ABSTRACT
What does not appear to be debatable is that we need more objective tools to improve the ability of higher education decision makers to make better decisions about how we can reduce costs and improve the quality of undergraduate education. Standardized assessment of student-learning outcomes is an important part of the UIR approach because such assessments are needed to tie the other science-based fields of inquiry together. Practically, this may be accomplished by bringing researchers from cognitive science, economics, data analytics, education technology, measurement science, and teaching and learning fields together physically or virtually. In this model, the interdisciplinary research team is tasked with creating objective tools of analysis that can assist the practitioners to better carry out their mission. In postsecondary education, the practitioners, the faculty, are the leaders that translate theoretical knowledge about content and approaches to learning into practice. Table 11.2 illustrates the distinction between the research and practice-focused groups in the use-inspired research programs generated in the three historical examples listed above and the proposed functions of the research and practice groups in postsecondary education. The additional topics covered include the new roles of assessment in higher education, the implications of faculty governance for assessment, a continuous improvement model as the preferred strategy, the importance of reliable and valid assessments for comparisons, and the new uses to which assessment results can be directed. Finally, the benefits and limits of assessment at the discipline level are discussed and a rational for a focus on international comparisons presented.
