Seymour Sarason’s 2004 book by this title “And What do YOU Mean by Learning?” is a warning that lack of clarity about what we mean by learning has and will continue to defeat our best efforts at improving it. Sarason, a Yale University Professor Emeritus of Psychology, was focused on reform of K-12 public education, but the argument is no less valid when talking about higher learning and the improvement of learning in higher education.
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A study just published in Teaching of Psychology (Volume 37, Number 2, April-June 2010), provides empirical support for the proposition that something as small and simple as including a reciprocal interview activity the first day of class can have long-lasting impact on the classroom environment and student attitudes. This study does not address impact on student performance in terms of intended learning outcomes. You might consider including an experiment like this, and measuring impact on student learning, as part of your program assessment plan and thereby address student satisfaction and student learning at the same time.
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This is the title of an April 2010 Occasional Paper by Pat Hutchings prepared for the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (www.niloa.org). Definitely worth reading and heeding. Pat’s Six Recommendations, in brief:

1. Build Assessment Around the Regular, Ongoing Work of Teaching and Learning
2. Make a Place for Assessment in Faculty Development
3. Build Assessment into the Preparation of Graduate Students
4. Reframe the Work of Assessment as Scholarship
5. Create Campus Spaces and Occasions for Constructive Assessment Conversation and Action
6. Involve Students in Assessment

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Two boys are walking down the street. The first boy says, “Ive been really busy this summer. I’ve been teaching my dog to talk.”

His friend responds, “Wow! I can’t wait to have a conversation with your dog.”

The first boy shakes his head. “I said I’ve been teaching him. I didn’t say he learned anything.”

Quoted in Allen, M.J. (2004). Assessing academic programs in higher education. Boston: Anker.

It is important to recognize that it is “par for the course” to be disappointed in your first efforts to assess program level learning outcomes, and that it may take several trials before you begin to see results you believe in. But this does not mean you won’t be learning from your first several trials and making program improvements based simply on clarifying your intended learning outcomes and trying to measure them.
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That title may sound like I’m saying that doing assessment is a big mistake. But obviously I think doing assessment is critical to student learning and developing outstanding academic programs. But you will recognize how true the formula is once I explain the “Doing Aassessment” in quotes.
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Is your Assessment Plan in the Assessment Referatory?

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Welcome to the Assessment for Learning (AfL) Blog.  The AfL Blog is maintained by Michael Strait, Director of Academic Assessment, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC).