Assessment is the New Technology

I'm currently taking a course called Assessing Student Outcomes and Evaluating Academic Programs. One of the texts for the course is Linda Suskie's Assessing Student Learning and in completing my reading assignment last week, I couldn't help but notice an interesting parallel between the worlds of outcomes assessment and educational technology...

In a chapter on "Promoting an Assessment Culture" (chapter 3), Suskie identifes some challenges to introducing comprehensive outcomes assessment:

Some people are satisfied with the status quo...

Others don't see the relevance of the initiative...

Others feel that they're already too busy...

Still others are old-timers who have seen many new initiatives come and go...

Some people think they will need to learn and use new skills...

Others feel their status is threatened...

Some people have misconceptions about a new initiative...

These statements will sound very familiar, I'm certain, to my colleagues in the world of educational media and technology. Actually, as Suskie points out, they'll likely sound familiar to anyone who's ever attempted to introduce any kind of change in higher education.

So the parallel with educational technology isn't unique here--this is about resistance to any kind of change. As I embark on this new direction in my career (shifting from focus on educational technology and distance learning toward evaluation and assessment), though, it's comforting (?) to know that I'll be navigating much the same terrain...