Assessing general education skills is a standard in my classroom. We have a curriculum that is created for the course but sometimes I need to deliver that curriculum based on the general education that my students have. I have a wide range of students and background in education are all over the board, what some students see as basic others see as difficult. Assessing general education skills allows for me to gauge the direction of the classroom pace as well. This is a very important tool for instruction.
In the past when I taught specific skills for my profession in a college class, I did not assess the general education skills of my students. I thought because the students had prerequite classes in math and English, they were competent in math and English. However, I noticed that some students did not understand a lecture, handout, or test question because of a words like "differenciate" or could not understand their grade average because some areas were calculated at 30% and some were 40% or 10%. I realized that not only were these students lacking basic skills needed for my class, but they were lacking these skills in the workforce when they graduated. So now, I assess their knowlege of general education skills along with their knowledge of the concepts in my class so that I can help them to learn in my class and to be prepared to enter the workforce.
It is very important to assess your students general education skills such as reading, writting, and math because these are the basic skills used daily in life and in the work field. As an instructor it is important to know what level your students are at regarding these areas in order to instruct them. If students are weak in areas and need improvement instructors can recognize this by assessing their students and give additional assistance or suggest tudoring. Instructors can stress to students the importance of these skills in the advancement of careers.
Hi Ashley- Thanks for your post to the forum. At the college where I teach, we embedd communication related activities into every class. Still, in the relatively short time that they are our students, it is hard to make up for deficiencies that are severe. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
In my experience communication skills are most important in my field of study. If there were a system in place for assessing the student's communication skills it would help reduce the number of issues while my students are on externship. Many of the problems I incounter with my students are due to their inablity to effectively communicate with their preceptors and other staff. This is when misunderstandings occur. Currently we don't have a system in place to assess the communication level of the students.
Hi Robert - Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes, since our students learn best in different ways, it is to our advantage to get that information to assist us in planning our lessons to be most effective. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
As a culinary instructor, it is imperitive that students have communication skills in order to communicate effectively with the customer and delivering exactly what they need.
Math skills are crucial for your own business especially when pricing menus and doing cost cards.
Well you need to know the needs of your students since everyone learns at a different level. This can assist me imy instructional delivery, n how ofter it needs to varied and how well my students will learn the topic we are discussing. It provides me with a baseline and where I need to start so I can adjust the students learn goals accordingly.
I believe it is crucial to set our students up for success. We as instructors need to ensure that our students have the knowledge, skills and abilities to be productive members of the professional world.
My Best,
Kelli
General education skills are essential for any course, it is improtant to assess this knowledge to begin a new subject
Many of my students are back to school after a long layoff and have not had to use good communication skills for a long time. They need to be reminded of the importance of getting their ideas across succesfully. I try to use real life examples of how important it can be to be clear. For my management students I tell them that in real life you are going to come up with a great idea that you want to relate to your boss. When you do he/she will tell you to put it in a memo so it can be evaluated. If you can't write a good memo you're idea may be wasted.
It is important as it can help assess the students' ability to research information, analyze it and explain in his/her own word. In other words, it shows the students' thinking and analytical process.
Hi Nicole - Thanks for your post to the forum. Do you find that you have much diversity in the general education skill levels of your students?
Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Because we need a baseline to see where are students are at the beginning of the course. I can then tailor my course to meet their specific needs.
I work in a techical school and evaluating these skills are essential because if a student does not have these skills and you call on the studnet in class to perform certain tasks it cam be embarrassing for the student.
Students will use these skills after school far into their career. Without these skills students might find it difficult to succeed in their careers.
In my career college we teach people to cook and as such it is very easy to loose sight of the fact that cooking is the easiest part of what we do. In order to build professionals we must take assessment of our students ability to communicate outside the medium of cooking. To become a Chef means you must be a proven communicator.
Hi Mitchell - Thanks for your post to the forum. Critical thinking skills are also so essential to our daily lives. We need to be able to evaluate information all the time. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I feel the bottom line of importance in the general rducation field is not only so that students become critcal thinkers and good reasoners, but to aquire life long skills, not just job related skilss. These skills can be applied in all facets of life, not just the job tasks they are performing.. Mitchell Becker
Hi Barbara - thanks for your post. Unfortunately, too often we do not get the feedback that we need from our students which is why we need to provide assessments for our students. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
