Mini Guide to Writing Assessment Questions
Background
- Assessment Questions represent what you want to learn about a practice’s effectiveness, this year, by the end of its implementation (not ask “what will be accomplished?”).
- Assessment Questions may ask about activities, operations, services, learning opportunities, and/or learning outcomes.
- Assessment Questions may ask about completion, quality, efficiency, trends, and/or impact. The strongest questions focus on a range of quality, rather than simply asking yes/no questions about completion.
- Assessment Questions ask:
- To what extent . . . ?
- To what degree . . ?
- How well . . . ?
- How strong . . . ?
- How cost effective . . . ?
- How satisfied . . . ?
- How efficient . . . ?
- How representative . . .?
Examples
- Learning Outcomes Question: To what extent do students meet or exceed the writing assignment expectations?
- Learning Outcomes Question: To what degree do students apply effective time management techniques?
- Participation Question: How strong is participation in the activity/workshop/event?
- Participation Question: How representative of the student body are users of tutoring services?
- Quality Question: How satisfied are participants with each workshop?
- Quality Question: How well does the helpdesk support faculty and staff members’ technology needs?
- Operations Question: How cost effective is the activity/workshop/event?
- Operations Question: How efficient is the process?
- Trend Question: To what extent have results changed over the past three years?