The Assessment CyberGuide for Learning Goals and Outcomes in the Undergraduate Psychology Major

Task Force on Undergraduate Psychology Major Competencies
Board of Educational Affairs
American Psychological Association

A. Understanding Assessment
1. Best Practices in Assessment: Top 10 Task Force Recommendations
Members of the Task Force on Undergraduate Psychology Learning
Goals and Outcomes share some simple strategies for getting started
in understanding the scope and intent of effective assessment planning.

2. AAHE's 9 Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning A task force from the American Association of Higher Education
articulates some philosophical principles about enacting assessment
planning. This entry summarizes nine ideas and links to the original
article, courtesy of AAHE.

3. AAHE's Moving from Paperwork to Pedagogy: Channeling Intellectual Curiosity into a Commitment to Assessment: Peggy Maki
Promoting faculty buy-in in assessment planning often becomes
problematic. This entry summarizes some critical questions posed
to promote "bottom-up" commitment and links to the original
article by Peggy Maki, courtesy of AAHE.

4. Bibliography of Resources for Assessment
We ofer a list of print and electronic resources for further research
in general assessment concerns.

B. Designing Viable Assessment Plans

1. An Overview of Assessment Strategies
Our Task Force developed a taxonomy that provides a
comprehensive listing of various categories of good assesment
practice. This link offers a graphic depiction of the taxonomy and
lists an assortment of specific strategies in each category.

2. Evaluating Assessment Strategies
In this entry, we define each of the categories in our taxonomy of
assessment and provide an overall analysis of the advantages and
disadvantages of these approaches. We offer some recommendations
to promote best practices within the assessment category.

3. Considering Important Questions in Assessment
This entry provides some basic parameters that will help faculty
who are relatively new in considering assessment questions to address
important parameters that can make a difference between success and
failure in constructing viable and meaningful assessment plans.

C. Sustaining an Assessment Culture

1. Components of Effective Evaluation at the Department Level
This entry offers a summary of good practice principles related to
the development and maintenance of effective department planning.
The entry links to the original article by Jon Wergin, courtesy of
the American Association of Higher Education.

2. Program Audit Measures
Departments routinely must produce evidence to document the
quality of their work. This entry summarizes both quantitative and
qualitative measures that often capture evidence of the quality of
department programs.

3. Avoiding Assessment Pitfalls
Assessment planning is a complicated process. Learn how to avoid
some common problems that beset departments by reading this
entry.

D. Applying Assessment Strategies in Psychology
1. Linking Assessment to the Psychology Learning Goals and Outcomes
The Task Force constructed the Psychology Learning Goals and
Outcomes from the standpoint that these should be assessable.
In this entry we outline the assumptions that provided the
foundation for goals and outcomes and the implications these
assumptions have for good practice in psychology assessment.

2. Overview of Optimal Assessment Strategies in Psychology
In this entry, we offer a matrix that estimates the potential of
different assessment categories with the Task Force's learning
goals. We differentiate categories that may be optimal for a
specific goal from those strategies that offer little advantage in
documenting quality.

3. Critique of Assessment Strategies Applied to Goals and Outcomes
In the largest entry in the Assessment Cyberguide, we provide
an estimate of the assessment potential for each category and
practice within each category in relation to the psychology goals.
Suggestions from this entry can help departments pick beneficial
approaches and avoid strategies that will have little pay-off.

4. Helping our Students Understand Our Goals: Drew Appleby
Student learning benefits from explicit understanding of our
assessment plan. In this entry, Drew Appleby discusses
strategies for bringing students into the conversation to assist
department planning and improve their learning and metacognition.

5. Using the New Bloom's Taxonomy to Design Meaningful Learning
This entry explores recent revisions in Bloom's Taxonomy along
with a tool to promote active learning strategies that can help
translate abstract outcomes into practical strategies.

6. Bibliography of Resources for Assessment in Psychology
We offer a summary of helpful priint and electronic resources
that explore assessment issues in the discipline of psychology.