Moving Beyond Satisfaction: Perceived Learning As An Assessment Measure

Abstract

Demand for assessment is growing. While satisfaction is often used as an outcome measure, it fails to recognize that satisfaction and learning may not be positively correlated. This study takes data originally collected with a focus on satisfaction, and reanalyzes it using student’s perceptions of their learning as the outcome variable. Emphasis is placed on the impact of faculty-controlled or influenced variables on two types of learning. Satisfaction with the quality of faculty and instruction, breadth of curriculum, and class size are studied. All are found to significantly impact student’s perceptions of both types of learning, with satisfaction of class size having the greatest effect.