In following The FischBowl—the opinionated and zealous educational technology blog of Karl Fisch, I came across an article “How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning” http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2009/01/best-of-fischbowl-2008.html. This article struck interest in me particularly because I teach at the post-secondary college level—but also because I find I have distinct views on assessment, which are sometimes opposing to that of my colleagues. Because Karl Fisch, based on the blogs which I have followed throughout this semester, appears to be a proficient educator with a multitude of experiences in the education field, but also definite views on the profession, I was curious what his take was on assessment at the post-secondary level.
His blog is based on a study he came across where From November 8 to December 12, 2007, Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc., interviewed 301 employers whose companies have at least 25 employees and report that 25% or more of their new hires hold at least a bachelor’s degree from a four-year college. Respondents are executives at their companies, including owners, CEOs, presidents, C-suite level executives, and vice presidents.
Prior to providing some of the results of the survey, Fisch provides the following disclaimer:
- I don’t believe that all we’re about in education is preparing future employees.
- Just because Business says something is good doesn’t necessarily make it so.
- I don’t know enough about the methodology of this survey to judge bias.
Highlights of the survey results are: http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/leap/documents/2008_business_leader_poll.pdf\
“While recent graduates are seen to demonstrate solid skills in the areas of teamwork, ethical judgment, and intercultural skills, employers are less convinced of their preparedness in terms of global knowledge, self-direction, and writing.”
“When it comes to the assessment practices that employers trust to indicate a graduate’s level of knowledge and potential to succeed in the job world, employers dismiss tests of general content knowledge in favor of assessments of real-world and applied-learning approaches. Multiple-choice tests specifically are seen as ineffective. On the other hand, assessments that employers hold in high regard include evaluations of supervised internships, community-based projects, and comprehensive senior projects.”
“Employers’ emphasis on integrative, applied learning is reflected in their recommendations to colleges and universities about how to assess student learning in college. Again, multiple-choice testing ranks lowest among the options presented, just below an institutional score that shows how a college compares to other colleges in advancing critical thinking skills. Faculty evaluated internships and community-learning experiences emerge on top.”
“Most employers indicate that college transcripts are not particularly useful in helping evaluate job applicants’ potential to succeed at their company.”
“. . . Few employers believe that multiple-choice tests of general content knowledge are very effective in ensuring student achievement. Instead, employers have the most confidence in assessments that demonstrate graduates’ ability to apply their college learning to complex, real-world challenges, as well as projects or tests that integrate problem-solving, writing, and analytical reasoning skills.”
While educators at the K-12 level may not feel entirely satisfied with the methods and policies surrounding assessment provided by their school boards—I think it can be fairly agreed upon that assessment in public schools has progressed and evolved in the last 25 years. Whether it be in response to progressions in educational research or development in teaching methods—while some attributes have certainly stayed the same—there has been progression in others.
I’m afraid the same can’t be said for post-secondary education as a whole. While, some assessment at my institution is at the discretion of the individual instructor, the majority of students’ final grades are determined by, you guessed it, standardized exams. And unfortunately, at least the way I see it, that a significant amount of marks allocated on these exams are by multiple choice questions.
To me it is not at all surprising that employers feel that these methods are not yielding results which are indicative of a student’s future performance at his/her job. But what continues to baffle me is why, with all the advancements in research, methodologies and technologies which clearly have resulted in better practices being not only available, but proven effective, we are still assessing with such archaic methods?
It is ironic, really, that at institutions providing themselves on innovation and research, they are still contributing to educational methods which don’t reflect the most current research or innovation.
