Future Directions for Assessing Complex General Education Student Learning Outcomes

Overview & Synopsis

In 1933-1934, a few years before the landmark study on student achievement by Learned and Wood (1938), the total enrollment of students in colleges, universities, junior colleges, teachers colleges, and normal schools was around 1.06 million out of a U.S. population of about 126.5 million, or about 0.8 percent. In 2008, the total projected fall enrollment in postsecondary, degree-granting institutions was over 18 million out of a U.S. population of 304 million, or about 6 percent. The dramatic change in enrollment and participation in higher education is only one of many transformations that continue to dramatically affect every aspect of postsecondary education. This article examines three major trends in postsecondary education, related to faculty members' roles, students' changing expectations for postsecondary education, and increasing demands for access, affordability, and accountability. It also discusses how they have an impact on assessment of general education student learning outcomes. The article closes by proposing an agenda for future research.