Once you have defined measurable outcomes or objectives, it’s crucial to identify assessment measures that align with the anticipated deliverables. There are a variety of direct and indirect assessment strategies to choose from. As a best practice, it is recommended to use both direct and indirect measures to evaluate outcomes or objectives.
Assessment measures can also be quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative methods are numerical in nature and qualitative methods are descriptive.
Direct Measures
Direct measures refer to outcomes or changes that can be directly evaluated or measured. These measures assess the actual performance of indicators related to student learning or operational effectiveness.
Examples of Direct Measures
- Error rates, processing time
- Increase in counts (number of customers served)
- Reduction in cost of performance
- Growth in service
- Sampling of clients
- Performance Evaluations
- Tracking logs
- Review of work product
- Rubrics or Evaluation Form
- Dollars raised or dollars saved
- Institutional data
- Audits or Financial reports
- Attendance
- Participation
- Quantitative reports on service delivery
- Quantitative reports on accuracy, efficiency, completion, performance evaluations or appraisals
- Contact hours with students or clients
- Financial reports
- Industry standards
Indirect Measures
IIndirect measures capture people’s attitudes and opinions about learning, effectiveness, or satisfaction. These reflect their experiences, not actual achievements, and are usually based on self-reported data.
Examples of Indirect Measures
- SWOT analysis
- Surveys
- Focus groups and interviews
- External reviews
- Graduation rate
- Retention rate
- Meeting discussions
Tips
- Use both direct and indirect measures as supporting evidence for objectives and outcomes.
- Select the appropriate assessment method, ensuring it is directly and clearly related to the objective/outcome being assessed.
- Use multiple measures for each objective/outcome. A combination of methods makes the data more meaningful, valid and reliable.
- Incorporate measures into your daily work, as they should be systematic and documented.
- Identify, develop and review measures at the beginning of the assessment cycle.
- Consider your audience.
