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Assessing Student Competence in Accredited Disciplines:

~ Catherine A. Palomba and Trudy W. Banta

About the Book:

Specialized accrediting bodies have long been at the forefront of the assessment movement in higher education and have exerted important influences on program and institutional assessment and improvement.  As a consequence, the academic programs these bodies approve are frequently among the first on a campus to consider ways to assess student competence.  This book focuses on approaches to assessment undertaken by professionally oriented programs that participate in specialized accreditation. 

How do accreditors encourage attention to the assessment of student learning?  How do faculty on the campuses respond to these actions by accreditors?  What can we learn from the accredited disciplines about defining learning outcomes, promoting thoughtful campus planning for assessment, and improving student competence?

The book opens with two foundation chapters.  The first examines the concept of student competence and reviews the historical and political contexts in which assessment takes place.  The second examines best practices in carrying out assessment, including the important roles of faculty development and assessment leadership. 

The body of this volume describes how faculty in eight professionally oriented disciplines have developed and practiced assessment on their campuses and the lessons these faculty offer to colleagues in their own and other disciplines.  The book also includes a chapter on the use of authentic assessment within several disciplines on a single university campus, and another chapter about the British quality assurance movement.  The final chapter reviews the current practice of assessment within the eight featured disciplines; the role accrediting bodies play in fostering assessment in these disciplines; and the lessons, issues, and challenges that are common across disciplines. 

The stories and examples presented in this book - covering issues as faculty and student involvement, the role of outside stakeholders, and balancing external guidance and institutional autonomy - will provide immediate practical guidance for faculty and administrators active in assessment regardless of their discipline. 

The Editors:

Catherine A. Palomba is Director, Offices of Academic Assessment and Institutional Research, at Ball State University, and a 1998 recipient of the Best Practice in Assessing Learning Outcomes award from the American Productivity and Quality Center. 

Trudy W. Banta is Professor of Higher Education and Vice Chancellor for Planning and Institutional Improvement at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.  She is coauthor of Assessment in Practice and Making a Difference, and founding editor of Assessment Update (a Jossey-Bass bimonthly newsletter)

Contributors and Sections:

  1. Assessing Competence in  Higher Education , Trudy W. Banta ;
  2. Implementing Effective Assessment , Catherine A. Palomba ;
  3. Assessing Student Competence in Teacher Education Programs , Mary E. Diez , Alverno College;
  4. Redefining a Profession:  Assessment in Pharmacy Education , Thomas D. Zlatic , St. Louis College of Pharmacy;
  5. Assessment of Student Learning in the Discipline of Nursing, Donna L. Boland and Juanita Laidig , Indiana University;
  6. Accountability for Professional Practice: Assessment in Social Work Education , Frank R. Baskink , Virginia Commonwealth University, Barbara W. Shank , College of St. Catherine/University of St. Thomas, and Elaine K. Ferraro , Columbia College;
  7. Assessing Student Competence in Business , Neil A. Palomba and Catherine A. Palomba , Ball State University;
  8. Assessment of Student Competence in Computer Science , Gordon E. Stokes , Brigham Young University;
  9. Engineering , John A. Muffo , Virginia Polytechnic and State University;
  10. Visual Arts , Kristi Nelson , University of Cincinnati, ´Accredited Programs and Authentic Assessment,´ Douglas J. Eder , Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and Hamilton College;
  11. The British Experience in Assessing Competence , Lee Harvey , University of Central England;
  12. Assessment Experiences in Accredited Disciplines , Catherine A. Palomba

Ordering Information:

Assessing Student Competence in Accredited Disciples:
Pioneering Approaches to Assessment in Higher Education
By Catherine A. Palomba and Trudy W. Banta
ISBN: 1-57922-034-7
320 pages
July 2001
URL: http://Styluspub.com