Demystifying outcomes assessment for international educators : a practical approach

This book is a practical guide to learning-outcomes assessment in international education for practitioners who are starting to engage with the process. Assuming no prior knowledge, it offers an accessible and clear road map to the application of assessment. Recognizing that a "one size fits all" approach cannot capture the diversity of goals and settings of international education or the rich variety of programs and organizations involved in delivering it, Darla Deardorff provides the reader with the foundational principles and knowledge to develop appropriate assessment methods for evaluating and improving program outcomes. She provides the background for assessment, highlights how the characteristics of international education pose unique challenges for assessment, considers the contexts to which assessment may be applied - whether in cross-border or "at home" institutional experiences, or in curricular, co-curricular or extracurricular settings; offers a holistic approach to assessment that moves beyond seeing assessment as a discrete activity to on-going process that is integrated into student learning, and explains how to develop an assessment plan. The appendices include worksheets for implementing assessment, creating an assessment team, and getting buy-in from stakeholders, and that include a list of standards adapted to international education outcomes assessment, guidance on assessing intercultural competence, and related resources. This book reflects the author's experience of over a decade of work with international education programs and higher education institutions around the world, and distills what she has learned into an easy-to-use resource for anyone who wants to understand and utilize effective assessment.