In an effort to promote learning in classrooms, political science instructors are increasingly turning to interactive teaching strategies--experiments, simulations, etc.--that supplement traditional lecture formats. In this article, I advocate the use of student-generated data as a powerful teaching tool that can be used in a variety of ways to…

This literature review has been undertaken for the Higher Education Academy (HEA). It explores recent scholarly contributions in the area of assessment and feedback in higher education (HE). As outlined in the HEA's terms of reference for this work, the contents of this review are designed to "help practitioners, policy makers and researchers…

Many higher education sport management programs are currently in the process of seeking accreditation from the Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA). This article provides a best-practice method for aligning student learning outcomes with a sport management program's mission and goals. Formative and summative assessment procedures…

In order to serve its nontraditional students, a university piloted a competency-based program as alternative method for its students to earn college credit. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to conduct a summative program evaluation to determine if the program was successful in order to make decisions about program revision and…

This article uses Dewey's (1938) concept of "end in view" to frame one California State University's purposeful action in implementing the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT). The authors provide a chronology of events that reveal the ways in which teacher education faculty were engaged in examining PACT outcomes and…

Accreditation criteria of programs require effective learning outcomes, assessment with documented procedures, tools, results, and actions to close the assessment loop with broad faculty involvement. This article describes a methodology for providing quantitative measurement of a course's learning outcomes. The methodology uses a linkage matrix…

Present practice of continually seeking new assessment devices to replace older ones may not be as fruitful an approach to improving evaluation as careful attention to the way present information is handled. Improving methods of feedback could offer significant overall gains in the evaluation process in higher education. (Author/WM)

Asserts that only by evaluating the effectiveness of distance education programs can their use be justified and their quality improved. Discusses how to conduct formative and summative evaluations of distance education programs. (EV)

The basic issues, problems, techniques, and history of program evaluation are reviewed, with emphasis on the evaluation of learning assistance programs. The following topics are discussed: (1) historical perspectives (origins of the evaluation process, program evaluation in education); and (2) theoretical constructs (typologies of evaluation…

This book details a total approach to writing objectives, designing measuring instruments, performing objective comparisons, and avoiding pitfalls in conducting three types of instructional program evaluations. Chapters discuss issues, problems, and solutions in the following sequence: (1) an overview of instructional program evaluation; (2)…

In the late 1990s, the Korea Ministry of Education and Human Resources, in response to concern over the relatively low standing of the nation's universities and researchers, launched the Brain Korea 21 program BK21). BK21 seeks to make Korean research universities globally competitive and to produce more high-quality researchers in Korea. It…

The Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI) launched in 2002 with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The ECHSI provides funds for the development of Early College Schools (ECSs) that serve students who traditionally are underrepresented in postsecondary education and offers them the opportunity to simultaneously pursue a high…

This paper describes a faculty-designed program evaluation procedure established at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, focusing on the Communication Department. The assessment potential of this process is examined and, following an explication of the process itself and the Program Evaluation Committee (PEC) Report, the five elements…

Study abroad programs have, in the last few years, expanded to unprecedented proportions with over half of the American liberal arts colleges permitting their students to earn credit overseas. As large as the programs have become, however, relatively few, if any, evaluation procedures have taken place for these programs. This document describes 2…