Assessing Civic Learning

Assessment for Student Learning

Assessing student civic knowledge, skills, disposition, and participation is a continuous process that involves ongoing (and sometimes informal) formative assessments and student reflections on what they are learning and experiencing. The resources provided below will better equip you to help your students participate in the assessment process so they can grow in their learning and civic engagement.

Civically Engaged Learning Goals Rubric and Assessment Matrix

Illinois State established the Civically Engaged Learning Goals and the Civically Engaged Assessment Rubric to better conceptualize civic learning in curricular and co-curricular contexts and to assess the extent to which students are civically engaged upon graduation. This framework of learning goals and assessment rubric identifies specific knowledge, skills, dispositions, and actions to describe how students develop their commitment to their civic engagement throughout their college experience and beyond. The learning goals and rubric provide resources for measuring student civic engagement through the scaffolding of the learning goals, while the assessment matrix provides ideas of methods to assess each learning goal.

The Civically Engaged Learning Goals come from multiple disciplines and scholars and can be used to assess all types of civic engagement within class instruction and program delivery. Use of the learning goals ensures faculty/staff are purposefully and overtly connecting what they are teaching (in a course or co-curricular activity) to the end goal of preparing students for a lifelong responsibility of civic engagement.

Assessment Tools

• New and Alternative Assessments, Digital Badges, and Civics
  Tufts University's Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)
• Civic Measures and Assessments
  Tufts University's Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)
  
• Activism Orientation Scale
  Corning, A. F., & Myers, D. J. (2013)
• Critical Reflection Template
  DEAL Model for Critical Reflection adapted from Ash, Clayton, & Moses (2009)
• Assessing Reflection in Service Learning
  Bowen, G. (2007)

Additional Assessment Resources

• Enhancing Civic Learning through Digital Storytelling
  Assessment initiative from IUPUI
• Using ePortfolios to Assess Learning and Civic Engagement
  Richards-Schuster, Ruffolo, Leyda, Distelrath, & Galura (2014)
• Student Civic Engagement at ISU - Results from Student Engagement Survey
  Report developed by Illinois State University's Office of University Assessment Services

Related Assessment Research

• The Effects of Academic Programs and Institutional Characteristics on Postgraduate Civic Engagement Behavior. Journal of College Student Development 54(4), 379-396.
• Development of a national survey to assess student learning outcomes of community-based research. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement 15(2), 7-33.

Assessment of Community Partnerships

• Methods and Strategies for Community Partner Assessment
  Community-Campus Partnerships for Health