History on trial: Evaluating learning outcomes through audit and accreditation in a national standards environment
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.3.2.89Keywords:
After Standards Project, history, learning outcomes assessment, quality assurance, quality improvement, disciplinary standards, national standardsAbstract
This paper uses a trial audit of history programs undertaken in 2011-2012 to explore issues surrounding the attainment of Threshold Learning Outcomes (TLOs) in an emerging Australian national standards environment for the discipline of history. The audit sought to ascertain whether an accreditation process managed by the discipline under the auspices of the Australian Historical Association (AHA) could be based on a limited-intervention, “light-touch” approach to assessing attainment of the TLOs. The results of the audit show that successful proof of TLO attainment would only be possible with more active intervention into existing history majors and courses. Assessments across all levels of history teaching would have to be designed, undertaken, and marked using a rubric matched to the TLOs. It proved unrealistic to expect students to demonstrate acquisition of the TLOs from existing teaching and assessment practices. The failure of the “light-touch” audit process indicates that demonstrating student attainment under a national standards regime would require fundamental redevelopment of the curriculum. With standards-based approaches to teaching and learning emerging as international phenomena, this case study resonates beyond Australia and the discipline under investigation.
Metrics
References
Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2013). VALUE: Valid assessment of learning in undergraduate education. AACU. Retrieved July 12, 2013 from http://goo.gl/Zoko0.
Benjamin, R. (2008). The contribution of the Collegiate Learning Assessment to teaching and learning. Retrieved 26 June 2013 from http://goo.gl/9ivbK.
Bradley, D., Noonan, P., Nugent, H., & Scales, B. (2008). Review of Australian higher education: Final report. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 13 July 2013 from http://goo.gl/kKe4F.
Brawley, S., Clark, J., Dixon, C., Ford, L., Grolman, L., Ross, S., & Upton, S. (2011). Applying standards to tertiary-level history: Policy, challenges and the After Standards project. History Australia, 8(3), 177-194.
Brawley, S., Clark, J., Ross, S., Ford, L., & Dixon, C. (2013a). Learning outcomes assessment and history: TEQSA, the After Standards Project and the QA/QI challenge in Australia. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 12(1), 20-35.
Brawley, S., Clark, J., Dixon, C., Ford, L., Nielsen, E., Ross, S., & Upton, S. (2013b). After Standards: Engaging and embedding history’s standards using international best practice to inform curriculum renewal. ALTC (now OLT) Final Project Report, 2011-12. Retrieved 15 November 2014 from http://goo.gl/nlFRVz.
Burnett, M. N., & Williams, J. M. (2009). Institutional uses of rubrics and e-portfolios: Spelman College and Rose-Hulman Institute. Peer Review, 11(1), 24-27.
Coates, H., & Richardson, S. (2012). An international assessment of bachelor degree graduates’ learning outcomes. Higher Education Management and Policy, 23(3), 1-19.
Furedi, F. (2013) Learning outcomes are corrosive. CAUT Bulletin, 60(1), A2.
Greenbank, P., & Penketh, C. (2009). Student autonomy and reflections on researching and writing the undergraduate dissertation. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 33(4), 463-472.
Hallam, G. C., & Harper, W. E. (2008). Picturing the future: Exploring the opportunities to develop en ePortfolio community of practice in Australasia. In Proceedings: Engaging communities, Conference of The Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA), Rotorua, New Zealand. Retrieved 13 July 2012 from http://goo.gl/3DSh2.
Hauhart, R. C., & Grahe, J. E. (2010). The undergraduate capstone course in the social sciences: Results from a regional survey. Teaching Sociology, 38(1), 4-17.
Hill, D. C. (2012). Learning outcomes: Perceptions about the influence of ABET accreditation on OSH education. Professional Safety, 57, 53-61.
Hussey, T., & Smith, P. (2002). The trouble with learning outcomes. Active Learning in Higher Education, 3, 220-233.
King, C., & Felten, P. (2012). Threshold concepts in educational development: An introduction. Journal of Faculty Development, 26(3), 5-7.
Klein, S., Benjamin, R., Shavelson, R., & Bolus, R. (2007). The Collegiate Learning Assessment: Facts and fantasies. Evaluation Review, 31, 415-439.
Kuh, G. (2006). Director’s message -Engagement: The bridge from here to there. In Engaged learning: Fostering success for all students. National Survey of Student Engagement. Annual Report 2006 (pp.7-10), Bloomington, IN.
Land, R. (2011). There could be trouble ahead: Using threshold concepts as a tool of analysis. International Journal for Academic Development, 16, 175-178.
Levia, D. F., & Quiring, S. M. (2008). Assessment of student learning in a hybrid PBL capstone seminar. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 32(2), 217-231.
Meyer, J. H. F., & Land, R. (2005). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning. Higher Education, 49, 373-388.
O’Sullivan, A. J., Harris, P., Hughes, C. S., Toohey, S. M., Balasooriya, C., Velan, G., Kumar, R., & McNeil, H. P. (2012). Linking assessment to undergraduate student capabilities through portfolio examination. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 37(2), 379-391.
Pace, D. & Middendorf, J. (2004). Decoding the disciplines: A model for helping students learn disciplinary ways of thinking. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 98, 1-12.
Rhodes, T. L. (2008). VALUE: Valid assessment of learning in undergraduate education. New Directions for Institutional Research, S1, 59-70. doi:10.1002/ir.262.
Rhodes, T. L. (2009). From the Director. Peer Review, 11(1), 3.
Rowley, J. L., & Dunbar-Hall, P. (2009). Integrating e-portfolios: Putting the pedagogy in its place. In R. J. Atkinson & C. McBeath (Eds.), Same places, different spaces. Proceedings ascilite Auckland 2009 (pp. 898-901). The University of Auckland, Auckland University of Technology, and Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite). Retrieved July 12, 2013 from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/auckland09/procs/.
Tomkinson, B., & Freeman, J. (2007). Using portfolios for assessment: Problems of reliability or standardisation? In Enhancing Higher Education, Theory and Scholarship, Proceedings of the 30th HERDSA Annual Conference, Adelaide, 8-11 July 2007 (pp. 574-585). Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia, Inc.
U. S. Department of Education. (2006). A test of leadership: Charting the future of U.S. higher education. Washington, DC. Retrieved 13 July 2013 from http://goo.gl/Gmnn0
The VALUE Project Overview. (2009). Peer Review, 11(1), 4-7.
van Acker, L. (2011). Embedding graduate skills in capstone courses. Asian Social Science, 7(4), 69-76.
