Ensure program quality: Assessment a necessity

Abstract

In an effort to achieve high quality programs and courses both formal and informal measures are used the teaching and learning process through direct and indirect methods. Assessment has become even more important since education institutes show great interest in the educational experience outcomes and how they map to institutional goals as well as to the needs of the society. Institutes either develop a formal internal assessment process or through external accreditation try to continuously improve and revamp their programs. It is now perceived that students are more active in building their knowledge rather than simply listening to the lectures. Assessment of student work therefore helps us to determine the effectiveness of programs from student's point of view. This also gives an opportunity to the students to show us what they have learned and how they can contribute when they graduate. It is therefore all that important, for institutes interested in accreditation, to assess learning outcomes as a component of program review process. The accreditation guidelines in general seek to encourage institutes to think about accreditation as a continuous process and go one step further to data collection, analysis and change in order to ensure good quality program. This paper addresses the necessity of assessment through seeking accreditation and also provides a more structured mechanism for accessing, evaluating and improving the quality of the program. This paper details various assessment tools (AMS, Web-Based, Directory Structure, etc.) used by different institutes, to help in organization and gathering of the related material. The paper also presents a model for sharing responsibilities to monitor and evaluate gathered material and assessment data.