The assessment of critical thinking at Capital Community College began with the delineation of the
Critical Thinking Rubric during the annual spring workshop, and it developed through the year, with each project responding to the questions raised by other ones. In the fall, the Assessment Team enacted plans for a Critical Thinking Day, which included Casino Critico (critical thinking games) followed by a debate on a controversial topic (the USA PATRIOT Act). At the same time, teachers throughout the college were embedding the Critical Thinking Assignment, following the model established in prior years with the writing and math assessments. In mid-November, questionnaires from Critical Thinking Day were tallied and samples from the embedded assignment were scored. Discussions of the results led to adjustments in the general embedded assignment for the spring and the development of a Focus Group variation for two of the participating classes. Further consideration of critical thinking activity throughout the school, combined with concern for the validity and sustainability of assessment methods, led the Team to experiment with Artifact Sampling of critical thinking products that were emerging naturally from ongoing course work.

Scores from the embedded assignments were analyzed quantitatively, using the academic profile model developed through previous General Education assessments at the College. In addition, the responses gathered from Critical Thinking Day activities and the Focus Groups prompted the Team to initiate a qualitative analysis project. The results are presented in the Reports for the year.