Growing Assessment Capacity of Engineering Educators through ASSESS

The Appraisal System for Superior Engineering Education Evaluation-Instrument Sharing and Scholarship (ASSESS) is a web-based information repository and search engine for locating assessment and evaluation instruments relevant to engineering education. The ASSESS database is populated with instrument names and both technical and nontechnical characterizations of each instrument. It identifies outcomes for which an instrument is applicable, target audiences, administration conditions, and availability of evidence for score reliability and validity. Each instrument also is described by a summary written for assessment novices and marked by visual indicators for amount of supporting evidence available and user ratings. Information provided for each instrument enables people accessing the site to determine the appropriateness of individual instruments for an intended use. The ASSESS site also offers tools to facilitate locating the desired instruments and to help users to understand assessment and network with assessment professionals. Searches using both keywords and specification of desired instrument characteristics enable the user to efficiently find the most relevant instruments. A glossary of assessment terms and an assessment wiki offer basic assessment knowledge to help those new to assessment. In addition, users may rate instruments in ASSESS, suggest instruments for inclusion in ASSESS, and suggest revisions to the ASSESS website. The ASSESS website will undergo user testing in 2013, after which the site will be launched fully. The combined features of ASSESS will build the engineering education assessment community and expand appropriate use of assessments in engineering education.