2005 APSA Teaching and Learning Conference Track Summaries: Track Seven: Student Assessment/Learning Outcomes

Extract

At the first APSA Teaching and Learning Conference (TLC) in 2004, 11 professors and graduate students gathered to discuss and evaluate the role of assessment in political science. Excited by the impact of assessment in their classrooms and departments, the working group concluded their session with a declaration of the positive role assessment could have in the discipline and an articulated concern that APSA needs to “play a greater role in assessment.” At the 2005 conference, 32 faculty and graduate students again gathered to discuss “Student Assessment and Learning Outcomes.” Six of us bridged both years' experiences. While the 2005 participants were less unified, the discussion and debates that emerged built upon the discoveries of year one and attempted to expand the conversation from among the converted to the wider discipline.