Tyler Grant

English 4101

Dr. Schroeder

1/24/2020

Learning Outcomes and Academic Assessment

To me, it appeared that the text in question was largely about why assessments could

be both helpful and harmful to both teacher and student. Some topics addressed seemed very

accurate to the situation, while others felt very far off from the mark. One idea that seemed

very positive in nature was the idea that assessments should be about what the student has

learned, instead of what a standardized test could illustrate. But a key issue I found is that the

document states that higher education should not be held accountable for such as the

student’s previous education. This idea, while valid to some degree, fails to realize that

professor and student need to be on the same page for the student to learn the material.

Any English student that the public school system failed will know this, because

grammar is very hard to learn when you don’t understand the basic concepts because the

school system focused more on literature than how to diagram, understand, and properly

construct sentences. So, while it is certainly not the fault of higher education, it is an issue that

needs to be addressed and handled in an efficient way, instead of ignored. Which the piece

does address after this, by highlighting that assessment can be used as a tool of reform. One of

the strengths of this document is how it approaches assessment as something that can be

improved, such as with the idea of reform. To enhance student learning in a way that will be
most beneficial, and ultimately will be the most “sustainable.” The idea of this being done

without arrogance is very appealing.

It seems clear that serious thought went into this, as many questions I had were

addressed or answered upon reading further. Such as was the case with wondering just how

higher/complex learning could be accurately assessed. The answer was simple to read and

understand, which was to be informed and look at the situation as a professional, using the

assessor’s judgement to look at the student’s efforts as a whole to better understand what they

understand. It seemed like an effective way to objectively assess rather than brutalize with

tests.

Finally, probably a great part of this article was how it addressed how student learning

can be out of control by the faculty, even if just simply based on the student’s motivation. A

person’s motivation can be very strong one day, and completely drained the next. High

motivation versus low motivation are two very important factors in the learning process that

aren’t always addressed by those in charge. Ultimately a professor or teacher is not responsible

for the mental health of their students, but they can plan around that to try and best reach

them. Focusing on improvement using factors that can be controlled is nice, but so is making

sure that an assessment process best handles the chaotic lump of mess that is a human being.