Individual program evaluation studies have the potential to accumulate of very valuable knowledge and practical wisdom. Drawing on "The Case for Pragmatic Psychology" (D. Fishman, 1999), this paper contends that much of this wisdom is being thrown away because of the positivist paradigm used in determining which knowledge should be…

This paper proposes a comprehensive approach to program evaluation and suggests employing a number of methods in evaluating a program. Exclusive allegiance to one school of thought and adoption of one particular technique leads to limited comprehension about programs, and hence their evaluations. If evaluation is viewed as a process by which…

Methods of assessing the general goals for the Pediatric Dentistry Department at the Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry are discussed. Goals are: (1) to prepare dentists to provide comprehensive dental care for the pediatric patient; (2) to create positive attitudes toward pediatric dentistry; (3) to encourage students to seek to…

Charges and assumptions of three AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) working groups that reviewed the general professional education of physicians and college preparation for medicine are presented. The 3-year project assessed the present educational approaches and developed recommendations to improve instructional programs and…

Reflecting on a career spent in assessment in personnel selection and managment, the author lists 12 things (items) that he wishes he knew about assessment. The first four items are underdeveloped ideas set aside because of the field's preoccupation with equal employment opportunity. A second set (items five through eight) comes from intellectual…

Alcohol use on campus and strategies colleges are using to educate students about alcohol are considered in two articles. In "When Alternatives Aren't," Ruth Bradford Burnham and Stephen J. Nelson explore the role alcoholic beverages play in young people's social lives and some of the implications for planning social events. They offer a balanced…

A professional development model is proposed that is based on learning outcomes derived from Bloom's Taxonomy of Intellectual Inquiry. Professional development is depicted as a sequence of learning components: (1) broadened knowledge and comprehension; (2) improved application of that knowledge; and (3) an analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of…

Ways to define the outcomes of college experiences are discussed, along with the use of assessment information to improve curricula, instruction, and management. The analysis is based on the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems/Kellogg Student Outcomes Project. It is proposed that institutions achieve educational excellence by…