MODERNIZING ASSESSMENT IN TRADITIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS

One of the key areas in determining quality of education programs is the validity and reliability of assessment within the program. Newer educational approaches, such as online courses, often minimize the role of assessment, given that their primary focus is on accessibility. Traditional programs generally maintain assessment approaches that have been applied for quite a long time, and have often lost relevance to the graduate's context. As a balance to this, programs or systems rely more and more on standardized tests to demonstrate basic achievement, with the consequence that educational programs skew toward the test and lose flexibility and many of the advantages of creativity.

We have been examining ways to rejuvenate assessment within the context of traditional educational programs. In contrast to global standardized tests, approaches of using broad global outcomes to derive apecific tailored outcomes give standardized benefit as well as the opportunity for customization and interest areas that encourage student involvement. Once an instructor is clear on detailed outcomes, it is possible to ensure that outcomes are actually achieved by identifying fine-grain elements of assessment instruments linked explicitly to each outcome. Further, it is possible to shift the focus from "passing tests" to meeting outcomes by allowing students multiple opportunities to demonstrate the achievement of specific outcomes. From the student's perspective, it is clear what goals must be achieved, and possible to develop a plan to achieve them. From the instructor's perspective, it is possible to demonstrate achievement of standards, and still find room to challenge students in different directions.

We have experimented with these approaches in middle level Computer Science courses as part of an ABET accredited Computer Science program. In the paper we discuss how application over multiple semesters has led us to refine techniques, to motivate students to learn, and to reduce the additional effort required to adopt a different way of approaching assessment.