Six Steps to Conducting a Project Assessment

Clarify goals and objectives
Develop strategies for measuring progress toward goals
Identify data sources and feasible data collection methods
Analyze your data
Report your results
Make the most out of your findings

1. Clarify goals and objectives

Be specific and realistic about your true project goals. Review effective instructional strategies and outcomes from existing research.
Clearly separate the means of your project from its ends – don’t confuse your project’s activities with the outcomes you hope it will produce. Your goals should indicate how your students or your course will be changed by the project's activities. Are you solving a problem? Hoping to achieve something new that you had not been able to achieve before?
Identify ways that the goals of your project may support broader initiatives within your department or division. Are there curricular targets or strategic initiatives that your project might advance?

2. Develop strategies for measuring progress toward goals

Restate your goals in terms of measurable outcomes. Think about what evidence would demonstrate success.
Think in terms of both short-term and long-term outcomes.
What indicators would demonstrate that your project is succeeding? For example:

For a difficult gateway course, would withdrawal or failure rates decrease?

For majors-only courses, would the percent of students retained in the major increase?

Would students’ attitudes about the subject improve?

3. Identify data sources and feasible data collection methods

Take advantage of any data collection mechanisms already in place - for example, consider adding a few custom questions to the end of the standard course evaluation form.
Combine direct observation (e.g., test results, enrollment and retention data) with indirect measures (e.g., surveys, interviews, course evaluation feedback) for greater strength of evidence of your project's impact.
Consider how you will analyze what you collect before collecting any data.
If you plan to publish your findings, consult with the Duke IRB about institutional requirements for review and approval of your research plan

4. Analyze your data

CIT can assist in reviewing your assessment data collection and analysis plans, and assist in identifying helpful resources (student worker assistance, software tools). The Social Sciences Research Institute Consulting Center also offers support to Duke faculty with quantiative analysis

5. Report your results

Consider the following advice from Effective Reporting: “Brief reports, especially those that contain bulleted points, questions and answers rather than didactic presentations, and clear headings and subheadings to guide the reader, garner more attention and generate more conversation than long, formal reports of many pages.”
Be sure to report to all sponsors and program stakeholders.

6. Make the most out of your findings

In addition to course improvement, you may also be able to use your findings to:
- Build your department’s visibility and enhance its image
- Strengthen future grant applications or funding requests
- Contribute to the knowledgebase in the scholarship of teaching and learning through a publication or conference presentation