Focusing on student assessment

A new Office of Educational Assessment will provide resources and consulting services to help academic units on campus in the continuous process of assessing student learning and development.

“We want to know if UD graduates are leaving the University with the anticipated knowledge and skills,” Karen Stein, faculty director of educational assessment, said. “Faculty first will decide what they want their students to learn and then document whether or not they are doing so.”

She compared the new office to a toolbox, saying it will provide how-to workshops and individual assistance to help academic departments, schools and programs construct and implement assessment strategies.

Stein said the University is not alone in making assessments of student learning. Other institutions undertaking program assessments include American, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Princeton and Syracuse universities and the universities of Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which will review the University of Delaware for reaccreditation in 2011, has specified that assessing student learning outcomes is an expected activity of a high-quality institution.