A higher pragmatism: Assessment in the college curriculum

Abstract

We assess our world as we live in it. Our abilities to pass thoughtful judgments, to draw reasonable conclusions, to establish a sense of what is worthwhile, and to understand what needs to be changed (and what needs to be conserved) are, in essence, assessment abilities. To assess the world is to think actively about it, to consciously obtain and interpret information about it in a manner that leads to some value determination.