CTOL: College Wide Abilities

All courses have at least 1 CWA and level connected to at least 1 of their course learning outcomes. Make sure to review the course outline for each class you are teaching and note both the CWA(s) and corresponding CWA Level(s). All updated course outlines are on CourseLeaf (adjunct faculty may need to ask their dean or lead for access or for the course outlines)

All CWA assessments must be entered on Canvas beginning Fall 2024. You can review and download the full CWA rubrics (which have example skills, knowledge and abilities; and assessments and assignments).

Analytical Reasoning: Assess qualitative and quantitative information to discern patterns, solve problems, and justify conclusions.

Effective Communication: Convey and receive information applicable to interpersonal and public situations.

Information Literacy: Research and evaluate information to make informed decisions and conclusions.

Multicultural Awareness: Analyze diverse cultural values, beliefs, and practices that impact interactions, social frameworks, and institutional structures.

Social Responsibility: Analyze the ethical, environmental, and community impact of actions within local and global systems.>

All courses have at least 1 CWA and level connected to at least 1 of their course learning outcomes. Make sure to review the course outline for each class you are teaching and note both the CWA(s) and corresponding CWA Level(s). All updated course outlines are on CourseLeaf (adjunct faculty may need to ask their dean or lead for access or for the course outlines).

All CWA assessments must be entered on Canvas beginning Fall 2024. You can review and download more information about CWA levels.

Level 1 – Foundational:

Courses at this level generally:

• Introduce students to aspects of the outcome being assessed.
• Often use field or discipline specific language, terms, and/or values to teach the outcome.
• Often embed basic concepts and foundational skills for the CWA in the course content.

Level 2 – Growth and Development:

Courses at this level generally:

• Increase the complexity of the CWA skill being assessed.
• Often use field or discipline specific language, terms, and/or values to teach the outcome.
• Expect students to have a basic understanding of, and facility with, the CWA.
• Offer students increased nuance and complexity with the CWA, as well as the space and time for students to practice aspects of the CWA.

Level 3 – Skill Attainment and Reinforcement:

Courses at this level generally:

• Provide students with increased complexity and nuance within the CWA being assessed, often a high level of field or discipline specific language, terms, and/or values.
• Provide students with increased opportunities to practice and engage with the CWA at a high degree of complexity.
• Expect students to have some fluency and facility with the CWA, even if they are in a field or pathway outside of their own.
• Often involve higher level thinking within the CWA that includes more theoretical concepts.

Step 1 — Before the Quarter Starts

• Review the course outline and note which CWA’s are listed

• Identify at least one assignment to assess each relevant CWA, or that assesses all relevant CWAs if there are more than one (this should be a summative assessment that occurs at a point in which students should be able to demonstrate proficiency in the CWA)

Step 2 — During the Quarter Before You Assess the CWA

• Do one of the following:
  • Add the CWA rubric (it is under “Rubrics” on every Canvas course). Make sure to edit the rubric to remove any outcomes you are not assessing in that assignment.
  • Add a CWA outcome to an existing rubric or assignment in Canvas for the student work you plan to assess.
• If you run into problems adding outcomes, email the Director of Student Learning Assessment.
• Make sure the assignment is published, unhidden, and is clearly connected to one of the CWA rubrics (in other words, please do not make your own rubric for the CWA, even if it’s the same language; we won’t be able to pull that data)

Step 3 — By the Assessment Deadline for that Quarter

• Use Speed Grader to assess each CWA in your class for each student (“met,” “unmet,” or “not attempted”).

Instructions

[Starting for Summer 2024 classes] All of the College-Wide Abilities are automatically imported into your course outcomes page when the course is created. You do not need to import them yourself. All you need to do, is set up a rubric with your course’s correct CWAs and attach it to the relevant assignment.

There are two ways to create a rubric – from the rubrics page, or from the assignment itself.

1. To create a Rubric, go to the Rubrics page in Canvas. Click on “Add Rubric”.
2. A new rubric will pop up. Give the rubric a name, and edit any criteria you want to use for assessment.
   To add the CWAs, click on “Find Outcome”. Click on “College-Wide Abilities” and find the appropriate CWA and level for your course.
3. You can decide whether you want to use the outcome for scoring or not. Then click “Import.” This will add the CWA to the rubric. Repeat for however many CWAs you are assessing with this particular assignment.
4. Finish making any changes you want to the rubric, then click “Create Rubric”.
5. Navigate to the assignment that includes your CWA assessment. At the bottom, click “+ rubric.” Here, you can create the rubric if you haven’t already, following the same process described above.
6. If you already made your rubric, you can click “Find rubric”. Find the correct course, then find the appropriate rubric and click “Use this rubric”.

Video

What CWAs should I assess?

Make sure to check the course outline for each course you teach. Course outlines are housed in CourseLeaf.

How should I assess the listed CWAs, or why are these specific CWAs listed on my class? 

Ask your dean, program lead or the SLAC representative for your division. They can provide some insight and context for the CWAs assessed in your classes and program. 

Are there CWA assessment examples?

Contact your dean, program lead, or the Director of Student Learning Assessment, for some ideas.  

Why do I need to do this?

As part of our ongoing accreditation, SPSCC is required to assess student achievement of identified course, program, and degree level outcomes as detailed by NWCCU Standards 1.C.1-1.C.7 Assessing the achievement of College Wide Abilities for each student is part of this process.  These data will be compiled and made available to faculty through the Institutional Research dashboard.  The purpose of this assessment is to determine how well we, as a college, are preparing our students for life post-SPSCC. It is not used to evaluate individual faculty.