Academic assessment is a key component of institutional effectiveness. It refers to the measurement of student knowledge, skills, competencies, values, and other outcomes expected of the educational process. It is a mechanism to determine the effectiveness of institutions, departments, and programs in meeting the educational goals that they have established for themselves. The primary purpose of academic assessment is to improve student learning and development by linking outcomes assessment with curriculum review and revision.
Academic assessment enables departments and programs to be more "intentional" in the education of students. It stimulates explicit reflection, discussion, and consensus-building of learning objectives for students, systematic measurement of the extent to which objectives are being met, and meaningful efforts to use this information to make improvements in program structure, course content, and pedagogy.
Academic assessment is a natural part of teaching. Conscientious teachers continually reflect on what they want their students to learn, how well current techniques lead to these objectives, and what they can do to enhance the learning process. Academic assessment includes this traditional process but moves it to the department (or program) level and makes it more systematic. But the essential questions are the same: "Are our students learning what we want them to learn?" and "Are there ways that we can do better?"
Good assessment does change the focus of attention from what professors teach to what students learn. Traditionally, higher education has emphasized "processes" and "inputs" as a means for assessing quality. For example, we have judged teaching to be effective if the instructor knows his or her subject, has a carefully prepared syllabus, incorporates new technologies into the classroom, and stimulates meaningful discussion. Yet, if challenged on the point, most professors and students would probably acknowledge that, while "teaching inputs" are extremely important, they are not perfect indicators of the amount of "learning" that has actually occurred. Teaching and learning are two sides of the same process, but they are not the same thing. The "means" of higher education (i.e., instruction) are not the same thing as the "ends" or "outcomes" of higher education (i.e., changes in student knowledge or capabilities or attitudes). Academic assessment highlights this conceptual distinction and leads to a focus not only on the teaching process but also on the learning outcome.
