Name of Study	Liberal Studies -- Assessment of Student Learning, 2006
Study Date	05/31/2006
Researcher Name	Bob Bleicher, Ph.D.
Researcher Email	bob.bleicher@csuci.edu
Researcher Phone	805.437-8508

Executive Summary

Liberal Studies program efforts this year focused on the following program outcome: Liberal Studies graduates will be able to evaluate effectively oral or written communication for accuracy of content, logic of argument, and clarity of reasoning. Because all CSUCI freshmen must complete a freshman level class in critical thinking, the initial assessment and evaluation of critical thinking and reasoning skills was associated with this class. After a brief examination of the literature Liberal Studies elected to use the California Critical Thinking Skills Test. The test was administered to all students registered in UNIV 110 Critical Thinking in Interdisciplinary Contexts in Spring semester 2006 and Fall semester of 2005 using a pretest-posttest format. The essential finding from these assessments was that there was no significant difference in the students’ critical thinking and reasoning skills after the16 week critical thinking class. Based on a methodological considerations, Liberal Studies concluded that findings were insufficient to warrant changes in the critical thinking class. However, they feel they have sufficient data to create the mechanisms needed to institutionalize feedback loops in assessment and evaluation programs. The Liberal Studies Implementation Plan for the Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes (Exhibit) proposes that five members of the Liberal Studies Advisory Committee (LSAC) meet for one or two days in the intersession between Fall and Spring semesters to evaluate annual assessment data, and reflect on what they have learned. The product from this meeting will be a series of recommendations directed to the entire LSAC during the course of the Spring semester. This will provide a regular mechanism that ensures that assessment and evaluation data guide decision making in pedagogy and programs.

Citations
Liberal Studies Report (PDF, 38KB)

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