Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses: Shifting the Focus from Teaching to Learning

By Mary E. Huba and Jann E. Freed

Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses integrates current thinking and research regarding the learning of undergraduate students with principles of best practice in assessment and teaching. The book will help readers 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 for readers to make connections with what they already know about assessment, integrate new information with their current knowledge, and try new approaches to enhance the learning of their students. Readers will consider what it means to shift from a teacher-centered paradigm of instruction to a learner-centered paradigm. The book 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. Readers will 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0205287387
• ISBN13: 9780205287383
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: Pearson
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Very helpful

This book provides extensive information about using online environments in the classroom. It details implementations that worked, and implementations that didn't work to show how to implement online enviornments to best benefit students.

A Different and Powerful Approach to Assessment

Huba and Freed bridge the gap between assessment and student-centered teaching and learning. Throughout the text the authors include reflection questions to trigger thinking and changes in mental models. While the thrust of the book is conceptual, there are many practical suggestions for implementation in areas such as learning outcomes, rubrics, and other related areas of assessment. While compatible with other treatments of assessment, this is a unique perspective.

A great surprise

As a faculty developer and instructional designer I am constantly on the lookout for good resources. Every once in a while, a jewel turns up. I must say that this is a pure jewel. I have had my copy for about six eeks and have read it once and am in the process of rereading it a second time.For faculty who really want a good understanding of student-centered instruction as well as assessment, I higly recommend this book.It is replete with examples and the section on developing and using rubrics is exceptional.I consider this book a must have for faculty member's professional library.Jim