Assessing learning does not by itself result in increased student accomplishment, much like a pig never fattened up because it was weighed. Indeed, recent research shows that while institutions are more regularly engaging in assessment, they have little to show in the way of stronger student performance. This paper clarifies how assessment results…

This paper investigates quality assurance in Chinese higher education by looking at the Evaluation of the University Baccalaureate Programmes Project (EUBPP) conducted in China. It analyses factors that bring about tensions between policy and practice in this area through a study of two contrasting tertiary institutions. The results show that the…

This paper aims to inspire stakeholders working with quality of higher education (such as members of study boards, study programme directors, curriculum developers and teachers) to critically consider their evaluation methods in relation to a focus on student learning. We argue that many of the existing methods of evaluation in higher education…

This paper concentrates on the public and formal processes of reporting achievement. The topic is significant because employers, managers and graduate schools all use warrants when making selection and governance decisions. Should those warrants turn out to have, as we argue, local meanings, then selection and governance practices, amongst others,…

The "U.S. News & World Report" (USNWR) rankings have become the "gold standard" of the college ranking business. College and university presidents proclaim that these rankings are not a measure of the quality of their institutions and that they do not pay attention to the rankings, but, in fact, institutions are very…

How academic programs might go about making evaluation more useful, thus making critical reflection more likely, is the central purpose of this book. The chapters are: (1) "The Concept of Academic Quality"; (2) "Motivation for Quality Work"; (3) "Evaluating Quality in Academic Programs"; (4) "Creating the Engaged Department"; (5) "Negotiating…

Focuses on the ideal future of evaluation as a discipline, including evaluation in the nonacademic world and evaluation as it applies to elementary, secondary, and higher education. In the ideal future, evaluation will be fully accepted as a key discipline and will be fully used in rational discourse and policy decisions. (SLD)

Along with assessing the value of a program, evaluations should aid in decision making, support change management, and improve processes. For an evaluation to effect change, three conditions should occur: informing, collaborating, and mixing. The evaluation of a Wheaton College (Massachusetts) graduation requirement that students complete a…

Examines the findings from a national survey that was part of a research project of the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement (NCPI). The findings are used to develop and present a multidimensional approach for improving an institution's strategy for supporting and using student assessment. (EV)

Most evaluation of faculty takes place at the end of a semester. Because results of this type of evaluation are not available until after the semester is over, an instructor has no opportunity to make changes to a course while it is ongoing. This paper explains how the practice of midsemester evaluation can provide instructors with a formative…

To determine if students engaged in rating faculty members used different cognitive sets as a function of the explicit purpose for which ratings were obtained. A field experiment was conducted involving 141 graduate students. Results indicate that the purpose of assessment fails to influence the pattern of faculty ratings provided by students.…

This book explores the key issues of learner assessment in terms of who it is for, what modes of assessment exist, what makes for sound assessment, why assessment is done, what agencies are promoting innovative methods of assessment, and the catalysts for change. Practical suggestions on how to assess more effectively are provided, including…

Current conceptualizations of participatory evaluation are reviewed, presenting some definitions, various rationales for its use, and a general discussion with implications for future applications. Participatory evaluation creates a learning framework in which evaluation findings are processed and accumulated by end-users in the very process of…

Describes use of the Knowledge Use System, originally developed as a tool for corporate market research to overcome obstacles to implementation, in a higher education setting to delineate decision-maker variables and characteristics that may impede the utilization of evaluation results. Implications for future research and for higher education are…

A communication theory paradigm typically is used to investigate the relationship between evaluation information and utilization: "Who says what, how, to whom, with what effects?" This study investigates the "how," or medium of presentation, aspect of the paradigm. (Author/LMO)