Graduate Skills Assessment (GSA)
The Graduate
Skills Assessment (GSA) is a national test conducted by the Australian
Council for Educational Research (ACER) and administered to students entering
university, the Entry test, and again in the final year of a bachelor
degree, the Exit test. The rationale behind the entry and exit tests is
that students who sit both tests will have a measure of the value-added
to their skills by their university studies, and the institution will
be able to identify the skills gained by their graduates. Graduating students
will also have a measure of their skills benchmarked against national
criteria to present as evidence to prospective employers.
The test assesses four skills:
- Written Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Problem Solving
- Interpersonal Understandings
These four skill areas were identified by DETYA as those most important
to employers and most commonly listed by universities in their sets of
graduate attributes. The Written Communication component is assessed by
a one hour examination consisting of two tasks, a Reporting task and an
Argument task. The other three skills are assessed by a two hour multiple
choice examination.
http://www.tlc.murdoch.edu.au/eddev/evaluation/
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Murdoch University decided to take part in order to give its students
the opportunity to have their skills assessed and to gain formal recognition
of the results. Sitting the test is currently voluntary for students.
Six thousand places for each test were funded nationwide by DETYA and
all Murdoch students who applied to take the tests received a funded place.
The Teaching and Learning Centre is currently responsible for the administration
of the test at Murdoch, and a report on the Exit 2000 and Entry 2001 tests
is available.
http://www.tlc.murdoch.edu.au/eddev/evaluation/gsa/gsareport.html
Further information on the components and on the validity and reliability
of GSA is provided at the ACER website.
http://www.acer.edu.au
Information on the Graduate Skills Assessment (GSA) is included here because:
- The four
skills tested provide a useful comparison with Murdoch's Graduate
Attributes list.
- The descriptors
of the three levels expected in the GSA may help to inform your own
attempts to arrive at the skill levels expected of your students as
they progress through their degrees.
View the GSA skill levels.
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