Center for Assessment & Improvement of Learning
Attention: CAT and COVID-19
Given the current circumstances with COVID-19 and the closure of many campuses, we
will be allowing the online administration of the CAT outside of a proctored setting.
We will work with institutions to setup proctor accounts and specific blocks of time
during which a student can log in and complete the CAT. If have questions about an
online CAT administration, please contact cat@tntech.edu.
About the CAT
Click here to view a previously recorded overview about the CAT Instrument.
Assess Important Skills
The CAT instrument is a unique tool designed to assess and promote the improvement of critical thinking and real-world problem solving skills. The instrument is the product of extensive development, testing, and refinement with a broad range of institutions, faculty, and students across the country. The National Science Foundation has provided support for many of these activities.
The CAT instrument is designed to assess a broad range of skills that faculty across the country feel are important components of critical thinking and real world problem solving. The test was designed to be interesting and engaging for students. All of the questions are derived from real world situations. Most of the questions require short answer essay responses, and a detailed scoring guide helps ensure good scoring reliability.
Engage Faculty in Improvement Efforts
We encourage the involvement of faculty in the scoring of the CAT instrument. The paper version of the CAT instrument must be scored by the institution's own faculty using the detailed scoring guide. When administering the online version of the CAT instrument, a sample of student responses is provided to the institution. Training is provided to prepare institutions for this activity. During the scoring process faculty are able to see their students' weaknesses and understand areas that need improvement.
Faculty are encouraged to use the CAT instrument as a model for developing authentic assessments and learning activities in their own discipline that improve students' critical thinking and real-world problem solving skills. These features help close the loop in assessment and quality improvement.
