Resource Links
The sub-pages listed at right provide many resources for Swarthmore faculty and staff conducting assessment. The general approach to these resource lists has been to limit the links to a few very good ones, rather than presenting many that the reader would need to sort through. However, it is a work in progress, and suggestions for additional excellent resources are most welcome.
General Assessment Links
Our accreditating agency, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education has many excellent publications available in .pdf. Here are a few that faculty and staff conducting assessment might find particularly useful.
- "Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education" [pdf] published by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (our accrediting agency) for the Standards of Accreditation, especially Standard 7: Institutional Assessment and Standard 14: Assessment of Student Learning
- Student Learning Assessment: Options and Resources (2nd Edition, 2007) [pdf] published by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Other higher education agencies have also provided helpful materials.
- Metarubrics for Assessing Essential Learning Outcomes of Liberal Education — A team of faculty and other academic professionals worked with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) to identify essential learning outcomes and to develop rubrics for assessing them. This is a great starting point for discussion of assessment at any level - course, major, department, institution...
- 9 Principles of Best Practices for Assessing Student Learning [pdf] from the American Association for Higher Education
A number of very good, user-friendly books are available at McCabe Library, either physically or through EBL.
- Suskie, Linda. Assessing Student Learning (Online : EBL)Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide. Hoboken : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010. 2nd ed. This new edition of an earlier work is written in the style of a manual, and has plenty of explanation and examples without overwhelming the reader.
- Walvoord, Barbara E. Assessment Clear and Simple (Online : EBL) Assessment Clear and Simple [electronic resource] : A Practical Guide for Institutions, Departments, and General Education. Hoboken : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010. 2nd ed. Chapters 3 and 4 are especially useful for those trying to do assessment.
- Wiggins, Grant P., 1950 - Understanding by design (Online : ebrary) Understanding by design [electronic resource] / Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. Alexandria, VA : Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, c2005. Expanded 2nd ed. This is a pedogocially focused book that comes recommended by several of our faculty members.
