| Popis: |
The assessment of learning and teaching is a valuable endeavor, however onerous or ominous. Unfortunately, the difficulty of as sessment often prevents potential assessors from beginning the project, even though the necessity of public accountability forces action. The assessment of a general education should be designed, implemented, and evaluated by faculty in colleges where depart ments have considerable autonomy, but must still cooperate at the institutional level. The ownership involves faculty designing, implementing, and evaluating student learning. It is our position that three issues are central to assessment: First, general educa tion must be defined appropriately in the context of the students' academic programs. Second, assessment must have a direct rela tionship with teaching and learning. Finally, and most important, the process must be centered where the actual teaching and learn ing take place, that is, in the classroom. Only when these three issues are addressed will the students, faculty, and administrators find an assessment process that all can support. We propose Pri mary Trait Analysis (PTA) as the process that unites the assess ment goals of students, faculty, and administrators and anchors general education assessment in the classroom. Institutions frequently realize general education as a set of core courses that include the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences (North Central Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Institutions of Higher Education [NCA], 1997). However, many 2-year institutions have transient student populations whose professional and transfer programs cannot ac |
