Assessment Forum Committee Publishes Recommendations
The university recently conducted an assessment and evaluation forum. The purpose was to discuss issues and ideas for improving student academic performance assessments. The organizers wanted to reinforce the importance of fair and accurate student assessments, and show the important role faculty members have in student evaluation methods. At the conclusion of the forum, the standing committee proffered the following recommendations:
- Implement national and international testing standards in higher education;
- Conduct comparative studies of learning outcomes in higher education with relevant national project standards;
- Establish learning outcome frameworks for various domestic professional disciplines;
- Publish an electronic assessment and evaluation handbook complete with terminology and assessment strategies in Arabic and English.
One of the Deans participating in the forum, Dr. Salama Al-Ghraib, stressed the importance of having unified student examinations in higher education. Dr. Al-Ghraib said that this policy is necessary in order to assure adequate performance evaluation and fairness, stating 'This can be achieved through the use of standardized criteria, unified exams, question banks and faculty training'.