ERIC Number: EJ903206
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Nov
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1990-3839
EISSN: N/A
Improving Data Driven Decision Making through Assessment Literacy for Respondents
Petersen, Naomi Jeffery; Davies, Randall S.; Spitzer, Bruce
Educational Research and Reviews, v1 n8 p267-271 Nov 2006
This study examined the use of a college course evaluation instrument in an effort to better understand and improve the assessment data derived from the instrument. The purpose of the analysis was to examine the dimensionality and reliability of the instrument but, more importantly, to understand what the data really tells us and whether assessment literacy would improve data usability. Analysis of the results suggests that the instrument tended to produce internally consistent data. However, the instrument measured predominately one aspect of course quality. In addition, based on results of the assessment literacy exercise, respondents seem to use very different criterion for rating; the constructs being measured generally did not match what was intended; and the questions being asked did not always match the scale being used. As a result the usefulness of any data interpretation and subsequent decisions was deemed suspect. The results of this study also suggest that simple assessment literacy interventions by themselves do not seem to drastically change the ability of raters to score items reliably. A much more comprehensive effort would be needed to produce results that would be beneficial for long term, data-driven decision making. (Contains 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Student Evaluation, Course Evaluation, Decision Making, Data, Literacy, Reliability, Intervention, Scores, Higher Education, College Students, Factor Analysis, Sample Size, Likert Scales, Surveys, Responses, Student Reaction
Academic Journals. e-mail: err@academic.journals.org; e-mail: service@academicjournals.org; Web site: http://academicjournals.org/ERR2
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A