Assessment of Student Learning

Welcome to Heartland Community College's Assessment Website.  Students - if you are looking for information about Assessment Testing, then click HERE.

This website is intended to keep faculty informed about Assessment activities, best practices, and procedures here at both our institution as well as in higher education.

Defining Assessment

The literal translation of the word assess is from the Latin word 'assidere', which means to sit by or aside .  While assessment may be defined in many ways, the official definition from the American Association of Higher Education produced by Tom Angelo is:

• 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 (Thomas A. Angelo, AAHE Bulletin, November 1995, p.7).

The AAHE has sponsored an annual Assessment Conference for over eighteen years and Tom Angelo is one of the most respected experts in the area of assessment.

Since the College's early years , Assessment of Student Learning has played an important role in the classroom (see History).  In the Fall of 2001, the College's Assessment movement was restructured into the form of an Assessment Committee with representation from both faculty and administration.  During that semester, a Mission Statement was developed to establish the purpose of this committee. 

In the Fall of 2003, a motion was made to make the Assessment Committee a full standing committee similar to our Curriculum & Academic Standards committee.  In the Spring of 2004, this status was conferred upon the AC and a set of by-laws were adopted.

Quotable:

• "Assessment is a set of processes designed to improve, demonstrate, and inquire about student learning."
  - Mentkowski
• "The overriding purpose of assessment is to understand how educational programs are working and to determine whether they are contributing to student growth and development."
  - Palomba & Banta