A common theme among faculty at many universities is that student motivation to learn is lacking in the classroom. The primary concern of today's students is to obtain A and B grades regardless of demonstrated proficiency in the subject matter. Concern about students' motivation to learn is evident at the accounting educator's conference known as…

There are many ways to approach the evaluation of student learning. Portfolios, as collections of student work, are an increasingly popular assessment strategy, especially in the United States. Portfolios provide an exceptionally comprehensive picture of student learning. However, this assessment method requires extra effort to plan, to evaluate,…

As an online competency-based university, Western Governors University (WGU) requires that students demonstrate competence in given content areas through a series of assessments. WGU employs a number of assessment techniques, including objective assessments, performance assessments, portfolios, capstones, and observations. Unlike most academic…

Western Governors University (WGU) is an online university in which students demonstrate what they know and can do through a series of rigorous assessments. WGU currently uses more than 250 performance-based assessments comprising more than 1,700 individual tasks. WGU students currently attempt nearly 30,000 performance-based assessments each…

Western Governors University (WGU) is an online competency-based university in which students demonstrate content competence through a series of assessments. Assessments most often are performance-based or objective assessments that are developed in accordance with specific content objectives. Objective assessments generally assess lower-level…

Western Governors University (WGU) is a competency-based institution that uses an integrated and holistic approach to competence definition, teaching, and assessment. Building a competency-based degree program begins with competence definition activities that focus on what successful graduates need to be able to "do" and the related skills and…

This article focuses on the assessment system at Western Governors University from the perspective of candidate assessment and performance and on the way in which this system is presented to the Board of Examiners of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Central to a successful review by the NCATE Board of Examiners…

Scores of colleges and universities have pledged to promote lifelong learning in their most central document, the mission statement. Moreover, "A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of Higher Education," the report from the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education (2006), stresses the importance of lifelong…

This article describes the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA), a postsecondary assessment tool designed to evaluate the "value-added" component of institutional contributions to student learning outcomes. Developed by the Council for Aid to Education (CAE), the instrument ostensibly focuses on the contributions of general education coursework…

Graduate education is an increasingly diverse segment of higher education. The master's degree is replacing the baccalaureate as the new standard for adult learners, and professional doctorates all signal an expanding domain. Graduate programs are not exempt from requirements for assessment of outcomes, yet standards and best practices for…

During the past two decades, colleges and universities have used best practices from corporate management such as total quality management, strategic planning, management by objectives, benchmarking, data warehousing, and performance indicators. Many institutions of higher learning now have adopted comprehensive and multifaceted approaches to…

In considering the issue of transforming higher education, people tend to think of the university in the abstract: the idea of providing education and what that means in these changing times. The authors suggest that the physical university should also be considered. At Ferris State University, educators have made a comprehensive effort to…

Many people know the myth of Sisyphus, the ancient king who committed an offense against the gods and was condemned for an eternity to roll a boulder unsuccessfully to the top of a steep hill. Each time he reached the summit, the boulder, of its own weight, would roll back to the bottom, whereupon Sisyphus would have to begin laboriously rolling…

Outcomes assessment often becomes a focus of attention as a response to accreditation requirements. But if the emphasis is short-term, it can produce crisis-mode frustrations that will be repeated each time accreditation rolls around. Increasingly, accreditation agencies are asking for evidence that program-level assessment is ongoing. This…

Accountability efforts at California's community colleges gained prominence in the 1990s under an agreement known as Partnership for Excellence (PFE) that involved the chancellor's office, the legislature, and the governor's office. This agreement was the first wide-ranging accountability effort undertaken by the state's community college system.…