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The National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment makes learning outcomes visible and useful to the public.
NILOA Updates
New Occasional Paper:
Assessing Student Learning in the Online Modality
NILOA’s 40th Occasional Paper provides an in-depth discussion of the Open SUNY Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR)- an online course design rubric and process that is openly licensed for anyone to use and adapt. The aim of the OSCQR Rubric and Process is to assist online instructional designers and online faculty to improve the quality and accessibility of their online courses. OSCQR also provides a system-wide approach to collect data that informs faculty development and supports large scale online course design review and refresh efforts in a systematic and consistent way. This paper then explores general considerations of online teaching as they pertain to the assessment of student learning outcomes. Finally, specific examples are given of how online course instructors and distance learning administrators have designed their courses and programs to ensure appropriate assessment of learning outcomes. Read more…
Seven New England colleges and universities formed the Learning Assessment Research Consortium (LARC) and developed online modules on assessment to be utilized for professional development within colleges and universities nationally. NILOA is pleased to house the great work of the Consortium on our website. All LARC developed materials and module content are under a creative commons license. Read more…
New Assessment in Practice:
Trekking Towards Sustainable Excellence Through Systematic Outcomes Assessment
In an age of greater accountability coupled with shrinking state and federal appropriations for higher education, post-secondary institutions across the country face increasing demands to provide evidence of student learning and institutional effectiveness. This article advances a framework and approach to outcomes assessment that has proven to be effective in promoting and advancing institutional effectiveness while demonstrating compliance with accountability standards. Read more…
New Viwpoint:
The increased focus in higher education on improving teaching and learning leads to a new focus on faculty and professional development at the systems level and the creation and sustainability of a culture of teaching and learning on campuses. As librarians, the authors have become increasingly involved in teaching and learning, especially with the recognition of the importance of information literacy as a critical learning outcome. To expand their capacity as educators, they realized they needed to look outside the library community to join broader discussions about teaching and learning in higher education. This was the impetus behind the recent book, Building Teaching and Learning Communities: Creating Shared Meaning and Purpose, which brings together leading experts in higher education pedagogy and educational development to move towards the conversations, collaborations, and communities that will re-energize and reshape efforts to improve student learning. Read more…
New Toolkit:
Building a Narrative via Evidence-Based Storytelling: A Toolkit for Practice
This toolkit is designed to help you think through various elements in the creation of a compelling, evidence-based story. It was developed through document and narrative analysis review of accreditation reports, program reviews, and annual assessment reports. In addition to the individual questions to consider when crafting a narrative, the toolkit includes resources for undertaking a group activity to peer review reports, documents, or data visualizations. This peer review process has been field-tested over the last three years and refined with different groups including assessment professionals, faculty, and institutional research staff. Read more…
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Assignment Library
Browse our interactive, online library of high-quality, peer-reviewed assignments.
Transparency Framework
The NILOA Transparency Framework helps institutions evaluate the extent to which they are making evidence of student accomplishment discoverable and meaningful to various audiences in an online format.
