Agreeing on Terminology

Reference to previous presentations to the CAPCSD (Hallowell, 1996; Hallowell & Lund, 1998) may help to clarify details pertaining to the constructs that are most helpful educational outcomes practices. The specific terms used to discuss educational outcomes are variable across contexts.  The way we develop and use assessments methods matters much more than our agreement on the definitions of each of the terms we might use to discuss assessment.  Still, a few key terms are presented here just for the sake of establishing common ground before our further discussion.

Outcomes

We use the term “outcome” to refer to the status of the output of our programs.  We might assess the outcome of students’ experiences in a component of a course, in a whole course, clinical practicum or research experience, or in a degree program, as well as in a department, college, institution, or region. With outcomes measures, we address the question of how students are changed by their experience in one of our training programs.  It is important to differentiate between (1) outcomes, which involve the assessment of groups of students to make statements about the effectiveness of one or a set of teaching/learning experiences, and (2) student evaluation, which involves grading or estimation of individual students’ accomplishments.  The distinction between outcomes assessment and student evaluation is especially critical when we discuss the use of student evaluations grouped together across classes of students (e.g., graduates from a particular program for a specific year) as indicators of educational outcome.  Specific methods of evaluating individual students, when used across groups of students, may yield important information about aspects of program effectiveness.  Let us clarify, however, that indices of individual student gains do not constitute “outcome” measures per se in the traditional use of the term.

There is often some confusion of the term “outcome” in the discussion of accreditation standards as compared to the discussion of certification standards in speech-language pathology and audiology.  Accreditation standards, overseen by ASHA’s CAA, involve a focus on outcomes assessment.  Academic programs that are candidates for accreditation or re-accreditation are expected to demonstrate that they effectively assess programmatic learning outcomes of students and graduates in entry-level degree programs and that they use their assessments to shape program modifications. 

By contrast, certification standards, overseen by ASHA’s CFCC in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, involve a focus on individual accomplishment.  Individuals who wish to be certified are expected to demonstrate specific knowledge and abilities.

In documentation of the new standards for clinical certification, the CFCC has used the term “outcomes” to refer to achievements in terms of individual students, not in terms of institutional or programmatic outcomes in the traditional sense of the word.

            Formative and Summative Outcomes

Summative outcome assessments are indices of the final product or the end result of an educational program.  They are used to characterize programs, college divisions, or even whole institutions.  By contrast, formative outcome assessments are those that may be used to shape the experiences and learning opportunities of the very students who are being assessed.  A balance between formative and summative assessments is essential to strategic, effective outcomes assessment practice.

            Cognitive/Affective/Performative Outcomes

A basic taxonomy of different types of learning outcomes helps us to verify that we are addressing an appropriate blend of different type and areas of learning in our assessments.  Cognitive outcomes are those that relate to intellectual mastery, or mastery of knowledge in specific topic areas. Performative outcomes relate to a students’ accomplishment of behavioral tasks.  Affective outcomes relate to personal qualities and values that students ideally gain.

This text adapted from:

Hallowell, B. & Lund, N. (1998).  Fostering program improvements through a focus on educational outcomes.  In Council of Graduate Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders, Proceedings of the nineteenth annual conference on graduate education, 32-56.

and

Hallowell, B. (2000). Formative and summative outcomes assessment: What do we mean by doing it with meaning?  Proceedings of the twenty-first annual conference on graduate education, 91-99.

Useful Assessment Terminology Links

http://www.competinc.com/article3.html.

“A competency dictionary”, by Richard Barnhart

http://imtcsamba.hct.ac.ae/qdg/assessment_terminology.htm

Assessment terminology

http://www.cslub.edu/~senate/assessment/assessment_glossary.html

 Assessment Definitions

 http://www.cruxconsulting.org/assessdir/assesspt7.html

 Assessment of Learning Glossary

Last modified: 08/01/03