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Academic Assessment Committee: Measures and Targets

Measures and Targets

Direct Measure

A "Direct Measure", or DM, provides objective evidence of student knowledge, thought processes, behavior, and skills in regards to program student learning outcomes (PSLOs).  DMs provide strong evidence on what a student knows and can do.  Also called “direct evidence”, DMs measure learning that enables students to persist, graduate, transfer, and/or obtain work in a desired field.  

Direct Measure – examples including scores or rates on:

*capstone experiences  *exams, including standardized and for licensure 

*formal written work for assignments, including papers  *group projects  *performances

*internships or practicums  *presentations or speeches, individual and group 

*portfolios  *class discussion threads in LMS  *field experiences 

*career or professional studies or pathways  *scholarly research 

*classroom response systems

 (Suskie, 2018)

Indirect Measure

An "Indirect Measure", or IM, provides evidence as subjective or inferred vs directly measured on program student learning outcomes (PSLOs).  Students may be asked to reflect upon their knowledge, thought processes, behavior, skills, and levels of satisfaction.  Indirect measures may also be completed by third parties and with summary data. 

Indirect Measure – examples including scores or rates on:

*end of program survey  *course evaluation survey, on questions related to learning

*alumni survey  *student exit interview  *placement rates  *awards earned

*student self-assessment of learning, potentially on meeting PSLOs

*student journal or blog related to learning, could be final entry 

*student scholarship, such as acceptance to an honor society, presenting at a conference, or having an article published

*student acceptance rate to graduate schools, with considering quality of programs

*student scores on graduate school entrance tests  *retention rate 

*graduation rate, could be enrollments to graduations ratio 

 (Suskie, 2018)

Targets

A target states a standard or minimum threshold of demonstrated performance for a measure (DM or IM).  A good target would be specific, ambitious while achievable, and easily interpreted by a reader.  An example would be:  80% of artifacts (assignment submissions) will be scored at 3 or higher on a 4 level rubric for a DM on portfolios.

Reference

Suskie, L. (2018). Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide, 3rd Ed.  San Francisco, CA:  Jossey-Bass. 1119426936