ThinkAchieve: Connecting the Classroom and the Community
Assessment of Student Critical ThinkingAchievement of the ThinkAchieve goal and objectives is assessed primarily through the annual administration of the Critical Thinking Assessment test (CAT) developed by Tennessee Tech University (TTU). TTU's website defines the CAT as "a unique tool designed to assess and promote the improvement of critical thinking and real-world problem solving skills" (TTU, n.d.). The role of the CAT is to assist faculty in assessing students' critical thinking skills early in their career at UTC. Graduating seniors also take the CAT, and this provides data to evaluate the overall institutional progress. For more information about the CAT, click here.
In addition to the CAT, there are a number of assessments used to evaluate to what degree UTC students are achieving the student learning outcomes, including the following:
ETS Proficiency Profile Exam (ETS PPE [http://www.ets.org/proficiencyprofile/])
NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement [http://nsse.iub.edu/]
FSSE (Faculty Survey of Student Engagement [http://fsse.iub.edu/]
We are now in Year Two of the ThinkAchieve program. Baseline data collected in Year One reveal some interesting findings about our students’ critical thinking at UTC. See below for links to the full Year One report as well as a summary of major findings, data notes, and data tables.
Think Achieve Year One Assessment Results
Year One One Assessment Report (2011-2012)
Reference
Tennessee Tech University. (n.d.). Critical thinking assessment test. Retrieved from
http://www.tntech.edu/cat/home/
