Dive Brief:
- A new assessment of undergraduate student learning using a rubric created by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association has its first year of data.
- Inside Higher Ed reports that the pilot year results show students scoring low on critical thinking, contextual analysis, use of sources and evidence in content development, and the drawing of conclusions.
- Many have been skeptical of the faculty-led effort as accusations of grade inflation come back to these same faculty, but pilot results mirror student performance data from other studies, indicating it has merit.
Dive Insight:
The early version of the assessment looked at thousands of samples of student work from actual classes at 60 institutions nationwide. To have their work reviewed, students had to have completed at least 75% of the coursework needed to earn their degree, whether it was an associate or bachelor’s. The sample, then, is skewed toward the top performers. Analysts say future work must incorporate a more diverse sample and capture student performance over the course of their college career. This way, an element of student growth can factor into the results.