Overview of scientific research and measurement.

Abstract

Reflective practitioners in education are curious about the consequences that their work has on students, faculty members, the curriculum, the community, their institutions, and themselves. Systematically collecting information positions educators to make informed decisions that can improve their craft, enhance their understanding about why certain outcomes were achieved, and increase the confidence with which they represent their work to others, including colleagues and the general public. Collecting information about outcomes associated with teaching a course can be done in a variety of ways, including structured interviews, casual conversations with students after class, classroom assessment techniques, student portfolios, peer observation, student evaluations, course examinations, and reading student journals. In addition, practitioners can conduct formal research that uses standardized scales to measure constructs that are related to or part of intended educational outcomes. Although any of these methods may be useful, some provide more meaningful information than others do for specific purposes. Thus, course examinations are appropriate for assessing student learning and assigning grades (Walvoord & Anderson, 1998); classroom assessment techniques provide useful feedback on the effectiveness of specific modules of instruction (Angelo & Cross, 1993); and standardized scales are particularly useful when conducting program evaluation, research, and multicampus studies (Bringle & Hatcher, 2000).