Assessing general education skills
Why is the assessment of general education skills such as reading, written communication, and math important to instructors?
Hi Michael, Thanks for your post to the forum. Unfortunately this is a problem we all face in higher education! The amount of remediation that can be done in the short time these folks are our students is small. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I teach at an auto trade school student lack of general skills is big problem there vocabulary is so small it is scary at this time we have nothing in place to try to help them some get though it some struggle the hole time they are here
Our school does have an assessment test that students must pass to be enrolled. However, the diversity of the student's knowledge in the classroom is very wide.
Hi Karen, Thanks for your post to the forum. Absolutely! The more information we can learn about our students, the better we can tailor our delivery. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
By assessing these skills, the instructor gains a grasp on the baseline for each individual student which will help to learn where to begin and what info to focus as a starting point for the course.
Hi Mark, Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes, the information we can get about how are students learn, the better prepared are to teach them. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Hi Jason, Yes, in many contexts that is what they are called.
Susan Polick
The importance lies in the assistance to the instructor in preparing the course work for learning. Additionally, these skill assessments provide the instructor with the path needed to bring the students to a higher level in coursework and industry.
You must be able to read ,write, and do math in order to keep a job.Are these refered to as soft skills?
Hi Kayla,
I agree with Kayla. General Education classes are preparing these students for upper level classes. In my personal experience teaching, it is imperative that my students have an excellent foundation in order to be successful in my upper level classes.
Susanne
We need basic general education to use as a stepping stone for the new knowledge we are presenting. Without it, the student will be lost.
To show what the students' level is.
Assessment of general education education skills is extrmemely important in determing the skill level of each individual student. Knowing the reading level, the writing abilityi and math ability is also critical in placing students in the proper programs and classes. This ties in with with whether students will be successful in the classroom setting. Their skill level should be compatible with their placement in whatever program will match their abilities. This match of skills and program should increase student success and retention.
Hi Tom, Thanks for your post to the forum. The employers who hire our graduates tell us that they are really looking for critical thinking ability. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
General education skills apply to all fields all the time. General educations skills are the foundation on which everything else is built. Assessing them supports and reinforces their growth. No matter how much the world changes we are always going to need to be adept at thinking and communicating those thoughts.
Hi Dyana, Thanks for your post to the forum. Unfortunately deficiencies in those basic skills is a fact we face too often. As you mention, it still does not mean that those students will be unable to succeed. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
The basics of education are the core of education. If a student does not have the foundations established, they may struggle to succeed in reading for example. This is not to say that they will never achieve it or improve but it definitely helps when building onto the material.
Hi Emily, I also use rubrics so that students know exactly what I am looking for in my assignments.
Susan Polick
In my career, I teach paralegal and criminal justice courses, both of which are very communication heavy. Because of this, basic general education skills are so important to success in these fields. Paralegals need to be able to write a legal memo, be clear and concise in their written and oral communication, and need to be able to listen very well to both attorneys and clients. Criminal justice majors need to be able to read and write reports that are clear, concise and analytical. They need to be able to communicate their findings in a clear way as well. Because each of these skills is so important in these fields, fitting assessment of general education skills in to my course assessments and is so important. Because of that, I create a rubric for every written assignment that includes categories for writing clearly, submitting an assignment free from grammatical errors, being persuasive, writing to their audience, etc. and I find this works very well in assessing and helping them to build these general education skills.
