Alternatives to Outcome Assessment Testing in Higher Education

Assessment is not simply a test, but a process by which information is obtained and related to some known objective or goal (Kizlik, 2011). Assessment can embody testing, but testing by itself is not a valid type of knowledge assessment. Accurate measurement requires both testing and observational methods. Assessment results may then be used for reporting purposes or to make changes in the study program for a particular participant or students. In order to assess student learning accurately and completely, objectives must be in place, along with a way to collect and measure data.

Assessment History

Assessment is a study in evolution within higher educational institutions. The history of assessment is traceable to as early as the Middle Ages. For instance, in medieval Paris at the University of Bologna, Master of Arts in either law or theology taught incoming students. Only when students had studied and learned grammar and philosophy during a four-year program did they go on to study with a master. The master assessed students daily through a question and answer process to prepare them for public examinations. These public examinations usually consisted of disputations or debates that students had studied and memorized. A disputation might last an entire day and would be given by the master and defended by one or more students (respondents). Since disputations were major affairs in many towns, the university would sometimes cancel other events to make sure everyone could attend.

Harsh punishment was also part of being a student throughout the nineteenth century. Because they felt it inspired student learning, medieval schools masters could dole out harsh admonishment to their students such as using corporal punishment o...

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