Assessment vs. Evaluation
We try to use the term "assessment" to refer to the assessment of student learning through the use of student learning outcomes, while evaluation (more usefully called program evaluation) can refer to any aspect of how an academic department, ID program, office, or division is doing. The self-study done by a department or ID program to prepare for its external review is a good example of program evaluation, though that example is not meant to suggest that program evaluation should only be done every ten years or only for this reason.
One way to frame the difference between assessment and program evaluation is to say that an assessment project focuses on an area of concern, weakness, or difficulty in student learning, whereas a program evaluation project focuses on a topic of interest to the department/program more broadly.
On the academic side, program evaluation can study matters such as:
- Student satisfaction and other self-reported information about program experiences
- General curricular content and development
- Curricular structure and scaffolding
- Strategies for future faculty hires
- Administrative staffing needs and functions
- Disciplinary enrollment issues
- Interactions with cognate disciplines
- Capstone structure
- Mapping of student learning outcomes to courses (related to assessment but can be separated from it)
- Division of teaching responsibilities; course assignments
- Program structure (especially for ID programs)