Assessment of Learning Outcomes in U.S. Universities

Despite the recent requirement of more visibility of learning outcomes, most higher education institutions in Japan have yet to develop the appropriate methodology for their assessment. U.S. counterparts, however, have quickly implemented both direct and indirect measures of learning outcomes in response to the Spellings Report issued in 2006. Focusing specifically on general education, this paper reports four cases of U.S. higher education that are renowned for their effective curriculum and unique methods of outcomes assessment. The reported cases are The Evergreen State College, Portland State University, Appalachian State University, and Clemson University, all of which were paid site visits in February, 2014. It was found that all of the four institutions had created rubrics for each educational objective and applied them in assessing a random sample of learning records (student portfolios or transcripts). Implications and future tasks are discussed in terms of the portfolio review to be conducted at Nagasaki University.