Evaluating Student's Perception of Course Assignments

Faculty design curricula to be cohesive, logical and to build professional knowledge skills and values. Student recognition of the relevance and usefulness of course assignments to future academic and professional work is key to engagement in the learning process. By evaluating student’s perception of the relevance of their course work, faculty may use principles of learner- centered education to improve the quality and relevance of their education. An extensive literature search was conducted using ERIC, CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, and EBSCOhost for methods of evaluating course assignments. Over forty articles were reviewed, and only two studies related to student’s evaluation of their course assignments. Both studies reported positive student perceptions of course assignments. This study was designed to evaluate the student’s perception of the usefulness of assignments in understanding advanced practice pharmacology. Learner-centered education needs to evaluate student perception of assignments in order to create an environment of learning. Educators across disciplines and varied nursing programs may find assignment analysis to be beneficial as part of a larger course and program evaluation plan. Future research is needed to assess students’ perceptions of the assignments as they progress through the curriculum and again after they are in practice. This will allow faculty to further evaluate the usefulness of individual assignments for curricular integration and professional practice, while improving relevance and usefulness of course assignments. .