Dirk Gently's Guide to Holistic Assessment

Abstract

In the books by Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently labels himself as a "holistic detective" who makes use of "the fundamental interconnectedness of all things" to solve the whole crime, and find the whole person (Adams, 1987). The educational measurement community is now promoting a more contemporary view of assessment as one in which the primary purpose is to inform teachers about the nature of student learning. In order to meet this goal, statistics teachers must, like Dirk Gently, purposefully create an interconnectedness between all facets of their curricula and assessments.