Assessment for Learning: Using Program Review to Engage Students and Build Research Skills
By Emily Stark
Departments and programs in higher education are required to participate in an increasing number of program, course, and student assessments. These assessment requirements are also opportunities to develop student skills related to scientific literacy and research, if students are included in the process of developing, administering, and interpreting these assessments. In 2017, Dr. Emily Stark created a course designed to build student research skills through the process of the Psychology department program review, a comprehensive assessment required of this department every five years.
Course Description
Students taking this 1-credit assessment workshop course met for 1 hour each week, for a 15-week semester. Students were recommended to have already completed the statistics and research methods courses required of psychology students. The course included readings and activities related specifically to assessment research and program evaluation, covering research design as well as ethical considerations. The students also received program review materials from previous department evaluations, to learn about the types of assessments required as well as the major goals of the department. Throughout the second half of the course, the students developed, administered, and analyzed surveys and focus groups of department students as well as faculty, creating a comprehensive report of their findings.
Student and Program Benefits
This experience was successful at providing a unique opportunity for students to build their research and communication skills. In addition to their final report, the students in the course also created a research poster presenting their findings which they presented at our local Undergraduate Research Conference, gaining valuable publication experience (see photo of several of the students in this course presenting their work).
Data skills are particularly relevant to psychology departments; the American Psychological Association (APA) has prioritized the teaching of psychology as a science, with recommended program outcomes encompassing scientific literacy and critical thinking skills for undergraduate programs in psychology (1). They recommend that students of psychology should learn not only the content of psychological theories, but also skills of studying behavior and research design, engaging in hands-on research exposure to conducting research. In addition, they recommend that students learn how to tie these skills to their own professional development and career goals. A course that allows students to engage in real-world assessments is a valuable way to teach these skills while providing the department with useful feedback and materials for their own assessment needs.
The students also appreciated the fact that their work would be used by the department—they felt like this project gave them more agency in their own education! One student noted that, “Before this class, I always thought that the departments were the ones in charge and we really were at the whim of their decisions and didn’t really have a say. This course showed me that my opinion as a student matters.” Multiple benefits are clear: The department can utilize the students’ findings and thereby reduce faculty workload in preparing assessment documents, the students gain valuable skills, and the students feel more connected to and empowered in their own education.
Overall, this course proved to be an effective way to engage students, as students developed and administered assessment surveys, analyzed and interpreted results, and prepared both a professional report for the department as well as a research presentation. This type of opportunity can benefit students and faculty in a myriad of ways.
For more information, see:
Stark, E., Kintz, S., Pestorious, C., & Teriba, A. (2018). Assessment for learning: Using programmatic assessment requirements as an opportunity to develop information literacy and data skills in undergraduate students. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education.
References
(1) American Psychological Association. (2013). APA guidelines for the undergraduate psychology major: Version 2.0