Obstacles That Contribute to the Controversy and Strategies to Work Toward Consensus

 400-500 WORDS

Readings

• Banta, T. W., & Blaich, C. (2011). Closing the assessment loop. Change, 43(1), 22–27.
• Kinzie, J. (2010). Perspectives from campus leaders on the current state of student learning outcomes assessment. Assessment Update, 22(5), 1–15.
• From Denial to Acceptance: The Stages of Assessment [PDF].
• Opening Doors to Faculty Involvement in Assessment [PDF].      
  • This article examines the controversy of faculty involvement in assessment and proposes ways to develop collaborative efforts for successful assessment on campuses.

Instructions

Please write your discussion post about the following topics:

Obstacles

The readings for this week include a discussion of the controversy about learning assessment in higher education. You might be aware of this controversy at your institution or learning about it for this first time in this course. In your discussion, summarize some of the common obstacles to assessment, outlined in the readings thus far in the course. To what extent are each of these obstacles actual or perceived?

Are any of these obstacles created by incorrect assumptions or inaccurate information? How would you summarize the controversy over assessment?

Building Consensus

Using and citing the readings thus far in the course, how might you summarize some effective strategies for resolving the obstacles to assessment you identified in the first part of this discussion? How might a renewed understanding of assessment help faculty, staff, or administrators become involved in assessment efforts and work toward consensus?

Remember to provide citations from the readings for the information that you use in both parts of the discussion.