Indirect and direct assessment methods have a long standing history in college learning centers. Being more resource-intensive and time-consuming, direct assessment methods are often underrepresented in the literature and in practice. This paper presents a case study of how a pretest-posttest assessment initiative was designed to measure student…

Research approaches to better engage student learning regarding the determinants of health are somewhat limited. The present study highlights the evolution of an authentic fieldwork assessment and the strategies nursing students used as they navigated the assessment for learning activity outside the classroom, and how these impacted student's…

Data in this report reflect responses from 64 four-year public institutions that collectively enroll approximately 718,149 undergraduate students (according to data reported to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)). Respondents participated in the Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) national electronic poll of "Effective Practices…

Data in this report reflect responses from 86 four-year private institutions that collectively enroll approximately 261,189 undergraduate students (according to data reported to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)). Respondents participated in the Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) national electronic poll of "Effective…

Credit hour policies, or performance-based financial aid policies, have become increasingly popular among policymakers seeking to improve degree completion rates. In the Unites States, the college completion agenda has been bolstered by national calls from intermediary organizations and philanthropic foundations alike to raise the overall rate and…

Authentic assessment is an alternative assessment forcing students to perform like a professional in a real work-place. In other words, this type of assessment trains students to be successful-performers in professional jobs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of authentic assessment based on three elements including…

A typology of budget-driven program reviews is categorized by two variables: the locus of responsibility and the timing of the review. When a budget-driven program review is first implemented during a crisis, the range of financial and administrative options are high, yet buy-in and match to mission are low. When a budget-driven program review is…

Income gaps in college enrollment, persistence, and graduation raise concerns for those interested in equal opportunity in higher education. We present findings from a randomly assigned scholarship for low-income students at a medium-sized public 4-year university. The program focused solely on the first four semesters of enrollment and tied aid…

Responding to an Illinois law that took effect in 2010, the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA), Chicago Public Schools (CPS) created and implemented the REACH (Recognizing Educators Advancing Chicago's Students) educator evaluation and support system. REACH was piloted in 2012-13. It is still being implemented as of the 2019-20 school year…

Medical schools with a diverse student body face the challenge of ensuring that all students succeed academically. Many medical schools have implemented prematriculation programs to prepare students from diverse backgrounds; however, evidence on their impact is largely lacking. In this study, we analyzed participants' demographics as well as the…

Problem-based learning approach presents several advantages such as improving students' engagement in learning and fostering their higher-order thinking skills. Although there is a plethora of research regarding implementation of problem-based learning in classrooms, its design and application process for web-based environments need further…

A college degree is often viewed as a key step toward better employment and higher earnings. Many community college students, however, never graduate and cannot reap the financial benefits associated with a college degree. Although existing research suggests that financial aid interventions can modestly improve students' short-term academic…

The chemistry department at Washington & Jefferson College implemented an "organic first" curriculum in the fall semester of 2005. Assessment data suggest that the net impact of this change for the department and associated constituencies has been positive: (i) Student outcomes have generally not been impacted by the curricular…

This paper reviews the literature on the effects of feedback provided to teams in higher education or organizational settings. This review (59 empirical articles) showed that most of the feedback applications concerned "knowledge of results" (performance feedback). In contrast, there is a relatively small body of research using feedback…

This article provides a window into Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education's (CAPE) Partnerships in Arts Integration Research (PAIR) project conducted in Chicago public schools (CPS) (pairresults.org), which statistically demonstrates how a three-year arts integration project can impact treatment versus control students in both academic and arts…