Highlights of the CAAP:
- Contains six modules—five objective/multiple choice (reading, writing skills, mathematics, science, and critical thinking) and one writing essay module
- Researched and developed by ACT, which provides support documents and services in "custom designing" and administering the survey for individual institutions
- Ambitious and far-reaching, this survey attempts to provide questions on topics and skills that reflect many institutions’ general education goals; though ACT has researched common curricular objectives, each institution should consider whether the CAAP is in line with its own organizational outcomes
Uses of the CAAP:
- Consider testing before and after a curricular practice (e.g., an interdisciplinary general education program) to measure gains
- Consider testing student groups (e.g., entering first-years vs. rising juniors; full-time vs. part-time; Greek affiliated vs. independent) to investigate relationships between curricular/environmental practices and learning outcomes; CAAP’s summary report provides some student demographic data to facilitate built-in comparisons of CAAP scores for selected student groups
- Consider administering one time only to compare results with those of similar students at like institutions
- When available, consider "linking" individual students’ CAAP results with their results on the ACT Assessment, ASSET, or COMPASS tests (all pre-baccalaureate measures of student performance); ACT has generated national norms or expected growth and can provide institutions an indication of how their students are developing compared to similar institutions
Liberal Arts Outcomes and the CAAP:
- The CAAP is useful for assessing learning outcomes associated with several educational "best practices" (e.g., reading, comprehension, critical thinking, science reasoning, writing skills, and openness to diversity); these best practices are shown to correlate positively to broader liberal arts outcomes
- CAAP modules draw from many disciplines; aim to test the ability to connect and communicate ideas; and test rhetorical, reasoning, and organizational skills; this approach is consistent with several liberal arts outcomes, including integration of learning and effective reasoning and problem solving
- The survey alone cannot comprehensively study the complex interplay of ideas associated with liberal arts outcomes, nor can the CAAP address the more holistic attitudinal characteristics and outcomes of a liberal arts education, such as moral character, leadership, and well-being
- While the CAAP assesses general education outcomes, it does not capture the institutional ethos that characterizes the liberal arts experience; other quantitative instruments (e.g., the NCS and CCTDI) and qualitative approaches that investigate the overall context of student growth and learning should also be considered to fully evaluate liberal arts outcomes
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