Grant Summary
$300,000 over 36 months. The "Collaborative Assessment for Liberal Learning" (CALL) project will focus on four learning outcomes, with each institution taking the lead on one of the four: effective writing (Carleton), analytical reasoning (Macalester), critical thinking (St. Olaf), and global understanding (Grinnell). Each of these outcomes is central to the institutional values and missions of the colleges; each outcome is one the colleges are individually and collectively interested in; each outcome is the focus of an assessment initiative currently underway or in the process of development. The project aims for two complementary goals. The first is to examine a wide variety of assessment approaches, determine their feasibility for use at small liberal arts colleges, and evaluate their effectiveness in providing data that can help the consortium colleges identify and sustain what they do well and improve what they need to do better. The second is to continue the work of making assessment part of the ongoing work of the colleges as they endeavor to improve teaching and learning in the liberal arts.