over 250 examples of assessments selected by the Specialized Professional Associations (SPAs) as excellent. Divided into eight types: Content Knowledge (licensure exams and not), Assessment of Candidate's Ability to Plan (as appropriate for the discipline), Field or Clinical Assessment (most commonly a student teaching/internship/practicum assessment), Candidate Impact on Student Learning, Field or Clinical Assessment (most commonly a student teaching/internship/practicum assessment), and Optional Assessments.
- National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE): Standards - Includes standards for NCATE units, Programs and Professional Development Schools.