The Importance of Assessing Students

Why assessment is important

“In a culture of evidence, assessment is a necessary and integral part of greater student achievement. It becomes a tool for improvement: to improve learning, teaching, and the curriculum.” — Roueche, Milliron, and Roueche, 2003

Assessment refers to the deliberate gathering of evidence of student learning to allow both teachers and learners to measure progress in a course. Therefore, assessments provide us with an opportunity to improve student learning, as well as to enhance our teaching through critical reflection on the results of the assessments in our course(s).

Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. Thomas Angelo writes that,

“Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning. It involves making our expectations explicit and public; setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality; systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and standards; and using the resulting information to document, explain, and improve performance. When it is embedded effectively within larger institutional systems, assessment can help us focus our collective attention, examine our assumptions, and create a shared academic culture dedicated to assuring and improving the quality of higher education” (1995: 7).

Reasons to assess

Assessment gives us the opportunity to track student progress throughout the course. Assessment can give you a clearer picture of where your students are headed in a course. Assessment then becomes a way for you to re-assess and adjust your teaching approaches while also identifying any barriers, visible or invisible, that students may be facing as a result of your assessment choices. Ruth Stiehl & Les Lewchuk (2008: 34-43) divide the reasons why we assess students into three main categories: to assist, to advance, and to adjust. Each category includes a number of specific reasons why assessment is an important aspect of curriculum design. Expand the rows below to review each category.

Program Standards

As instructors we are required to ensure that our students meet provincial program standards for their chosen diploma or degree. Therefore, we need to assess student performance with respect to job preparation, prerequisites, and university or college program goals.

Watch the video below on the connection between program standards and assessments.

In addition to meeting the requirements of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, you’ll want to make sure you’re following the policies and procedures around assessment and evaluation outlined by Niagara College. Some important policies are listed below.

• College Collective Agreements
• Credit Course Information Policy
• Rights and Responsibilities Policy
• Student Evaluation Policy

Remember, it’s your responsibility to follow these policies and seek assistance if you’re unsure how the policy affects your situation. You could ask a course lead, program coordinator, associate dean, or mentor.

Ready to develop and improve your assessment(s)? Continue to the next section to learn how you can build assessments that effectively measure student learning.

References

Angelo, T.A. (1995). Reassessing (and defining) assessment. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 48, November: 7-9

Stiehl, R., & Lewchuck, L. (2008). The assessment primer: Creating a flow of learning evidence.

Corvallis, OR: The Learning Organization.

Roueche, J. E., Milliron, M. D., & Roueche, S. D. (2003). Practical magic: On the front lines of teaching excellence. Amer. Assn. of Community Col.

Attribution Statement

This chapter is an adaptation of Unit 1 of Assessment Foundations by College Educator Development Program (CEDP) and is used under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 International License. Changes include removal and rewriting some of the passages and adding original material.