Improving Writing and Thinking Through Assessment

Improving Writing and Thinking through Assessment is designed to help individual faculty and administratorsselect assessment approaches and measures to maximize their students' writing and thinking. The book offersuseful guidance through presentation of recommended assessment guidelines and measurement principles inPart 1 and applications from a variety of contributors in Part 2. It addresses a wide range of audiences includinginstructors who want to assess and thus foster writing and thinking in their courses administrators and instructorsplanning to assess writing and thinking at the program or institutional level and graduate students interested inimproving students' writing and critical thinking.This book is more guide than cookbook. By providing comprehensive standards and criteria that help individualsor teams develop plans and measures to improve writing and thinking the book should be helpful for academicand Student Affairs administrators and faculty - as the principles apply equally to all engaged inassessment.Contributors representing a wide range of educators illustrate many of the approaches and methods described inthe theoretical section of the book using a variety of assessment strategies at both classroom and program levels.Readers will see how different types of institutions both private and public as well as undergraduate and graduatehave designed assessment strategies and plans to gauge and enhance writing and thinking growth in theclassroom and across programs. They candidly describe challenges encountered and solutions they adopted orsuggest. These chapters reflect approaches and perspectives from variousdiscourse communities - including writing program administrators compositionfaculty assessment professionals and individual faculty representingseveral disciplines.The author argues the urgent need to develop strong writers and thinkers. Shediscusses challenges and obstacles but underscores the necessity for morefaculty involvement and institutional commitment. This book will help institutionsand individual faculty design and implement sound meaningfulassessment strategies to foster effective writing and thinking that will bothadvance the goals of the institutional mission and meet faculty's disciplinaryobjectives and scholarly concerns.