Importance of Assessment and Significant Learning

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The goal of all instruction is to facilitate learning. How do we know that our students have learned something?  By performing assessments. There are many ways to perform assessments before, during, and after instruction, including formal and informal assessments. As instructors, we need to identify the appropriate assessment to help us verify that learning has occurred. All learning should invoke change. Lasting change occurs because of significant learning. What is significant learning?  According to Fink's (2013)Taxonomy of Significant Learning, the categories of learning include foundational knowledge, application, integration, the human dimension, caring, and learning how to learn. See the link below for additional information on significant learning. To help you align your assessments with the type of learning goals you have for training, Barkley and Major (2016) created a Learning Goals Inventory (LGI) based on Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning. I now use Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning and the LGI to better meet the needs of all of my learners.  If you would like to identify your learning goals for a specific course, use the link below.  Based on your answers, you can use the results to guide your choice of Learning Assessment Techniques (LATs).