Abstract

The structure of class assessment in agriculture and natural resource programs varies greatly in terms of frequency and point distribution. Potential disparities among instructor and student preferences or discomfort with particular assessment structures could negatively impact student learning and teaching assessment. The purpose of this study was to explore agriculture and natural resource college students’ interest and attitudes towards different assessment structures and to evaluate whether such attitudes are related to their self-confidence in the subject, experience with the learning process, and future intentions of learning more on the subject. We found a varying level of student attitude and preference (in terms of the level of comfort and usefulness) towards different assessment structures. Students found high-stake assessments are fairer ways to test learning, but also valued the learning and testing that occurred with the numerous low-stake assessments. Further, their perceptions of learning experiences and interest and confidence in the subject matter, to some extent, related to the type of assessment structure they were exposed to in class.