Grounding Assessment in Authentic Pedagogy: A Case Study of General Education Assessment

The purpose of the study was to understand how instructors of general education courses, seeking to improve student learning, integrate assessment into their pedagogy. These assessment approaches, embedded within rich pedagogical understandings and experiences, reside at the core of the teaching and learning process. The study explored how experienced general education instructors authentically assess student learning in their classrooms. Pragmatic philosophy and symbolic interactionism served as theoretical grounding for method selection and data analysis. A qualitative single-case study approach, incorporating interviews and document analysis, resulted in findings about how instructors at a small university incorporated assessment within their classroom teaching. Nine instructors of general education courses at a small university participated in open-ended and iterative interviews. Document analysis provided a framework for understanding institutional and general education purposes. An intentional process of memo writing, data collection, critical reflection, grounded coding, and peer review resulted in analyzed and verified findings. Participants reported a number of pedagogical factors at work within the assessment of student learning. The five identified factors are examining assumptions, teaching through the aims, centering on student learning, opening assessment windows, and teaching forward. These pedagogical factors work together to provide a framework for authentic assessment. An authentic assessment of student learning, grounded in student and instructor experiences, empowers students to learn, serve, and work for a productive and democratic future. GROUNDING ASSESSMENT IN AUTHENTIC PEDAGOGY v © 2012 Kevin Hall ALL RIGHTS RESERVED GROUNDING ASSESSMENT IN AUTHENTIC PEDAGOGY vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iii ABSTRACT . iv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 1 Statement of the Problem . 2 Significance of the Problem . 3 Purpose of the Study . 5 Research Question . 6 Researcher Positionality.6 Definition of Terms.8 Overview of the Dissertation . 9 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF FOUNDATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION LITERATURE . 12 History of Higher Education . 13 Colleges in the Colonial Era: 1636-1789 . 13 Colleges in the New Nation: 1790-1869 . 15 Colleges in the Era of Industrialization: 1870-1944 . 18 The Era of Mass Education: 1945-1970 . 20 Contemporary Challenges: 1970-present . 22 Current Issues in Higher Education . 24 Accreditation . 24 Credentialing and the Commodification of Higher Education . 26 Future Needs in Higher Education . 28 Accountability and K-12 Education . 31 Assessment in Higher Education . 35 Definitions and Historical Overview . 35 Current Rationale for Assessment . 40 Student Performance . 41 Role of Federal and State Policymakers . 43 Learning Assessment Approaches . 45 Challenges to Assessment . 48 Stakeholder Expectations of Higher Education . 51 Liberal Education . 55 General Education . 57 Definitions of General Education . 57 General Education Structure . 58 History of General Education . 60 General Education Reform and Current Issues . 62 Assessing General Education Outcomes . 64 Summary . 67 GROUNDING ASSESSMENT IN AUTHENTIC PEDAGOGY vii CHAPTER THREE: SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING LITERATURE AND ANALYTICAL THEORIES . 69 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning . 69 History.69 Definitions and Features . 72 Taxonomy Overview . 76 Defining and Advocacy Literature . 78 Methodology Literature . 84 Theory Literature . 85 Pedagogical Research Literature.87 Scholarship of Assessment . 90 Formative Assessment . 91 Analytical Theory . 101 John Dewey on Education . 101 Dramaturgy and Erving Goffman . 105 Erich Fromm and Modes of Existence.110 Summary . 112 CHAPTER FOUR: METHOD . 115 Three Potential Study Approaches . 115 Methodological Traditions . 118 Data Collection . 121 Interviews . 122 Document Analysis . 125 Data Analysis and Coding . 126 Design Considerations . 128 Validation Strategies . 128 Generalization . 130 Ethical Considerations and Confidentiality . 131 Confidentiality . 132 Reducing risk . 132 Role maintenance . 133 Informed consent . 133 Summary . 134 CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS.137 Case Study Setting . 137 Interview Participants and Data Collection Methods . 140 Research Findings . 141 Changing Assumptions about Students . 141 Not Knowing Who These Kids Are .