美国高校通识教育领域学生思辨能力评估的现状与启示

The Present Situation of Critical Thinking Assessment in General Education Field at American Colleges and Universities and its Revelation

思辨能力是通识教育最重要的学生学习结果之一。近年来,美国通识教育领域的思辨能力评估出现不少困惑,主要是评估的院校问责目的与改进教学目的之间的矛盾。AAC&U发起的"本科生学习的有效评估"项目是试图解决该问题的有效尝试。基于对该评估项目理念和量表的剖析,文章提出:通识教育领域的思辨能力评估应该超越单纯的对思辨能力是学科特定还是学科通用的本体论方面的讨论,融合两者对思辨能力的期望并明确其评估方式,显化教师的隐性思想,寻求对其评测的教学价值和标准化之间的平衡。

Critical thinking is one of the most important student learning outcomes in the general education field. In recent years,the assessment of students＇ critical thinking in the American general education field has met some confusions,the main of which is the conflict between its accountability and improvement purposes. ＂ The Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education＂ initiated by AACU is an effective attempt to solve it. Based on analyzing the ideas of assessment project and scale,this paper puts forward that the assessment of students＇ critical thinking in the general education field should go beyond simple ontological discussions concerning whether critical thinking is domain- specific or generalized,integrate expectations for critical thinking from both sides and define its assessment method,manifest teachers＇ implicit thoughts,and seek the balance between the assessment＇s teaching value and standardization.