The APA committee members working on the assessment website have learned, through much dialogue across campus, that different assessment terms have different meanings to faculty in different fields. 

The definitions proposed here are a simple starting point; we hope faculty input will build and develop this glossary as we aim for campus-wide assessment discussion. We are trying to use everyday definitions that make sense in our work as teachers.

We would also like to highlight the relationship between assessment and research (and thus between assessment terminology and research terminology) while emphasizing that the two activities are not the same thing. 

    For example: intellectual development, critical thinking skills, preparedness to teach in the 21^st century…

For some, goals and objectives are equivalent terms. For others, an objective is a slightly more specific set of sub-goals.

The measurable aspect of an objective. The piece that can somehow be observed, whether quantitatively or qualitatively, that shows a performance of some part of a particular objective.  

  For example: “students demonstrate the ability to choose appropriate support for a written argument.”

The information collected from using any assessment tool. This data is then available for treatment or interpretation; it is useful for identifying trends over time, setting target improvement levels, or comparing results from different models (three-credit to four-credit, or pre-post a particular experience, or pilot program-regular program…)

        For example:In 2000, 20 out of 25 students said they felt very confident of their abilities after completing their senior portfolio.  
                           In 2002, 23 out of 25 students said they felt very confident in their abilities.

The test or observation or self-report or survey or any object you are looking at or taking data from. Almost anything can be used as an assessment tool, but not everything provides the same kind of information (equally valid or reliable).

The criteria you set for determining whether what you are assessing is successful or not. How many students need to demonstrate complete mastery of a particular lab skill in order for you to consider an activity a success? How many sections of first-year seminar need to produce students who demonstrate proficiency in library research in order for the program to be considered successful for this outcome?

(as compared to assessment) Grading offers faculty members and students an overall evaluation of a student’s performance (in a course, on a test, etc.). Assessment might use the same instruments as grading (a test, a paper, a portfolio, an observation) but the instrument is “mined” differently for data that shows what is being successfully learned or acquired and what might need to be targeted for improvement (in a student’s progress but also in the way course material is being presented or the order in which students take courses, etc.)

 Rubric

A set of criteria used to determine the degree to which a particular performance shows how a student, faculty member, course, program, or institution meets the expectations established in the mission or goals.