Interviews are a time-intensive but very rewarding means of finding out what students truly know. When used at the end of a course or a major, interviews are an excellent tool to elicit complex thinking and problem solving skills, such as the ability to analyze, synthesize and evaluate, the top three levels of intellectual skills in Bloom's Taxonomy. Alternatively, interviews can focus on student experiences, such as gathering perceptions from seniors about the major, curriculum, or particular courses.

Why conduct an interview instead of a focus group or survey?
Since interviews are conducted one-on-one, they provide a very in-depth picture of each student, thus they might be more appropriate for individual student assessment than for overall feedback on a major or program of study. The content of each interview can be tailored to the student; for instance, questions can focus on a student's research for a particular project or final paper. Since interviews are so in-depth and personal, data collected through this method are hard to generalize to a broader population, like an entire graduating class.

How do I go about conducting interviews?

1. Faculty members (or a department team) meet with CNDLS staff for a brainstorming session about the desired goals and purpose of the interviews. This leads to ideas, topics, and issues to be explored in the interview questions.
2. CNDLS staff members use the results of the brainstorming session to organize a series of questions ranging from short-answer questions to reflective, open-ended questions.
3. The department team reviews and finalizes the questions, together with CNDLS staff. At this time, we encourage the faculty team to determine who will be interviewed, when, where, and how to communicate the purpose of the interviews.
4. The team then decides whether it is most appropriate for CNDLS staff, faculty members, or graduate students to conduct the interviews. Depending on the purpose of the interviews or the level of detail desired, CNDLS can arrange to videotape or tape record the interviews.

What happens after the data are gathered?
If CNDLS records the interviews, we will provide a copy of the video or audiotape and a document outlining the main themes drawn from the answers to each question. Then we will arrange a meeting with the faculty or department team to discuss the summary, analysis, and next steps.