The Community College General Academic Assessment.

The General Academic Assessment (GAA), an instrument designed to measure students' knowledge of the liberal arts, was developed by the Center for the Study of Community Colleges for use by community colleges to informing decisions about curriculum modifications and estimating institutional outcomes. The instrument, which includes 29 demographic and student experience items, 57 items in humanities, 60 in English usage, 53 in math, 59 in science, and 71 in social science, was constructed for administration to students in academic-transfer courses during a single class period. The GAA was administered in a 1983 pilot study to 1,276 students in 63 classes at three community colleges in California and two in Kansas. Preliminary findings indicated that: (1) 60% of the sample were attending college to prepare for a transfer to a four-year college; (2) the primary reason given for selecting a particular transfer institution was the availability of a program of interest; (3) 64% had received advice from a faculty member concerning course selection; (4) over 20% felt they could benefit from academic support services, but had no time for them; (5) the more semester hours the students had completed, the higher their scores on the GAA; (6) the greater the number of liberal arts courses taken, the higher the total GAA score; and (7) students attending college to satisfy a personal interest scored highest on the GAA. (HB)

Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.