Assessment
The Critical Thinking through Writing leadership team in conjunction with the General Education Subcommittee is currently in the process of constructing the assessment plan for CTW courses. Below is an explanation of their current thought on the issue. Check back for updated information on the specifics of the assessment process.
Critical Thinking through Writing (CTW) Assessment Issues
Scholarly Community as the Context for CTW Courses:
At its core, the assessment of student learning in CTW courses is anchored in the scholarly communities of our university, our discipline and department, our course, and our class. At the University level, our shared definition is that critical thinking is "a wide range of cognitive skills and intellectual dispositions needed to effectively identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments and truth claims; to discover and overcome personal prejudices; to formulate and present convincing reasons in support of conclusions; and to make reasonable, intelligent decisions about what to believe and what to do." (Bassham, G., Irwin, W. Nordone, H., & Wallace, J., 2005. Critical Thinking: A Student's Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill, page 1.).
Our scholarly disciplines define for us the content which is used for critical thinking, the genre of critical thinking that is applied, and nature of the outcomes that are produced, e.g., scientific method, argumentation, thesis-driven research paper, a problem-solving analysis, reflective practice evaluation, etc. In each example, elements of the University's adopted definition would be employed, although with varying emphasis and application.
We develop, with our colleagues, a shared vision for what students should learn in our program and individual courses. From these multiple contexts we address the following assessment questions:
1. Can our students demonstrate the kind of critical thinking and writing skills expected by our disciplines?
- What are the manifestations of critical thinking in my discipline?
- What are the writing tasks that would demonstrate critical thinking?
- Do my colleagues agree on what student work represents acceptable critical thinking and acceptable writing?
- Can we communicate our expectations to our students?
2. Are CTW courses improving the level of critical thinking and writing skills?
3. What is the evidence that programs are using the assessment results to improve student learning?
