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The habits of mind are intended to span all General Education courses. They are to help assess the effectiveness of the General Education program as a whole rather than assessing the individual components of the program. Assessment of each habit of mind can be made in every General Education course. These benchmarks are not intended to be used like traditional rubrics. They are meant to gauge the current level of achievement of students as they progress through the General Education program, not as mechanisms to assess the quality of individual assignments. Every student to enter PSU is not expected to already be at the basecamp level in each signpost for a particular habit of mind. Basecamp should be attainable during a student’s first year, and Summit should be achievable by the end of the student’s experience at PSU.
Purposeful Communication
| Purposeful Communication | |||
| Signposts | Base Camp | Climbing | Summit |
| Awareness of Context | Recognizes that every message is created and received within a cultural and historical context
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Draws on knowledge about cultural and historical context, in both the creation of messages and the construction of meaning from messages | Seeks additional knowledge to understand the cultural and historical context, in both the creation of messages and the construction of meaning from messages |
| Comprehension | Shows understanding of the basic meaning of the text by paraphrasing or summarizing the information the text communicates | Uses information in the text, general background knowledge, and/or specific knowledge of the context in which the message was created to draw more complex inferences
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Recognizes that the text has implications beyond its explicit message; identifies broader questions raised by the text; and/or suggests counterarguments in response to the text. |
| Purposeful Expression | Paraphrases, summarizes, and/or quotes from information sources to create a message with a specific purpose | Organizes and synthesizes information from relevant sources to create a clear message with a specific purpose | Organizes and synthesizes information to create a clear message containing new insights that achieves a specific purpose |
| Effective Application of Strategies for Communication | Recognizes that others may bring different perspectives and experiences to the creation of messages and the construction of meaning from messages | Uses communication strategies that take into account the perspectives of others and encourage the exchange of ideas and information | Tailors communication strategies to effectively involve and/or address different audiences, foster respectful dialogue, and build relationships based on mutual understandings |
Problem-Solving
| Problem Solving | |||
| Signposts | Base Camp | Climbing | Summit |
| Problem Framing | When presented with a problem, describes key components of the problem
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Explains the problem clearly and concisely so that others can understand it and artic