Indirect Assessment

Assessment that consists of analysis of reported perceptions about student mastery of learning outcomes. This provides perspectives of students, faculty or other people who are concerned with the course or program or institution.

Advantages:

Ask student to reflect on their learning
Provide clues about what could be assessed directly
Easy to administer
Particularly useful for ascertaining values and beliefs

Indirect Assessment Examples:

Course evaluations
Test blueprints (outlines of the concepts and skills covered on tests)
Percent of class time spent in active learning
Number of student hours spent on service learning
Number of student hours spent on homework
Number of student hours spent at intellectual or cultural activities related to the course
Grades that are not based on explicit criteria related to clear learning goals

Focus group interviews with students, faculty members, or employers
Registration or course enrollment information
Department or program review data Co-op supervisor surveys Job placement
Employer or alumni surveys
Student perception surveys
Graduate school placement rates

Locally-developed, commercial, or national surveys of student perceptions or self-report of activities (e.g., National Survey of Student Engagement)
Transcript studies that examine patterns and trends of course selection and grading
Annual reports including institutional benchmarks, such as graduation and retention rates, grade point averages of graduates, etc.

Indirect Assessment Examples Explained