What Do We Mean by Assessment?

In higher education today, the term "assessment" has come to mean much more than "grades" or "tests." In the words of one researcher, assessment, as it is understood by most in higher education today, is "the measurement of the educational impact of an institution on its students" (Terenzini, 1989).

The goal of the assessment process is the improvement of all institutional practices that affect student learning and development.

"The key purposes of assessment are to ask important questions about student learning, to get some meaningful information on these questions, and to use the information for academic improvement." --Rossman & El-Khawas, 1987

In April 2008, four members of the Assessment Council presented a session at the Higher Learning Commission Annual Meeting entitled, "From Isolated to Collaborative:  Assessing Student Learning Using Technology and Rubrics".  Click here to see the presentation materials.

eLumen Tools
The section contains a link to eLumen, a glossary of eLumen terms, and a eLumen user quick guide.

Assessment Report Templates
Templates for annual assessment reports, assessment plans, and curriculum maps.

General Education Assessment
This section contains information for assessing general competencies in the general education curriculum.

Resources for Major Assessment
This section contains resources for developing an assessment plan for your major including resources for mapping the outcomes and developing rubrics for those outcomes.

Concordia Assessment Examples
This section contains assessment examples from departments at Concordia University.

Assessment Council
Contact members of Concordia's Assessment Council

Executive Summaries
Executive Summaries of Assessment of Student Learning and Development at Concordia University from 1998.

Rubrics
Examples of rubrics that can be adapted for measuring student achievement on a learning outcome.