Are Assessments Necessary for All Courses?

Palomba and Banta (1999, p. 1) define assessment as a process that focuses on student learning,
a process that includes reviewing and reflecting on practice as academics have always done, but
in a more planned and careful way. This definition displays the role of assessments. What would a
course be without focusing on student learning? What would a course be without reviewing and
reflecting on practice in a less planned and careful way? The functions assessments play gives
every reason for all courses to have them.
Essence of Assessments
The assessment of student performance provides the course designer with the key information
needed (Diamond, R.M 2008). How students perform in the assessments would inform the
course designer how the newly designed materials meet the intended learning outcomes. The
key information can be used in reports that focus on the assessment of the course.
Assessments can also be used to obtain information for evaluating and judging students, courses,
programs, and institutions. One way the information is obtained is from formative assessments,
where the student can see the assessment results and retake the assessment until a certain
degree of mastery is achieved. The expectation is that the formative process will ensure that the
student performs well on any summative assessment.
A summative assessment is designed to obtain information about the degree to which a student
or all students in a class have achieved the expected learning outcomes. Summative assessment
results are used to award grades and make instructional decisions. “When the cook tastes the
soup that’s formative; when the guests taste the soup, that’s summative.” – Robert E. Stake (M.
Scriven, 1991, p. 169).
Assessments also help students to know what to do to improve and measure their improvement.
Assessment of student learning is dependent on student learning outcome statements. Poorly
written outcomes make it difficult to produce high-quality test items that measure the outcomes.
Low-quality test items lower the validity of decisions about student achievement and course
effectiveness.
The absolute requirement for any assessment is that the assessment matches the student
learning objectives and is aligned with the instruction. The whole point of designing or
redesigning any course is to enhance deeper learning experiences that foster successful
education. Therefore, assessments inform how successful the course is.
Maximizing Assessment Validity
To maximize the validity of assessments, the test items should be linked to outcome statements
(Bloom, 1956). The linking of the test item to the outcomes would require a type of code or
numbering system. Any data collected from assessments can be linked with outcome statements
of the course design that were used to help students achieve the outcomes. The link between the
outcomes and the assessments can be done using the newly developed code or numbering
system. For example, if items number one and two on a test are measuring outcome two, which
was taught with a group-work strategy, then the test results for items one and two can be used to
evaluate that instructional element of the course design. If all of these connections are made,
then, assuming the test items have been validated as functioning well, a conclusion that the
group-work strategy helped the student achieve the outcomes would be warranted. Likewise, if
the same connections exist when determining what grade to award a student based on the
student’s performance on the assessment, the grade awarded to the student would have a high
degree of validity.
Conclusion
Assessments are the evidence that supports a student’s claim that they have mastered the course
content and met the course goals. Deciding what types of assessment strategies best fit your
teaching style, your student's learning styles, and the content in your courses is an important step
in the instructional design process and understanding the advantages and disadvantages of
various assessment options can be helpful in making these decisions. Traditionally, assessment
has consisted primarily of objective exams and quizzes. While they are often convenient,
especially with large class sizes, quizzes and exams often measure relatively superficial
knowledge. There are many alternatives to exams, many of which measure more subjective
learning outcomes and are more engaging for both students and the instructors who must grade
the assessments. Some alternatives include research papers or reports, reflective writing
assignments, portfolios, presentations, classroom/online discussions, recording a podcast, and
practical tasks.
Learning extends well beyond a single score or assessment. Mix up the assessment types to have
maximum results from the learners and to also get informed on the course’s success. Assessment
is an ongoing process that can be used by both students and instructors to get feedback and
develop new skills.
References
Diamond, R.M (2008). Designing and assessing courses and curricula. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Bloom, B.S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals.
Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York, NY: David McKay Company.
Palomba, C. A., and Banta, T. W. (1999, 2007) Assessment Essentials: Planning, Implementing, and
Improving Assessment in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey – Bass.
Scriven, M. (1991). Evaluation thesaurus (4th ed. ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.