Outcome Assessment

["Murphy Tom" <murphy_tom@msmail.muohio.edu>]

I find it interesting that a few messages have been posted regarding outcome
assessment in CEDA.  While I believe outcome assessment is a valuable idea, I
am somewhat concerned about what I perceive to be reasons for its current
popularity.

1.  Outcome assessment assumes no intrinsic value in what is being assessed. 
Why must I continually be forced to prove that what I do is of value?  Why
should not the opposite be true; that those who believe it is not must prove
so?  One primary target of the "assessment" mindset/movement is liberal
education, including areas of study such as rhetoric.

2.  Assessment assumes an external focus.  This is perhaps one of the worst
aspects of assessment.  If I can't prove that speech communication majors can
get jobs when they graduate, my program is eliminated.  Thus, job training
drives curriculum and other choices.If I can't prove that debate increases
critical thinking, it must be of no value.  

3.  Assessment is just another "buzzword" designed to keep management gurus
in the dough.  It will pass, along with TQM and all the other "touchy feely"
fads (although my real world management friends enjoy mocking them).  I am
not saying they are bad, but haven't we been down this road before?  

I find it ironic that, as a solution to excellent research deemed
"inconclusive" by some in our community, more research is proposed.  How many
times must we reinvent the wheel?

-TLM

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