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Evaluate Assessment
Findings
This
includes interpreting assessment information, relating assessment results to
objectives and educational activities, and drawing conclusions about the
contributions of the educational environment. Figure 2
can be very useful in helping educators evaluate the effects of different
factors in producing observed student
learning
outcomes.
As with
any type of research, those evaluating assessment findings need to consider a
range of empirical issues. For assessment, these issues include the reliability
and validity of assessment measures, the design and implementation of the
educational
environment,
student
characteristics, educational
objectives,
and possible confounding variables.
Assessment conclusions might address a number of questions, such as
the following:
- How
well does our accounting program achieve its curricular goals and
objectives?
- Which
curricular objectives need additional focus in our accounting
program?
- Which
competencies do our students exhibit that can we promote to potential employers
or other constituencies?
- Does
our accounting program meet accreditation requirements for assessment and
continuous improvement?
- How
well does my course achieve its curricular goals and
objectives?
- What
are the learning outcomes of my course?
- Should
I redesign my course activities to increase or decrease emphasis on certain
student competencies?
- Does a
particular educational activity contribute to student
learning?
- How do
the goals and objectives of my course relate to the goals and objectives of the
accounting program?
References
to specific sources of information about evaluation of assessment
findings:
- Apostolou (1999) summarizes
findings from outcomes assessment in higher education.
- Palomba and Banta (1999).
Chapters 5-10: Discussions of the links between assessment methods and
educational objectives. Pp. 313-318: Discuss ways to analyze assessment
information.
- Gainen and Locatelli (1995,
Chapter 10) describe how to assess the contributions of the educational
environment in the context of accounting education.
- Angelo and Cross (1993, pp.
51-57) discuss how to evaluate student feedback or other forms of classroom
assessment.
- Erwin (1991, Chapter 7)
discusses a variety of issues related to analyzing assessment information and
drawing conclusions.
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