College Measures was established in 2010 as a partnership between the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Matrix Knowledge Group (now Optimity Advisors). In 2016, College Measures became fully owned by AIR. It remains focused on using data to drive improvement in higher education outcomes in the United States. Through its Economic Success…

Students, parents, and government agencies need as much information as possible about the outcomes of the higher education experience and the extent to which they can expect a fair return on their investment in higher education. In order to better understand the concept of quality--enabling students to acquire knowledge in a variety of disciplines…

This paper explores a method to support instructors in assessing cognitive skills in their course, designed to enable aggregation of data across an institution. A rubric authoring tool, "BASICS" (Building Assessment Scaffolds for Intellectual Cognitive Skills) was built as part of the Queen's University Learning Outcomes Assessment (LOA)…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a public university's design and implementation of an assessment approach that measures the change in undergraduate students' environmental stewardship reasoning and knowledge abilities over time. Design/methodology/approach: In support of a university's strategic emphasis on environmental…

The assessment movement that has emerged on American college campuses over the last twenty years emphasizes the need to carefully articulate the particular outcomes colleges seek for students, and it demands that faculty and administrators provide evidence of their students' success with respect to these outcomes. It also requires that this…

Many business programs address the learning of undergraduate students with an exit exam. A reference librarian and the business school faculty created an online test preparation study guide (or LibGuide) which included no-cost resources that were readily available yet academically authoritative to aid students in studying for the Educational…

This paper aims to analyze the strategic drivers used to achieve the accreditations issued by the three most important business school accreditation agencies (AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA). The study consisted of semi-structured interviews with the team members who led the accreditation processes. The information was coded, categorized, and analyzed…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) University of North Carolina at Charlotte: Using the EIA [Excellence in Assessment] Application as a Catalyst for Intentional Improvement (Christine Robinson and associates); (2) Editor's Notes (Stephen P. Hundley); (3) Northern Arizona University's Journey to…

This study assessed the competencies expected of doctoral graduates. Twelve purposefully sampled education experts provided the data. A case study design within a qualitative approach was adopted. Data were gathered through interviews and thematically analysed. Member checking ensured data trustworthiness. Factors affecting the quality of a…

The last two decades have witnessed an increasing intensity of quality management in higher education institutions and quality discourses which were followed by debates about and attempts of evaluating the efficacy of quality management in the sector. Accordingly, the article presents a SWOT analysis of impact evaluation of quality management in…

The Data Beast, a manifestation of the expansion of assessment activity by the University of Tennessee (UTC) at Chattanooga and its accrediting body; with no meaningful quantitative information on student progress in its undergraduate program. Any formal assessment that took place was done because someone outside the department had demanded it,…

Application of mathematical and statistical thinking and reasoning, typically referred to as quantitative skills, is essential for university bioscience students. First, this study developed an assessment task intended to gauge graduating students' quantitative skills. The Quantitative Skills Assessment of Science Students (QSASS) was the result,…

The reliability and validity of course grades as measures of general education learning outcomes were assessed using the multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) proposed by Campbell and Fiske. Convergent validity and discriminant validity were assessed on college undergraduate students over a 12-year period. Two procedures were used to test the MTMM. The…

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…

This study analyzes a sample of students' writing to assess their understanding of marketing concepts in the context of a Principles of Marketing course. Content analysis of pre- and post-essays was used to assess student knowledge of marketing concepts. The data was collected in Principles of Marketing classes. and highlight that many students…