On Your Mark: Faculty Development and Student Evaluation

Abstract

Evaluation of student learning represents a crucial, time‐consuming part of an educator's job. In our years of teaching, we observed many faculty members who, while they have extensive content knowledge, lack skills in assessing student achievement. As practitioners in a system of 21 career‐focused, post‐secondary schools, we sought to change this situation in our organization. The faculty in our system consists of over 1,500 instructors teaching in 15 different majors in the areas of applied arts, design, and culinary arts. Many of our faculty members come to the school with a great deal of professional expertise but limited background in teaching methodology. This article addresses the challenges of developing a faculty professional development workshop on assessment, measurement, and evaluation of achievement in adult learners. The workshop represented a developmental experience for faculty based on their needs.