University Daily, Kansan / Monday, April 30, 1990
11
Committee discusses ways of evaluating quality of education
By Matt Taylor
Kansan staff writer
The University Assessment Committee discussed Friday how to assess general education at the University but tailed its decision until a subcommittee report could be compiled on the subject.
The committee scheduled its next meeting for May 10. No deadline was set for the subcommittee report.
Committee member Susan Twomby identified several methods for assessing students' general education. The committee considered accumulating portfolios of exams, essays and research papers written by a select group of students. It also considered interviewing students to gain objective answers to questions about their educations.
"The interviews, combined with portfolios, provide a wholistic view of education," said Twombly, assistant professor of education policy and administration.
She said the portfolios would track students' maturation in college.
Other methods Twomby listed included extensive alumni and employer surveys. Alumni would tell what they learned at the University of Kansas, and employers would include their employees from KU performed.
Twemby said the University could select a group of entering freshmen and periodically evaluate them through college.
David Shulenburger, committee chairman, said he thought there was no committee support for using standardized tests because of their invalidity. He said multiple-choice answers that are read by computers are not the best ways to assess personal skills.
The assessment probably will include a combination of the various methods. Twomby said.
The committee agreed that the assessment should be taken seriously by students, resources should be used efficiently and the methods should be valid.
Education goals
The following is a list of the University of Kansas' 10 goals for general education. They were revised March 30 and will be used by the University Assessment Committee as it develops a program to assess students' educations.
Increase the ability to acquire, develop and convey ideas and information through reading, writing, speaking, seeing and listening.
Foster an appreciation of human diversity by instilling an awareness of differing values, needs and customs.
influence sensitivity to the social, political and environmental issues that confront the world.
- Develop knowledge of the history, mores and language of other cultures.
Create an understanding of the role of technology.
Encourage appreciation of the ethical dimension of human behavior.
- Increase the capacity for critical thinking.
Enhance appreciation for the arts
Nourish the capacity for innovative thinking.
Develop an understanding of the methods used by scholars to explain phenomena in the social sciences, the humanities and the natural, mathematical and physical sciences.
Shulenburger said the first assessment of general education, which was mandated by the Board of Regents in 1988, would be in Spring 2014. The assessment would be based on the University's goals of general education.
"What we want to evaluate is the change in the student," Schulenburger said.
New addition
Andre Nortice, director of Spencer Museum of Art, tells about the sculptor "Kroneko-Akekvdj," by Douglas Abdell. It was dedicated
Saturday in front of Hashinger Hall as part of the hall's spring arts week. The steel sculpture was built in 1981.
Ohio school principal opposes Bart Simpson shirt
The Associated Press
FREMONT, Ohio — Bart Simpson, the spiky-headed cartoon champion of underachievement, has been expelled from an elementary school whose principal says he teaches kids the wrong
Bill Krummn, principal of Lutz Elementary School in Ballville Township, asked students not to wear T-shirts bearing the likeness of Uie bug-eyed, Nazi-faced Friar in the Fox Television cartoon show "The Simpsons."
Krumnnow made the announcement, which he maintains is not an outright ban, Wednesday through the school's public address system after consulting with teachers.
At issue is a shirt that boasts, "Under-achiever and proud of it, man." The shirt is part of a line of "The Simpsons" family gear.
"To be proud of being an incompetent is a contradiction of what we stand for," Krumnow said. "We strive for excellence and to instill good values in kids."
Krumnow also said he was no fan of the weekly show because it taught the wrong things to students.
The response from the show's makers? Don't have a cow, man, as Bart would say. Cool your jets. Antonia Coffman, a spokesman for the show, said the Simpsons were not meant to set any kind of example.
"We know the family isn't exactly a role model family. We know they're not the brightest family in America. They're not meant to be." Coffman said.
Cathy Reiter, mother of a Lutz fourth-grader,
said she thought the flap was senseless.
"They're blowing it way out of proportion. It's not attention." also said, "Do we say 'confront'."
only a cartoon," she said. "To me, it's comical." She said her daughter, Holly, had several Simpson shirts, including the one that offended Krumnw.
Krumnow isn't the first school official to discipline Bart, Coffman told the Blade of Toledo. But he is fast becoming a cult hero anyway, she said.
"We know Bart's a braat," she said. "Bart spelled differently in Heaven. It's a holy terror."
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