Moving Beyond Assessment to Improving Students’ Critical Thinking Skills: A Model for Implementing Change

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Published: Aug 30, 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v16i4.19407
Keywords:
critical thinking, assessment, faculty development, teaching, learning

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Ada Haynes
Tennessee Tech University
Elizabeth Lisic
Tennessee Tech University
Michele Goltz
Eastern Kentucky University
Barry Stein
Tennessee Tech University
Kevin Harris
Tennessee Tech University

Abstract

Abstract: This research examines how the use of the CAT (Critical thinking Assessment Test) and involvement in CAT-Apps (CAT Applications within the discipline) training can serve as an important part of a faculty development model that assists faculty in the assessment of students’ critical thinking skills and in the development of these skills within their courses. Seventy-five percent of faculty participating in a CAT scoring workshop at their institution reported greater understanding of students’ strengths and weaknesses in critical thinking and 45% reported that CAT scoring had changed their teaching practices and/or assessment. In addition, participants attending a training session on CAT-Apps reported a greater willingness to place more emphasis on critical thinking assessments and less on factual knowledge assessments in their courses as a result of participation in training.

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How to Cite
Haynes, A., Lisic, E., Goltz, M., Stein, B., & Harris, K. (2016). Moving Beyond Assessment to Improving Students’ Critical Thinking Skills: A Model for Implementing Change. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 16(4), 44–61. https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v16i4.19407
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Vol. 16 No. 4 (2016): Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
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Articles
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Author Biographies

Ada Haynes, Tennessee Tech University

Co-Director, Center for Assessment and Improvement of Learning Professor of Sociology Tennessee Tech University

Elizabeth Lisic, Tennessee Tech University

Assistant Director, Center for Assessment and Improvement of Learning, Tennessee Tech University

Michele Goltz, Eastern Kentucky University

Resource Analyst, Institutional Effectiveness, Eastern Kentucky University

Barry Stein, Tennessee Tech University

Co-Director, Center for Assessment and Improvement of Learning Interim Chair and Professor, Counseling and Psychology Tennessee Tech University

Kevin Harris, Tennessee Tech University

Associate Director, Center for Assessment and Improvement of Learning, Tennessee Tech University

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