Step 4 - Gathering Evidence

• Assessment Planning Worksheet - A table for keeping track of sources of data, when data collection will take place, and who will collect the data (from Clayton State University).
• Develop a Plan for Collecting Data - Addresses important considerations on how assessment data will be gathered; excerpted from Department Level Assessment: Promoting Continuous Improvement by Susan R. Hatfield, Idea Paper #35, May 1999 .
• Closing the Loop: Using Assessment Data to Improve Teaching and Learning - Excellent example of how to get information about specific SLOs from tests (slides 10-11), from a workshop at Clayton State University by Gary May.
• Assessment Options: Methods of Collecting Evidence - Numerous examples of how to collect assessment data; from (Arkansas Tech University).
• Preparing to Collect Data: Choosing Samples - From Collaborative Evaluation Led by Local Educators: A Practical, Print- and Web-Based Guide, an evaluation guide from the Northeast & the Island Regional Technology in Education Consortium.
• Sampling for the Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes - Provides an overview of key sampling concepts and fuller explanations for each.
• Conducting Web-Based Surveys - Solomon, David J. (2001), Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(19).
• Sample Size Calculator - “This Sample Size Calculator is presented as a public service of Creative Research Systems. You can use it to determine how many people you need to interview in order to get results that reflect the target population as precisely as needed. You can also find the level of precision you have in an existing sample.”