James A. Rhodes State College
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General Education Skills and AbilitiesAt Rhodes State College, General Education Skills and abilities are institution wide measures of the following outcomes: |
Writing and Critical Thinking |
| Outcome: Graduates’ written documents reflect their ability to think critically about a topic; to organize and develop ideas effectively; to present those ideas in an appropriate, mechanically correct, professional style; and to follow a standardized documentation format (when specified by the assignment). |
| Results: As described in the Special Features section of this website, Rhodes State College assesses the value-added outcomes of student learning via the E-portfolio project. All students submit papers in designated entry level, mid-level, and exiting capstone level classes throughout their career at Rhodes State. These papers are evaluated on six writing components, using a College-wide writing rubric that describes the competencies students are expected to exhibit. An internal standard of 3.0 is used to benchmark performance for each component. Students are given the rubric at the time of the assignments. As shown in Table 1 below, evidence of a value-added learning experience is found in the increase of the mean score across all components from entry level to the exit level evaluation. Note: n = sample number assessed |
| Value-added learning is also demonstrated at Rhodes State College through the use of the ACT-Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) conducted at both entry and exit levels. The effectiveness of the impact of their Rhodes College experience on students’ core skills of writing and critical thinking are evaluated using the differences between the entry and exit mean scores. During the 2006 assessment posted below, value-added was demonstrated through increased learning in both writing (+2.4) and Critical Thinking (+1.6). The Writing Skills, Critical Thinking and Math data are benchmarked to the standard of the national mean score for each area. See Table 2 for CAAP results. |
| Table 1 |
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| Table 2 |
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Diversity Awareness |
| Outcome: Graduates can functionally define cultural diversity, demonstrate a growth in the awareness, understanding and positive practice of diversity in their personal and/or professional lives, and assess the impact that Rhodes State has had on their understanding and growth regarding cultural diversity. |
| Results: Diversity Awareness is measured through the e-portfolio process. Students submit a reflective paper during the First-Year Experience entry level course, in which students describe their understanding and awareness of diversity as they enter Rhodes State College. An exit reflective paper is then written during their program Capstone course. A College-wide Diversity Rubric is used to assess the levels of diversity awareness gained by students throughout their College career. Each level incorporates a set of competencies expected at that level. A baseline standard of Level 3 Competency expectations was established by the faculty at Rhodes State College. Results (see Table 3) indicate that the students have not yet achieved the standard. However, the students have demonstrated increased scores over the three year period. A comparison of students’ scores for the First-Year experience course papers measured against the same students’ Capstone course exit papers demonstrates value-added learning. Results (see Table 4) indicate improvement from entry to exit. |
| Table 3 |
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| Table 4 |
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Information Literacy |
| Outcome: Graduates will recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information” (Association of College Research Libraries 1). They will also demonstrate the ability to extract appropriate information from hard-copy and electronic media, to manipulate current software and hardware to access and communicate information appropriately, and to have a basic understanding of copyright rules and the ethics of extracting, sharing and citing source information. |
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Computational Skills |
Outcome: Graduates of Rhodes State College will demonstrate computational skills in the context of solving real-world problems by following some or all of these competencies:
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Global Awareness |
Outcome: Graduates of Rhodes State College will demonstrate:
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