It is incumbent upon universities to deliver quality degree programs that produce employable graduates with discipline-specific knowledge and a well-developed set of generic skills known as graduate attributes. To safeguard the achievement of these outcomes, this paper argues for a holistic, longitudinal approach to degree planning known as…

The role of faculty in gathering, analyzing and using student learning data is growing and changing, but still underrepresented in the higher education research literature. While faculty are often expected and required to participate in assessment work, some faculty go beyond assessment work as service to take leadership roles. Using data…

There are three purposes for evaluation: evaluation for action to aid the decision making process, evaluation for understanding to further enhance enlightenment and evaluation for control to ensure compliance to standards. This article argues that the primary function of evaluation in the "Catherine Wheel" computer-based assessment (CBA)…

This article outlines a methodology for characterising features of programme-level assessment environments so that the relationship between features of the assessment environment and students' learning response can be studied. The methodology was developed through the detailed case study of nine undergraduate degree programmes: one in each of…

Drawing on an exploratory qualitative study, this article considers the link between business school teaching at graduate level and subsequent work behaviour and experiences of former students. It evaluates the student experience some time "after" graduation. The findings of the retrospective evaluation point to the value of classroom…

Tracks an ongoing, 15-year initiative to reform and assess a general education program. Identifies four key phases in the process, chronicling emergent challenges, key setbacks, and noteworthy successes. Identifies five key lessons that may prove useful to other institutions integrating assessment into their general education program. (EV)

Two frameworks for educational assessment distinguished, which is quantitative, adequate for construing some kinds of learning, and qualitative, which is more appropriate for most objectives in higher education. The paper argues that institutions implicitly encourage quantitative assessment, thus encouraging a surface approach to learning although…