Graduate Skills Assessment
Test Development Process
Consultations
All Australian universities were invited to attend meetings held in each mainland state capital city plus Canberra at which representatives were asked to provide a list of skills they valued and would like to see assessed in their students.
The following table summarises the number of times a component had been chosen by stakeholders. Only skills that were clearly mentioned several times have been tallied.
| Component | Individuals and other stakeholders(such as employers and Career Councils) | Institutions - official or general |
| Communication/ Structured Written Response | ///// ///// ///// ///// / | ///// / |
| Problem Solving/ Applied Reasoning/ Strategic | ///// ///// ///// / | ///// / |
| Analytical Skills | ///// //// | ///// |
| Critical Thinking | ///// ///// ///// | // |
| Logical Reasoning | ///// //// | // |
| Ethics/ Citizenship/ Social Responsibility/ Empathy | ///// ///// ///// | /// |
| Creativity | ///// /// | // |
| Interpersonal skills/Teamwork/Leadership | ///// ///// ///// //// | ///// // |
| Skeptical but Open-minded | ///// /// | |
| Flexibility/ tolerate uncertainty | ///// / | // |
| Capacity for commitment to Lifelong/Independent Learning | ///// ///// // | /// |
| Numeracy/ ability to quantify | ///// / | // |
| Literacy | /// | / |
| IT familiarity/ IT use | ///// ///// /// | /// |
| Personal Skills/ self-management/ reflective/ confidence/ self-reliance/initiative | ///// / | ///// |
| Global/ national/ historical/ cross-cultural perspective | ///// // | // |
| Information Literacy/ Management/ Research Skills | ///// /// |
The most frequently mentioned skills were:
- Communication/Structured Writing
- Problem Solving/Applied Reasoning
- Interpersonal Skills/Teamwork
- Critical Thinking
- Ethics/Citizenship/Social Responsibility
- Commitment to and Capacity for Lifelong Learning
- IT familiarity/Use of Technology/Information Literacy/ Information Management
Criteria for Selecting Components for the GSA
Amongst the criteria for selecting components for the test were the following:
- Whether the skill was likely to be definable as a discrete, valid and enduring dimension.
- Reliability, which, amongst other things, limits the number of components that can be tested (probably only three multiple-choice components in two hours).
- Likely diagnostic usefulness, predictive value and transferability.
- The preference of the universities that formally responded for test components that focus on generic cognitive skills rather than personality, specific discipline skills or specific work skills.
On the basis of the selection criteria and various other considerations, the following
four dimensions were selected for the initial GSA test:
- Critical Thinking
- Problem Solving
- Interpersonal Understandings
- Written Communication
While these are the current dimensions in the test, these will be reviewed and other dimensions may be added.
Dimensions in the GSA
Written Communication
The Written Communication component of the GSA involves two tasks - a reporting task and an argument task. Each task is assessed on each of the following:
* Language and expression ( e.g. control of language conventions, clarity and
effectiveness of expression
* Organisation and thought (e.g. effectiveness and purposefulness of organisation,
depth of analysis of issues or information)
Critical Thinking
In the GSA, students are asked to comprehend, analyse and evaluate statements and passages that present viewpoints of the kind they would come across in the real world. Materials used in the GSA tend to be generally accessible
The material in GSA Critical Thinking can be categorised as follows:
- Comprehension in order to identify explicit and implicit meaning
- Analysis in order to identify elements such as definitions being applied, claims being made, points of view, key issues, lines of reasoning, evidence, conclusions, arguments, assumptions, logical flaws, logical implications; missing information, rhetorical devices, ambiguity, inappropriate analogies, etc
- Evaluation in order to judge aspects such as the strength and credibility of evidence and validity of lines of reasoning, conclusion and arguments, etc
Problem Solving
There is an enormous range of problem types and approaches. The GSA approach has been to focus on generally applicable and accessible everyday problems that vary in complexity.
The following aspects of Problem Solving are addressed:
- Identify, comprehend, restate a problem
- Identify and analyse information relevant to a problem
- Translate and represent features of a problem
- Identify, synthesise and apply information relevant to a problem
- Conceptualise/ generate/ identify problem solution
- Evaluate solution strategies and their outcomes
Interpersonal Understandings
Interpersonal Understandings material in the GSA focuses on the ability of students to
- Show insight into the feelings, motivation and behaviour of other people, and into issues related to helping or working with others.
- Recognise how such insight may be applied in order to effectively help or work with others, including effective feedback, listening. Communication, team work and leadership.