Terminology for Planning, Evaluation and Assessment
Accountability – Being responsible to stakeholders--such as students and their families, legislators, and accrediting bodies --on the organization’s performance in meeting its goals and commitments. Accountability is usually required of institutions by funding and governing bodies for resources used and for goods and services produced.
Angelina College Critical Thinking Rubric/Critical Thinking Grid - The Critical Thinking Rubric and the Critical Thinking Grid (developed by the Foundation for Critical Thinking) are instruments designed to enable instructors to gather data that measures an identified critical thinking learning outcome.
Assessment - A process of collecting and reporting data to determine how well students are achieving intended learning outcomes and to inform changes in courses or programs to improve student (learning) success. At the course and program levels, assessment indicates how well each component meets its goals or outcomes. Tools of assessment can include checklists, inventories, observations, needs assessments, rating scales and various types of tests.
California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST-2000) - The CCTST is a 34-item multiple choice test that targets core CT skills of analysis, interpretation, inference, evaluation, and explanation.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) - The CCSSE provides information on student engagement which is a key indicator of learning. The survey asks questions that assess institutional practices and student behaviors that are correlated highly with student learning and student retention. The CCSSE contains questions that refer to students’ perceptions of their ability to think critically.
Direct Measure - Demonstration of students' knowledge, skills, and/or behaviors.
Faculty Learning Community (FLC) - involves a group of faculty members from various disciplines engaging in an active, collaborative, yearlong program with a curriculum that focuses on enhancing teaching and student learning.
Faculty Learning Community (FLC) Student Learning Survey – The FLC Student Learning Survey is an instrument that measures student learning outcomes as perceived by the instructor.
Goal - Broad statement of a quantifiable desired result.
Indirect Measures - Reports on performances that reveal perceptions, beliefs, or opinions of students' knowledge, skills, and/or behaviors.
International Critical Thinking Basic Concepts & Understanding Online Test - is a three part, 100 item test (developed by Dr. Linda Elder, Dr. Richard Paul, and Rush Cosgrove) that focuses on the five essential dimensions of critical thinking: Analysis of Thought, Assessment of Thought, Dispositions of Thought, The Skills and Abilities of Thought, and Barriers to Critical Thought.
Learning Outcomes - Statements of how and what knowledge, skills, and behaviors students are expected to demonstrate at the module, course, or program level. Outcomes are what program and service providers hope recipients achieve once they complete a program or receive services.
Objectives - A specific, measurable step to achieve a goal or outcome.
Portfolio - A pre-planned collection of work over a course, internship, or program that is the basis of evaluation.
Pre- and post-assessment - The use of the same or similar instrument at different times in a module, course, or program to measure change in students' knowledge, skills, and/or behaviors.
Rubric - A set of criteria or a scale developed to evaluate students' knowledge, skills, and/or behaviors.
Strategic Plan – an institutional plan that integrates planning and evaluation by including objectives and outcome measures for each institutional goal. The strategic plan is used to help the institution fulfill its mission.
Student Learning Outcomes Assessment (SLOA) - The SLOA provides a structure for faculty to specify in written format the learning outcome to be measured, how it will be measured, and the actual results of the analysis.
Student Perception of Critical Thinking in Instruction- An instrument developed
by the Foundation for Critical Thinking that measures critical thinking instruction as perceived by the student.
Unit – in terms of planning and evaluation, any area with an independent budget.
Unit Planning – a unit level process that is designed to facilitate a system of planning and evaluation at all levels of an institution. At the beginning of each academic year, each unit develops objectives that correlate to the institution’s strategic plan. Strategies to achieve the objective and expected outcomes are also developed at this time. At the end of the academic year, the results are reviewed. Subsequently, the results are used to develop the new unit plan for the next academic year.
WEAVEonline - a central repository for assessment information. Faculty and staff can learn about and document assessment and quality improvement processes, procedures, and evidence. The software can both lead and record assessment practices in academic, administrative, and educational support areas. This system is also helpful for tracking assessment information for accrediting groups (such as SACS) and annual reports. In addition, data entered in it can be linked to General Education/Core Curriculum outcomes and other strategic plans and goals.
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