The right way to measure college learning

National standardized testing won't work.

from the April 9, 2007 edition

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"Sarah" entered UW with a love of science and a research background. When she arrived, she said: "I want to learn about life in the city, about science. I want to pick a field and become knowledgeable about it. I want to learn about the community, how it works.... I want to learn how to compromise, how to work together, how to be a better leader, how to ride the Metro bus system ... how it feels to work with a professor who is on the cutting edge of knowledge and is passionate about what he is doing. I want to become more passionate about things."

Between 1999 and 2003, Sarah chose a forest management major; joined the log-rolling team; and took courses in statistics, history, and political science. At the end of her sophomore year, feeling as though she "had no friends and no direction," Sarah transferred to a smaller public university. There she took courses in communication but soon felt that communication was not for her. She returned to UW to finish her forestry degree, which required her to analyze and critique a conflict in fire management and to develop a highly quantitative management plan for a natural resource area.

Of her "two turning points – the decision to leave UW and the decision to come back" – Sarah said, "This has given me a new belief in myself, to persevere, to make the best choice for myself even if it is the most difficult." Before graduation, she was thinking about her next steps – to keep her current job or apply to graduate school.

How should we measure what Joe and Sarah learned in college?

Their accounts and samples of their work in critical thinking, writing, and quantitative reasoning showed learning gains in all areas. But what they learned was filtered through the lens of each student's major. A standardized test, such as the CLA, with its focus on generic skills and knowledge, could not detect the specialized information and skills each student had worked hard to master. Perhaps more important, both students showed profound growth in self-awareness and acceptance. Standardized tests would ignore these achievements.

We are using the findings of UW SOUL to work with UW departments on their plans for assessing students' learning. Meanwhile, studies of college students over time can track complex learning that is connected to, but not necessarily part of, academic classrooms. Together, these approaches can generate important information about how students are transformed by college and how colleges can improve the learning experiences they offer.

• Catherine Hoffman Beyer is a research scientist and director of the UW SOUL. She is coauthor of "Inside the Undergraduate Experience."

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