Over 2000 years ago, Aristotle wrote of four distinct causes at play in the world we know. Those causes, the material cause, the formal cause, the efficient cause, and the final cause, were meant to refer to ontological and, by extension, epistemological concerns, and were powerful enough to be seized upon and used in some form by those of very…

Practitioners often struggle to assess reflective learning in the workplace because of difficulties conceptualizing reflection and its effects in the workplace. This article addresses this problem by offering a pragmatic approach to assessment that asks practitioners to specify why they are using reflection, what they are hoping to gain from it,…

Teaching graduate students to conduct evaluations is typically relegated to evaluation methods courses. This approach misses an opportunity for students to collaboratively use evaluation skills to explore content. This article examines a graduate course, Issues in Adult Basic Education, in which students learned evaluation methods concurrently…

Bracketed analysis is an examination of experiences within a defined time frame or "bracket." It assumes the ability to learn from any source: behaviors, emotions, rational and irrational thought, insights, reflections, and reactions. A bracketed analysis to determine what went wrong with a grant proposal that missed deadlines…

Tips for assessing student learning are (1) match assessment strategies to teaching philosophy; (2) identify transferable elements that can be adapted to a variety of situations; and (3) ask what you need to know. (SK)

Among the mental skills involved in evaluation are reflection and perception; comparison and discrimination; valuing, anticipatory thinking, critical and creative thinking; and reasoning and intuition. (SK)

Suggests that educational evaluation is complex and that assessing practice, philosophy of teaching and learning, and congruence between belief and action can help to improve the evaluation of adult learners. (JOW)

Defines and evaluates alternative or authentic assessment, explores some of the creative options that are available, and provides tips for implementing new evaluation strategies. (Author)

Assessment provides information with which to make informed decisions about learners and programs and to support the learner through the educational experience. A comprehensive assessment system should contain information about learner goals, background, interests, skills, and attitudes; appropriate instruments; standards; and feedback to the…