Backward design and utilization focus:
Designing “actionable” assessment projects
St. Olaf is committed to a “backward design/utilization-focused” model of assessment, in which assessment planning begins with the question, “Who are the likely users of the evidence we want to gather, and how will they use it?” This model integrates principles of “backward design” in classroom instruction with principles of “utilization-focused evaluation” in evaluation research. A backward design/utilization-focused model of assessment increases the likelihood that faculty and staff will be able to act on the evidence of student learning they collect.
