Learning-Centered Assessment: Important New Book

Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses by Huba and Freed integrates current thinking and research regarding the learning of undergraduate students with principles of best practice in assessment and teaching. The book helps us see the connection among three powerful trends in higher education today: the focus on learning and learners, the emphasis on the assessment of learning, and the need to continually improve what those in higher education do. Grounded in principles of constructivist learning theory and continuous improvement, the book provides opportunities to make connections with what we already know about assessment, integrate new information with current knowledge, and try new approaches to enhance the learning of students.

The authors emphasize the shift from a teacher-centered paradigm of instruction to a learner-centered paradigm. The book also offers practical approaches to help formulate intended learning outcomes, gather feedback from students to guide instruction, and develop scoring criteria for guiding and evaluating student work. Reading the book will help us learn how to assess students' ability to think critically, address enduring and emerging issues and problems in their disciplines, and use portfolios to promote and evaluate student learning. Numerous questions to guide implementation, as well as examples from a variety of disciplines and institutions are provided. This is a must for administrators and/or those in faculty development. It is available now in the Goodwin Library.