Journal Article — Making Assessment Everyone’s Business: The Use of Dialogue in Improving Teaching and Learning — by John Chetro-Szivos and Lauren Mackenzie

In the 2007/2008 academic year, five faculty in the Department of Communication Media at Fitchburg State College came together to seek ways to be proactive in addressing the challenges imposed by outcomes assessment. The goal of this study was to see if opportunities existed to find constructive ways to engage assessment beyond the positions of those who are opposed or cautious about it. This article introduces a communication perspective for studying assessment; provides a detailed overview of the components of the study; discusses the findings and connects them to a systemic approach for looking at assessment; and concludes by emphasizing the importance of synthesizing assessment, dialogue, and self-reflection.