Presentation prepared by Marc Singer, Thomas Edison State College for the 3rd OERu Partners meeting describing the remix of an OERu course and development of summative assessment.

1. Intro to Critical Reasoning:
The Journey
Marc P. Singer, Vice Provost
Center for the Assessment of Learning
Thomas Edison State College
Trenton, NJ USA

2. The Beginning
• Thomas Edison State College joined OERu 2012
• Reviewed prototype courses contributed by partners
• Identified Critical Reasoning (Unisa) and Why Sustainable
Practice? (Otago Polytechnic) as possible projects
– Aligned with our curriculum
– Seemed like it would be easy to develop assessments

3. The Goals
• Develop a stand-alone assessment for the course
– Portfolio—already an option
– Credit-by-exam (TECEP)—more convenient and accessible
• Adapt course for open distribution using our portal
• Adapt course for for-credit, mentored version

4. The process
• Staff reviewed course materials on WikiEducator site

5. The exam
• Developed TECEP test description with outcomes based
on Unisa’s outcomes
• We needed to make adjustments:
– Microblogging, journaling not possible in this format
– Unisa’s Outcome 1: Learners actively participate in the opportunities set out
in the study material
– Course determined by School to be at 100-level (Introductory/first-year)
• TESC began development with our students and US
accreditation requirements in mind:
– Self-directed adults
– Come to us with skills and knowledge already acquired
– Online course delivery

6. La longue durée
• Progress on course development slowed—Unisa had
course designers and faculty expertise but not clear
direction
• October 2013: TESC staff met with Unisa to figure out how
to proceed
– Goals of course
– How assessment would work
– Credit transfer
– Questions about prior learning

7. The TESC course
Curriculum Review Committee of our Heavin School of Arts and
Sciences reviewed, made changes:
 CO1 Identify assumptions, reasons, claims and their interaction
 CO2 Make informed logical decisions that are based on facts and
substantiated claims
 CO3 Critically evaluate your own personal biases, misconceptions
and preconceived ideas
 CO4 Identify and critically evaluate the ideas and beliefs of others
 CO5 Analyze and evaluate information and knowledge claims
critically
 CO6 Apply the key concepts of critical reasoning to constructing
one’s own arguments and writing critical essays
Also developed open and objective self-assessments so that students
can evaluate their progress through the course.

8. Alignment of course and exam
Re-aligned TECEP outcomes with those of TESC
course:
• Identify assumptions, reasons, claims and their interaction
• Make informed logical decisions that are based on facts and
substantiated claims
• Identify the various pre-conceived ideas and biases that affect
decision-making
• Analyze and evaluate information and knowledge claims critically
• Apply the key concepts of critical reasoning to constructing
arguments and essays

9. What do we assess?
• Developed pools of TECEP test content to address
outcomes of Unisa and TESC courses, using item
types that are most effective given the constraints of
a timed, proctored online testing environment
• Multiple choice and matching items assess key concepts
(what critical thinking is, types of arguments, structure of
arguments, obstacles to clear thinking, kinds of writing)
• Essay prompts assess ability to
– construct an argument
– evaluate an argument

10. Unisa’s assessment
Unisa will grant credit via RPL.

11. Links
• Open Course: https://sites.google.com/a/courses.tesc.edu/phi-
130-critical-reasoning/
• TECEP exam: http://www2.tesc.edu/listalltecep.php