Student affairs educators are asked fundamental questions about programming and its effectiveness. Stakeholders (e.g., students, parents, accreditors) ask what programming (e.g., activities, strategies, curriculum) is offered, "why" it is offered, and "who" benefits in terms of learning and development (e.g., Carpenter, 2001;…

"Program Review and Assessment for Continuous Improvement: Asking the Right Questions. Occasional Paper No. 48" summarizes essential questions and discussions campuses should have regarding academic program reviews and the integration of assessment into such reviews. This document contains the following Appendices related to that paper:…

As program-level assessment increasingly becomes an integral part of the higher-education landscape, so does the debate regarding the efficacy of current assessment methods. Traditionally, students do not participate in assessment--neither of their own learning nor of institutional or program efficacy. Our assessment process presents an…

This Occasional Paper outlines lessons learned about mapping and assessing learning in student affairs and student employment. Over the last three years, the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) assisted institutions developing Comprehensive Learner Records and scaling high-impact practices. In each of these initiatives,…

Learning outcome assessment is a fairly recent trend in higher education that began in the 1980s (Lubinescu et al., 2001). Today, many faculty perceive assessment reporting to be tedious, time-consuming, and irrelevant busywork (Wang & Hurley, 2012). Unfortunately, this systematic process created to use empirical evidence to measure, document,…

Externally imposed assessment requirements in higher education call for documented attention to using assessment results for program improvement. Although this systematic process promises to lead to better learning outcomes it has also been challenged as ineffective and even harmful. What can make assessment truly meaningful and move beyond the…

Assessing students' learning outcomes is on the agenda of higher education institutions seeking improvement of student learning. Faculty members should be well versed in developing and assessing learning outcomes and involved in ensuring success in the assessment process; however, many claim that the process interferes with academic freedom,…

The competition for jobs in the 21st century is increasingly being driven by defining postsecondary learning in light of new and complex environments. To succeed, students must be prepared with knowledge to compete in these environments. Historically, higher education has defined these requirements in their own terms, often through learning…

There is a need for a questionnaire designed specifically to evaluate taught postgraduate (TPg) awards for quality assurance or enhancement purposes. Comparison of undergraduate and TPg awards suggests that as the former have broadened their ambit to better nurture generic graduate attributes, TPg awards have concentrated on advanced specialised…

Research shows that transition planning for students with disabilities is an ongoing process that requires the collaboration of students, families, and teachers to ensure a successful adult life for students after graduation (Clark, 1996; Clark & Unruh, 2010; Gil, 2007; Kellems & Morningstar, 2010). This study examined the insights of the…

Unlike the work available in many creative disciplines, musicians and dancers have the possibility of company-based employment; however, participants outweigh the number of positions. As a result, many graduates become "enforced entrepreneurs" as they shape their work to meet personal and professional needs. The similarities between…

This study aimed to investigate teacher candidates' retrospective and prospective evaluations about the classroom teacher education program, self, and the teaching profession. Observations, interviews, focus group interviews, and surveys were used to collect data from the 240 subjects. Teacher candidates believed that the teaching profession is…

This essay presents the findings of an authentic and holistic assessment, using a random sample of one hundred student General Education ePortfolios, of two of Salt Lake Community College's (SLCC) college-wide learning outcomes: quantitative literacy (QL) and information literacy (IL). Performed by four faculty from biology, humanities, and…

Associate (community college) degrees have expanded rapidly in the past decade in Hong Kong, but their value has been questioned due to the limited number of government-funded articulation opportunities available. This paper argues that associate degrees in Hong Kong are not valued solely for articulation purposes, but also for nurturing students'…

This article presents and discusses the results of a national survey of social work PhD students, faculty, and administrators (n = 416), conducted by the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE), in December 2012. The survey was undertaken to inform the updating of GADE's 2003 "Guidelines for Quality in Social…