National Trends in Assessing Student Learning

The assessment provisions of ABET Engineering Criteria 2000 are part of a larger trend toward emphasizing student learning outcomes in higher education, undertaken both to demonstrate accountability and to improve instruction. This article examines specific national trends that are shaping the development of assessment programs in all disciplines, and briefly reviews major changes in assessment methods which have also occurred in the past two decades. Building on these discussions, the article concludes with a number of experience-based “points of attack” helpful to those charged with implementing assessment programs at the school or college level.