Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, Volume 28, Number 2

Assessment of student learning is an integral part of academic life. According to Suskie (2009), "Assessment is part of a process that identifies what we want students to learn, provides them with good opportunities to learn those things, and then assesses whether they have learned those things" (p. 11). Most academics would agree that assessment as part of the learning process, as Suskie defines it, is at the heart of improving our teaching and our students' learning. What they might not all agree on is what constitutes effective assessment and what assessment strategies can best achieve these important goals.