Assessment tools can generally be placed in two categories, direct and indirect measures.
Direct assessments allow for the evaluation of student work in light of the learning outcomes and have a clear relationship to a given outcome. Evidence includes:
Indirect assessments are not based directly on student academic work but rather on the perceptions of students, alumni, employers, and other outside agents. Examples include:
While both direct and indirect assessments form an important holistic impression of student experience, it is most useful for programs to start with the direct measures, given that it is there that student achievement is directly evaluated.
Classroom related assessment should be both formative and summative, and multiple measures should be built into an assessment plan or class.
Diagnostic assessments are used to determine student understanding and misconceptions before your course or unit begin in order to determine on which topics to focus more or less time.
Formative assessments are generally low stakes and monitor student learning to identify misconceptions, struggles, and learning gaps along the way. They can be used to to close those gaps, provide ongoing feedback to students, and can be used by instructors to improve their teaching. Examples include:
Summative assessments are high stakes and help evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark. Examples include:
Because summative assessments are usually higher-stakes than formative assessments, it is especially important to ensure that the assessment aligns with the goals and expected outcomes of the instruction.