During two terms of a fluid power engineering course, four formative and summative course assessments, weekly e-mail feedback journals, midterm e-surveys, focus groups, and departmental student evaluation of instruction (SEI) forms, were used to assess student perceptions of their learning and the instruction methods used. The weekly e-mail feedback journals and midterm e-surveys enabled several course adjustments during each course term. Focus groups were used to explore students' perceptions of both the course and the formative assessments. The SEI provided quantitative measures of student satisfaction that correlated with the focus group discussions. Using multiple formative and summative course assessments techniques had a synergistic effect on gaining insights into the teaching-learning process.