Scribd
Upload
40 views

Direct and Indirect 09.09.2020

Direct assessments methods directly examine student knowledge and skills through exams, quizzes, demonstrations, reports and provide strong evidence of student learning. Indirect assessments ascertain perceptions of student learning through surveys and opinions which provide less direct evidence and require assumptions. It is best to use both direct and indirect methods from multiple sources to provide a robust assessment.

Uploaded by

Judelyn Calastravo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
40 views

Direct and Indirect 09.09.2020

Direct assessments methods directly examine student knowledge and skills through exams, quizzes, demonstrations, reports and provide strong evidence of student learning. Indirect assessments ascertain perceptions of student learning through surveys and opinions which provide less direct evidence and require assumptions. It is best to use both direct and indirect methods from multiple sources to provide a robust assessment.

Uploaded by

Judelyn Calastravo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

DIRECT AND INDIRECT ASSESSMENTS

By Gloria Rogers, Ph.D., ABET Senior Adjunct Director, Professional Offerings

Direct and indirect assessment methods have both advantages and disadvantages. In the
program assessment process, it is important to have a clear understanding of the meaning and
use of both.

What are they? Do you have to use both when assessing student learning? Direct assessments
methods are most familiar to faculty. Direct assessments provide for the direct examination or
observation of student knowledge or skills against measurable learning outcomes. Faculty
conduct direct assessments of student learning throughout a course using such techniques as
exams, quizzes, demonstrations and both oral and written reports. These techniques provide
feedback on what students know and/or can do and provide strong evidence of student learning.

However, not all learning can be measured in a direct way. For example, a desired outcome of a
course may be to promote affective traits such as inclusiveness or dependability, which are
difficult to assess using direct methods1. Indirect assessments of student learning ascertain the
perceived extent or value of learning experiences. They assess opinions or thoughts about
student knowledge or skills. Indirect measures can provide information about the respondent’s
perception of student learning.

However, as evidence of student learning, indirect measures are not as strong as direct
measures because assumptions must be made about how to interpret an indirect report. If
students report that they have attained a specific learning outcome, how can that report be
validated? An indirect assessment is useful in that it can be used to identify certain implicit
qualities of student learning, such as values, perceptions and attitudes, from a variety of
perspectives. However, in the absence of direct evidence, assumptions must be made about how
well student perceptions match the reality of actual achievement of student learning.

It is important to remember that all assessment methods have their limitations and contain
some bias. A meaningful assessment program would use both direct and indirect assessments
from a variety of sources (students, alumni, faculty, employers, etc.). This use of multiple
assessment methods provides converging evidence of student learning. Indirect methods
provide a valuable supplement to direct methods and are generally a part of a robust
assessment program.

The table below illustrates examples of assessment methods and how they are generally
classified. It is important to remember that whether a specific method is direct or indirect will
depend on the nature of what is being assessed and how the method is being used. For example,
surveys and questionnaires are usually thought of as indirect assessment methods where we
ask the respondents to give us their opinions about certain topics. However, if we prepare the
survey for an internship supervisor who has directly observed a student’s performance, then it
would be a direct measure. The key is whether the results are a product of direct observation or
the self-report or opinion of the respondent.

www.abet.org
Assessment Method Direct Indirect
Archival data
Biographical, academic or other file data available from college or other agencies ✔
and institutions.

Behavioral observations
Measuring the frequency, duration and context of a subject’s actions, usually in a ✔
natural setting with non-interactive methods.

External examiner
Using an expert in the field from outside your program to conduct, evaluate or ✔
supplement the assessment of your students.

Exit and other interviews


Asking individuals to share their perceptions about an area of interest in a face- ✔
to-face dialog with an interviewer.

Faculty-developed exams or assignments


Designed by faculty for use in assessing course objectives and/or program ✔
outcomes.

Focus groups
Guided discussion by trained moderator of a group of people who share certain ✔
characteristics.

Oral exams
Assessment of student knowledge levels through a face-to-face dialogue between ✔
the student and the examiner.

Performance appraisal
Systematic assessment of acquired skills, generally through direct observation in ✔
a “real world” situation such as an internship.

Portfolio
Collections of student work samples, usually compiled over time and rated using ✔
scoring rubrics.

Simulations
Competency based measure where a person’s abilities are measured in a situation ✔
that approximates a “real world” setting.

Standardized exams
Commercially developed examinations, generally group administered, mostly ✔
multiple choice, “objective” tests, usually purchased from a private vendor.

Surveys and questionnaires


✔
Asking individuals to share their perceptions about a specific area of interest —
e.g., their own or others’ skills/attitudes/behavior, or program/course qualities
and attributes.

1
For more information about assessing affective traits, see, “Student Outcomes” from the ABET Assessment
Webinar Series at https://vimeo.com/378866474

www.abet.org

You might also like