Hartsville, S.C. — Coker College is featured in a new book that profiles successful teaching and learning evaluation methods.  “Assessing Student Learning in General Education: Good Practice Case Studies” (Anker Publishing, 2007) includes a chapter about Coker College’s self-assessment initiative written by David Eubanks, the college’s director of planning, assessment and information services.

“Students and the public have a deep and abiding interest in what gets taught and learned in a college education,” says educator Paul Lingenfelter, in the book’s foreword. “In the end, defining, assessing, and integrating general education has a single purpose — enhancing the knowledge and skills our students need for a satisfying, productive life.” Lingenfelter is president of the Colorado State Higher Education Executive Officers.

In the book, Eubanks writes that one of Coker’s missions as a liberal arts college is to graduate students with the ability to think analytically and creatively, and to write and speak effectively. Rather than use a standardized test to attempt to measure student abilities in these areas, Coker has developed a student-centered approach called FACS, or Faculty Assessment of Core Skills.

FACS relies on the professional judgments made by the faculty as they work with individually with students. FACS helps Coker monitor learning outcomes so that the college can fulfill its  educational commitment to students. Recently, FACS data led Coker to establish Write On!, a campus-wide initiative to help make every student a better writer and to train faculty in the best ways to teach writing.

Edited by Marilee Bresciani, associate professor of postsecondary education at San Diego State University, “Assessing Student Learning in General Education” also includes case studies of  The College of William and Mary, North Carolina State University, and the University of Cincinnati.

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June 29, 2007