ASBOG®S CURRICULUM PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT TOOL (CPAT): AN APPLICATION TO ASSESS GEOLOGY/GEOSCIENCE CURRICULUM USING A NATIONAL STANDARD

In 2008, the Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG^®) began collecting demographic data that allows for detailed statistical analysis of the content domain data from the Fundamentals of Geology (FG) examination by university/college and graduation year. This statistical analysis is useful for universities/colleges by relating performance of the geology curricula to the different domains on the examination. By comparing candidates’ scores to national averages in the different domains by graduation year, the geology curriculum can be assessed. This assessment allows for determination of areas of strengths and weaknesses in a particular geology program.

To streamline the statistical evaluation, ASBOG^® developed CPAT as an assessment tool for geology programs in 2013. Although ASBOG^® is primarily concerned with the development of standardized written examinations for assessing qualifications of applicants seeking registration/licensure as professional geologists, the data generated during this process can be of great significance to academic departments in the assessment of the quality and relevance of their geology curricula.

The FG examination is used to evaluate the competency of candidates who wish to become a licensed professional geologist. This examination emphasizes knowledge and skills that are typically acquired in an academic setting and lead to a BA/BS degree in geology. Data generated from the FG examination can be utilized to assess how well a program’s curriculum is relating an educational background in geology to the practice of the profession.

Currently, more than 260 institutions have the minimum number (10) of examinations in the CPAT database to allow for statistical analysis and comparison; however, only 52 university programs are using CPAT data to assess and modify their curricula using statistical data from this national standard. To facilitate the statistical assessment process, candidate data are grouped by graduation year and compared to national statistical data. CPAT has many different individual and comparative statistical graphs, including z-scores, percentiles, percent above/below the national average, percent passing by graduation year, and ratio and normalized ratio scores. Individual departments with 10 or more examinations have free access to CPAT data.