As Carleton faculty, many of us tend to disparage the kinds of information that national (or even local) tests can provide about how (and what) our students learn. We think we know that students gain content knowledge and skills in our courses and through their four years at Carleton, based on the feedback we get from their papers, projects, student evaluations, and other forms of assessment. How much of this progress is related to the qualities the students have when they enter Carleton, how much to our exquisite academic program, and how much to their increased intellectual maturity after four years? What's the "value-added" of a Carleton education? Is it worth trying to measure? If so, how?
Carleton, along with Macalester, Grinnell, and St. Olaf, recently received funding from the Teagle and Lumina Foundations to assess critical thinking, writing, quantitative skills, and global understanding. As part of this project, we are participating in the CLA (Collegiate Learning Assessment), which attempts to assess students' critical thinking, writing, and analytical skills through "real-life," complex, messy problems. At this LTC session, we will discuss the larger implications of this grant, the CLA, and similar "authentic" assessment tools—is "teaching to the test" always a bad thing?
Suggested (very short) reading: Lloyd Bond, 2004, Teaching to the Test: Carnegie Perspectives, April 2004.
Elizabeth Ciner, Associate Dean of the College
Chico Zimmerman, Professor of Classical Languages
and Carleton students
Co-sponsored by the Dean of the College Office and grants from the Teagle and Lumina Foundations
Alumni Guest House Meeting Room, noon to 1:30 p.m. Lunch provided for 50
Looking ahead:
Thursday, October 20: Carleton Classrooms: Safe Spaces, Challenging Conversations
Carleton faculty, students, and staff
Co-sponsored by DIG (Diversity Initiative Group)
Gould Library Athenaeum, noon to 1:30 p.m. Lunch provided for 50
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