Assessment Resources
Articles on assessment authored by Skidmore faculty/staff:
Berheide C.W. Using the Capstone Course for Assessment of Learning in the Sociology Major. pp 164 - 176 in C. Holm and W. Johnson, eds. Assessing Student Learning in Sociology, 2nd edition. Washington, DC. American Sociological Association, 2001.
Berheide, C.W. Doing Less Work, Collecting Better Data: Using Capstone Courses to Assess Learning. peerReview 9(2):27-30; 2007.
D'Abate C.P. Defining Mentoring in the First-Year Experience: One Institution's Approach to Clarifying the Meaning of Mentoring First-Year Students. Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition 21(1): 65-91; 2009.
Goodwin, S.W. Fearful Symmetries: Rubrics and Assessment. In: Literary Study, Measurement, and the Sublime: Disciplinary Assessment. Donna Heiland and Laura J. Roshenthal, eds. 2011; pp. 133-152. The Teagle Foundation, New York.
Interesting and useful articles on assessment:
Baker, G.R., Jankowski, N., Provesiz, S. and Kinzie, J. (2012). Using Assessment Results: Promising Practices of Institutions That Do It Well. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).
Hutchings, P. (2011). What new Faculty Need to Know About Assessment. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).
Love, A.G. (2012). Discussing the Data, Making Meaning of the Results. University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).
Roksa, J. (2012). An Analysis of Learning Outcomes of Underrepresented Students at Urban Institutions. The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC).
Schuh, J.H. and Gansemer-Tepf, A.M. (2010). The Role of Student Affairs in Student Learning Assessment. University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).
ASSESSMENT OF WRITING
General Resources
Authentic Writing Assessment. Carmen Chapman, Illinois State Department of Education. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation 2(7), 1990.
Creating and Using Rubrics. Graduate Student Instructor Teaching Resource Center. University of California, Berkeley.
Guiding Principles for Assessment, in Writing Assessment: A Position Paper, published by the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Committee on Assessment, November 2006 (revised March 2009).
Hamilton College. Scoring rubric: The Mellon Project Assessment of Student Writing. Clinton, N.Y.: Hamilton College.
Hersh, Richard. Collegiate Learning Assessment: Defining Critical Thinking, Analytical Reasoning, Problem Solving, and Writing Skills.
Skidmore's Assessment Website includes information on different types of assessment, including how to develop scoring rubrics.
Teaching Tips: Writing Assessment Tools. Links to several sites that include rubrics, scoring guides, and checklists for assessing student writing. Published by the eMINTS National Center, which "offers professional development programs created by educators for educators."
Teaching That Makes Sense. This website, which is geared toward K–12 teachers, has several interesting articles, including one on the assessment of writing.
Writing rubric adapted from Barbara Walvoord, Winthrop University, Virginia Community College System, University of Washington
Written Communication Rubric from the AAC&U
Zinnser, W. 2006. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. Collins.
Discipline-Specific Resources
Here are a few examples of rubrics for evaluating writing, organized by academic discipline. You will find that rubrics are similar for different subjects within any discipline, so you might want to click on several of the links, choose what you like from different rubrics, and create your own. You can also find many other examples by entering the terms "writing", "rubric", and your discipline in a search engine.
George Mason University Writing Across the Curriculum. This site has excellent resources, including examples of rubrics in several disciplines.
Arts
Writing Rubrics for the Music Classroom, Rachel Whitcomb. Music Educators Journal 85:26-32, 1999. Although written for K–12 students, this article may provide help in designing rubrics for writing about music.
Rubric for Writing in Theater and Dance
Foreign Literature and Language
Foreign Language Writing Rubric, Hedgcock and Lefkowitz,"Collaborative Oral/Aural Revision in Foreign Language Writing Instruction," Journal of Second Language Writing 1(3):255-76, 1992
Humanities
Rubric for Assessment of Writing in Art History
Evaluating Writing in History and Classics Courses
Vincennes University Writing Rubric
Math and Computer Science
Computer Science Writing Assessment, including rubric, adapted from a report on the assessment of writing in computer science, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering and Computer Science, California State University, Northridge, Calif.
Natural Sciences
Moore, R. 1994. Writing As A Tool For Learning Biology. Bioscience 44: 613-617.
Enhancing Assessment in the Biological Sciences. Includes links to several articles on assessing writing in biology.
Oregon State University. Writing Guide for Chemistry.
Social Sciences
Academicleadership.org's Rubric for Writing in Political Science
Loyola Marymount University's Rubric for Writing in Economics
Rublee, Maria Rost. Teaching Analytical Writing Through Rubrics. Government and World Affairs, University of Tampa.
Vincennes University Analytic Rubric
Other Materials:
Thayer-Hart, N., Dykema, J., Elver, K., Schaeffer, N.C., Stevesnson, J. (2010). Survey Fundamentals: A Guide to Designing and Implementing Surveys. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Office of Quality Improvement.
Walvoord, B.E. Departmental Assessment: Clear, Simple and USEFUL. Workshop handout.