Kevin J. Apple et al.
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facets of critical thinking. Instead, we use our limited but valuable information to inform
faculty and administration about the strengths and shortcomings of our program, and
assessment information provides key evidence that helps our department head argue for
additional funding and resources. We also use our knowledge of student responses to
discuss with current students the value of specific types of courses as well as inform them
about the APA’s 10 learning goals. Our assessment plan is dynamic and constantly shaped
by department needs as well as cost of materials, size of student body, and faculty energy.
Assessing critical thinking is not easy, but we enjoy the challenge of trying to measure the
construct.
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