|
by Michael Gavin, Faculty
Chair, AOAC
New Web site
Check out the new Academic
Outcomes Assessment Committee (AOAC) Web site! On it, you will find a summary of
some of the changes departments have made as a result of the assessment process.
The Web site also provides useful tools for streamlining departmental assessment
projects, such as rubric templates and step-by-step explanations of how to carry
out course assessment. A link to the site is available on the Faculty and Staff
Quick links page: the address is
http://academic.pgcc.edu/assessment/index.htm.
Critical Thinking and
Assessment
Second, to coincide with “The
Year of Critical Thinking,” the AOAC has developed a new system for assessing
courses that will bolster PGCC faculty’s ability to measure students’ critical
thinking. Under the new system, assessments are to measure outcomes that require
higher-ordering thinking tasks, defined as above the level of comprehension on
Bloom’s taxonomy.
New Forms
The new forms for planning
assessment and reporting results are available at the new Web site. These forms
reflect new policies in assessment that are supposed to make the process easier
while offering results pertaining to critical thinking.
We hope to make assessment an
easy process that yields useful results. Should you have any questions, or if
you would like an AOAC member to assist your faculty in the assessment process,
please do not hesitate to contact Mike Gavin on extension 0588,
gavinmh@pgcc.edu.
| 
