Book Review: Meaningful Course Revision: Enhancing Academic Engagement Using Student Learning Data by Catherine Wehlburg (Jossey-Bass, 2007)

Excerpt: In Meaningful Course Revision: Enhancing Academic Engagement Using Student Learning Data, Wehlburg persuasively argues that letting evidence guide change and innovation is perhaps the only way to break the dysfunctional tradition of what may be termed “teaching as telling” and “grading to the bell curve.” Throughout the book, Wehlburg convincingly argues that assessment is not yet another chore that faculty and administrators are obliged to perform, but an integrated set of activities that enhances learning and provides the feedback teachers and institutions need in order to improve learning outcomes and implement innovations in teaching. In Chapter 1, “Data-based Decision-Making,” Wehlburg effectively makes the case for data-driven course redesign. Better yet, in Chapter 2, Wehlburg asserts that many faculty members are already engaged in performing assessments, they are just not aware of how to make use of the data to revise their courses