The CAR project focuses on the following three cognitive skills:  

• critical thinking
• problem solving
• creative thinking

These are being assessed in first and fourth year classes to investigate the "value-add" of student learning. A triangulated approach (see Figure 1) will be used as students skills will be assessed through course assessments, standardized rubrics (VALUE rubrics - Association of American Colleges and Universities), and a standardized test (HEIghten™ - Educational Testing System).

Research Questions

1. What instructional processes and in-class assessment practices are most effective when assessing cognitive skills? 
2. In what ways does the CAR network (Figure 2) support the development and assessment of cognitive skills in undergraduate education?
3. What is the correlation between course assessments, VALUE ratings and HEIghten™ test scores? 
4. What is the "value-add" in a Queen's University undergraduate degree (the difference between the demonstration of cognitive skills in first and in fourth year)?
5. How effective is the CAR network model at propagating change in assessment practices at Queen's University? 

Figure 1: The triangulated approach uses course assessments aligned to standardized VALUE rubrics from the AAC&U, as well as the standardized HEIghten™ test from the ETS to assess the development of students' cognitive skills from first to fourth year at Queen's University. 

• to support faculty and build departmental capacity; 
• to support instructors to develop course-based assessments that align with cognitive skills; 
• to investigate the reliability of course-based outcomes with selective testing;
• to report the value-add between first and fourth year cognitive skills achievement across the institution; and
• to develop an institutional guide for sustained and long-term institutional assessment of cognitive skills 

Figure 2: Visual representation of the CAR network.  The assessment facilitator is the center around which the exchange of information and expertise (for teaching and assessment activities) radiates.