Student Learning
Accrediting bodies set standards that educational programs and institutions must meet. While the rules and regulations can sometimes be onerous, their goal is really pretty simple: To ensure that student learning occurs!
A simple definition of “learning” is that some change in knowledge, attitudes or skills occurs as a result of a systematic process. While you can devise a learning plan on your own, your faculty, who are experts in their fields of study, have helped you out by carefully crafting individual courses to ensure that key concepts are covered so that you are . . . learning. Reviewing your syllabus will quickly reveal what your faculty member has identified as the critical learning goals and objectives for that particular course along with ways to achieve them so that you . . . learn. Combine several courses together and you can successfully complete a comprehensive curriculum for a particular field of study and (hopefully) master those concepts.
So the departments and faculty do their part by organizing the curriculum. And you as a student do your part. You go to class, pay attention and complete your assignments. At least most of the time.
So learning should occur right? We certainly hope so!
But how do we know for sure???
Even if you and your professor are both doing what you are supposed to be doing, that is only one half of the equation. The next big part is documenting or assessing that learning is actually happening. As David Ausubel (a key learning theorist of the 20th century) put it, education is indeed a transaction involving the student, teacher and that which is to be learned. After the transaction occurs, the next crucial step is documenting that learning has indeed happened and in a meaningful way.
That leads us to the world of assessment. Tune in for the next Wizard’s Nook as we explore this world!