Critical
thinking. Tests of critical thinking. Critical thinking tests. Critical
thinking skills. IQ. Tests. CT.
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Ordering, Invoicing, and Shipping
Do
I need a purchase order number?
Yes, unless your order is prepaid by check or you are using a
personal AMEX, VISA or MasterCard IA accepts phone and FAX orders which
include a purchase order number. Shipping and billing addresses,
if not the same, should be included in the phone or FAX message.
Download the Fax
Order Form here.
Can I order tests if I'm not a teacher or professor?
Yes. But certain important restrictions apply. Click
here for details.
Do you accept credit card payments?
Yes. AMEX, VISA and MasterCard.
How quickly are things shipped?
Typically orders for tests, specimen kits, and answer forms are
filled and shipped within three to five business days from the
time a valid order is received by mail, phone, or fax. Allow two
weeks for scanning, scoring, and statistical analysis of CapScore™
response forms.
Can
I get rush overnight shipping?
Yes. Rush order service is available for a small charge. Phone
for details.
How
can I get a copy of one of your instruments to examine?
Download the Fax
Order Form here. Specimen Kits for our tools include
examination copies of the instruments. Because of the technical
background associated with the validity and reliability of these
instruments, it is strongly recommended that the persons seeking
to evaluate these tools for possible use should do so with the
Test Manuals ready at hand. Key factors such as construct validity,
content validity, reliability and the like cannot be readily determined
by simple inspection. It is out of respect for the idea of thoughtful
and well-informed judgment that we do not provide individual copies
of the instruments apart from those included in the Specimen Kits.
What if my shipment is lost?
We can give you a its UPS, Fed-EX, or US Postal Service shipment
tracing number so you can monitor the progress of your shipment.
We have not lost any shipments yet, but at times shipments have
been misplaced in university receiving departments or held up
in customs offices. Just e-mail or phone us if you think your
shipment is late in coming and we'll work with you to find out
where it is.
Will
the specimen kit include test answers?
No. Because our tests are used often for high stakes testing,
and to maintain the integrity of the instruments and their value
to all users, it is the policy of Insight Assessment never to
release answer keys. All scoring of all instruments is handled
through Insight Assessment. There are many ways to achieve this
including e-testing, CapScore™ and data file transfers.
Test Scanning, Scoring, and Copying Test or Answer
Sheets
Can
I photocopy the test booklets when I need additional copies?
No. Under no circumstances may the assessment tools published
by the California Academic Press LLC and Insight Assessment be
photocopied. Make sure you order enough test booklets so that
each individual tested will have their own booklet. Photocopying
test booklets is a violation of copyright laws.
Does
IA score the tests for me?
Yes. When you purchase a batch of answer sheets for any tool
or test you receive a complete set of scoring services. Your answer
sheets, when returned to Insight Assessment [ = The California
Academic Press], the batch will be scanned, the scores and sub-scores
for each test-taker will be calculated, and the statistics describing
the performance of the whole batch of test-takers will be derived
from the data. You will receive both a written report with all
this information about your batch of answer sheets as well as
a computer file that contains your data. For details visit our
CapScore™
web page. You can also phone or e-mail us with your questions
about test scoring. For reasons of test security, and to maintain
the integrity of the testing tools for all our clients, Insight
Assessment never releases the scoring keys.
How
long does it take for the results to come back after we send our
batch of answer sheets to be scanned, scored, and analyzed? Normally
you should allow twenty working days for scanning, scoring, and
analysis, plus three days in transit to IA and from IA back to
you. Rush
/ Express Service
is available for an additional fee.
Can you supply more advanced statistical analyses?
Yes. Custom CapScore™ Services are available. These services
include inferential statistics, such as correlations, t-tests,
ANOVA, and the like. Begin to learn more by visiting Custom
CapScore™ Services.
What
is a batch-split fee and how can I avoid it?
When you buy
a batch of answer forms, at the same time you are
purchasing the scanning, scoring, and analysis of that one batch
of answer forms. There is a group
indicator field on the answer forms that
you can use to distinguish different groups of test-takers from
one another for purposes of comparing the scores of different
groups. Return the entire batch of answer forms at the same time
to receive your scanning, scoring, and analysis services. If you
split the batch of forms apart, either physically (with rubber
bands, envelopes, paper clips, etc.) or by using separate mailings,
you will incur additional charges, called "batch
split fees." [Commercial and
retail clients do are not charged batch-split fees at this time.]
Where
can I find out more about IA's test scoring services?
Click
here for information about CapScore™
I
need a few more CapScore™ answer sheets; so, can I just make
a couple of copies and send them in for scoring?
No. CapScore™ answer sheets are specially designed and encoded
so that they can be scanned accurately. Photocopied answer sheets
do not scan accurately. Data gathered on photocopied answer sheets
must be laboriously hand entered, since there is a high risk of
inaccuracy when attempting to scan other than CapScore™ answer
sheets. Photocopying answer sheets a violation of copyright laws.
What
if the answer sheets I send back for scoring are lost in the mail?
Many of our clients make photocopies of their answer forms
before they send them back to us for scoring. Just in case the
worst happens and your shipment is lost or damaged, keep the photocopies
-- our scanners cannot read them -- and send in the originals
for scoring. By the way, this worry is just one more reason to
switch to e-testing.
When
I order answer sheets do I need to order additional test booklets
if I have clean booklets on hand?
No. If you have clean booklets you do not need to order more booklets.
But don't forget to purchase additional CapScore™ Answer
Sheets. Before reusing test booklets be sure they are in good
condition, with no writing in them. Extraneous marks or writing
of any kind may influence the performance of a test-taker and
therefore only clean and unmarked test booklets should be used
in testing. Used test booklets should be destroyed.
E-Testing
Which
IA tests are available on-line? All of them.
Can I put my own tests or survey on-line for my workers, students,
or research subjects? Yes. The e-testing system is very extremely
versatile. Just give us a call to discuss your project.
How
long do my test-takers have to wait before they can know their
test scores? That decision is yours. If you wish to enable
instant scoring, your test-takers an know their individual results
as soon as they complete taking the test. Or, if you prefer, you
can gather the data on your whole group and share results with
individuals when you think it is best.
Can
I control assignments and have my test-takers repeat tests?
Yes.
As the client site administrator, you determine which tests are
assigned to your test-takers, when those tests may be taken, whether
or not the tests are timed, whether test-takers may make multiple
attempts at the same assignment, or whether a given test should
be assigned at a later time for a pretest posttest research design.
How do I get access to my test-takers scores?
As the client site administrator you have your own LOGIN and password
which you can use any time to access information about your test-takers,
to monitor how your group is doing on the assignments you have
made, to access test scores and download those scores for further
analysis, or to make new assignments, add test-takers, or manage
your account in other ways.
Can I pay for tests as I use them, rather than all at once?
Yes. You can select either full payment in advance for the number
of tests you expect your group to attempt, or monthly billing
based on the tests your test takers have attempted in that period
of time. Either way, if you are using one of our IA tests, beyond
the initial setup charges, you pay only for the test attempted
and submitted by your test-takers.
Can
I use on-line testing to give my questionnaire, research survey,
or final exam?
Yes. The IA testing system was designed to permit any number of
tests to be given to any number of groups of test takers. If your
employee questionnaire, student survey, research tool, or final
exam is multiple choice or agree-disagree style, then it can be
loaded into the IA testing system.
Do
I need any special software to run the IA e-testing system?
When a test-taker logs into the system with the secure login
and password he or she has been given, the system will check to
be sure that the computer the test-taker is using has Java Webstart
installed and running. If not, the system will install this commonly
used and very safe piece of software free of charge, whether the
test taker is on an Windows or a MAC platform. In most cases Java
Webstart is already available and running on newer computers.
For more on e-testing
click here.
Tests
and other Products or Services
What
do different tools measure?
Some measure reasoning skills. Other measure motivation or the
disposition toward thinking. Skills tests include: The Test
of Everyday Reasoning, The
California Critical Thinking Skills Test, The
Health Sciences Reasoning Test, and more. These
tests measure reasoning skills including reasoning with text-based
information, diagrams, and in contexts that are quantitative as
well as qualitative. These skills test invite test-takers to form
judgments, make decisions, and solve problems. The critical thinking
and basic reasoning skills tested include interpretation, analysis,
inductive and deductive inference, evaluation of claims and reasons,
explanation of reasons, and meta-cognition. They resemble a reading
comprehension test. Their questions are challenging. Increasing
numbers of correct responses signal meaningful differences in
a test takers' skills. See The
Delphi Report for examples of skills and sub-skills.
See the descriptions
of each test for its specific features and uses.
Disposition
and motivation measures include the California
Measure of Mental Motivation (CM3) and The
California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory.
These tools measure a person's orientation or consistent internal
motivation toward using thinking to learn and to solve problems
or the persons orientation away from that approach. Each tool
contains multiple scales. These tools are designed for use with
persons of many different age and educational levels from late
primary grades through junior high, high school, community college
adults, college students, graduates, and professionals. These
tools focus on one's attitudes, beliefs, and inclinations whether
or not one is inclined toward using their critical thinking. An
individual may have a predisposition not to use a skill. Whether
a person who is inclined to think can think, and whether a person
who can think is inclined to use this skill are separate questions.
What's
the difference between a skill and a disposition?
A skill is something a person can do, like reading, swimming,
singing, or thinking. Skills are more or less well developed within
the range of a persons abilities. A person may have the ability
to play the piano, but not have developed his or her skill at
playing the piano. A disposition is a habitual inclination, like
being loving, trustworthy, open-minded, or, on the negative side,
biased, imprudent, or cowardly. A person may or may not be disposed
to use some of their skills. A person, for example, might be skilled
at painting walls and woodwork, but not be inclined to take on
that chore. We can test a person's skills by asking them to perform
tasks that require the use of those skills. We can assess a person's
disposition by asking the person about their beliefs, preferences,
and values. This is not to say that creating and validating these
kinds of tests and measures does not, itself, require a good deal
of skill, and knowledge. To explore the relationship between being
skilled at critical thinking and being disposed at critical thinking,
download a copy of "The Disposition Toward Critical Thinking:Its
Character, Measurement, and Relationship to Critical Thinking
Skill" free from from our Articles,
Technical Reports, and Resources.
Do you have a critical thinking test for nursing and health sciences?
Yes, the Health Sciences Reasoning Test measures critical thinking
skills. It was designed for students in nursing, optometry, pharmacy,
occupational therapy, and other health sciences. Click
here for more information about the HSRT.
Do
you have a critical thinking test for business? Yes, the Business
Critical Thinking Skills Test. This tool measures analysis, inference,
evaluation, deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning. It was
designed primarily for businesses and for business preparation
programs undergraduate and at the graduate professional levels.
Click
here for more information about the BCTST.
Do
you have things for elementary school, junior high, or high school
students?
Yes. The CM3 comes in several different forms each designed for
a different K-16 level. Click here to learn more about the CM3
-- The California
Measure of Mental Motivation. For reasoning skills
use the TER has been used successfully, particularly with high
school students. Click here for more information on the TER -
The
Test of Everyday Reasoning.
How
long do the tests take to administer?
Each test's Specimen Kit includes information on how to administer
that particular test. Generally speaking, skills tests typically
take 50 minutes, disposition and motivation inventories 20 minutes.
But times can vary by context. The long form of the challenging
California Reasoning Appraisal should be used in a two hour time
frame. See the specific
tests and assessment tools for their specific characteristics.
How
do different forms of a test relate to each other?
This
question is answered by the specific information given in the
descriptions of each test; and expanded on in the Test Manual
with each test's Specimen Kit. But in brief: CCTST:
Form A and Form B are intended to be statistically
equivalent. The questions on Form B mirror those, item for item,
on Form A. Form
2000 of the CCTST, newer and updated by the use of
diagrammatic as well as text-based items, is superior to the other
two forms. You can examine all three forms by purchasing a CCTST
Specimen Kit. CRA:
There is a short form (60 minutes) and a long form (120 minutes)
of The California Reasoning Appraisal. For more see the test's
description and its specimen kit. CM3:
This measure of one's motivation toward learning and inquiry is
available in three forms, each designed to be used with a different
age/grade level of test-taker. See the test's description on this
web site and the Specimen Kit for more information.
To
measure critical thinking, which instruments should I use?
This depends on the age and educational level of the test-takers.
It is wise to use a skills test and a disposition measure in conjunction
with each other, unless your objective is to assess only the skills
dimension or only the dispositional dimension.
Can
I make copies of the examination copy of a supplied in the Specimen
Kit?
The tool included in the specimen kit is for inspection only.
Once you decide to use the instrument you must purchase additional
test booklets. A single instrument is required for each individual
to be tested in a given administration. Photocopying test booklets
is a violation of copyright laws. For purposes of test security
it is important that people not make unauthorized copies of the
tests and that they maintain the examination copy and the bundles
of test booklets purchased in a secure place. However, for test
security reasons and to maintain the integrity of our tests for
all our clients and users, the answer keys are never distributed.
If
we don't want tests, are there other ways to evaluate work products
or workplace contributions for critical thinking?
Yes. There is the
Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric and the Professional
Judgment Rating Form. You can learn more about each
by clicking on their names above. We offer a number of other rubrics
as free tools for you to download and use in your learning outcomes
assessment work. Click
here.
Do
you score the tests for me?
If you use our e-testing system, the tests are scored automatically
as they are taken. If you use the paper booklets then you will
be using the CapScore™ scannable answer sheets. Send these
in for scoring and analysis after you have administered the test.
Click here for information on IA's
E-Testing System. Click here for more on CapScore™
paper and pencil scanning and scoring.
Do
you offer any suggestions for how to teach critical thinking?
Yes. Our lead
consultants have made many presentations and
offered workshops on teaching for and about thinking at hundreds
of educational institutions and conferences. You can contact them
by e-mail. For information about each go click
here. Some of their workshop handouts and PowerPoint
slides are on this web site. Visit our Teaching
Tips.
Project
Design and Assistance
Do
I need to use different forms of the CCTST to do a pretest and
posttest?
No. It is not necessary to use different forms of the CCTST to
pretest and posttest. Valid pretest/posttest designs can be implemented
using just one of the forms. If you are not sure about how to
do this, give us a phone call to talk about your project and its
design. Students report remembering the questions, because they
are interesting, but not remembering how they answered the questions
-- because they have to reason out the answers.
If
IA scores the tests with CapScore™, which data do I receive?
You will receive basic descriptive statistics for the batch
of test scored, namely mean, median, high score, low score, standard
deviation, and the like. Custom CapScore™ Service includes
inferential statistics, such as t-test, correlations, ANOVA, and
the like. Visit the CapScore™
page for more information.
Can
we use the results from your tests in our accreditation or performance
funding process?
At the college, community college, professional school level
regional and national accrediting agencies recognize the data
gathered with our testing tools for purposes of educational outcomes
assessment and accreditation. States with performance funding
mandates, e.g. Tennessee, have approved certain of our tools for
use in their funding processes. The CCTST is used by hundreds
of graduate and undergraduate nursing programs throughout the
United States for the purpose of gathering data for professional
accreditation in that discipline. Visit our technical
reports archive.
How
can your products help me with personnel evaluations?
By using IA's reasoning skills tests and motivation inventories
you can gather objective data as part of a comprehensive set of
data that can be used, judiciously, for purposes relating to screening
employment applications, or for purposes relating to other personnel
processes, such as evaluation or promotion.
Our
company wants to give a survey to our employees, can you handle
the printing, scanning, scoring, and analysis of results? Yes.
IA can make your survey available to your workers using our e-testing
system. With e-testing you can have access to your group's test
results as soon as your test takers complete your survey. Our
e-testing system is a secure module accessed by your test takers
via the Internet. As the client site administrator, you would
have special high-level access to all responses and test taker
information. Or, if you prefer a paper and pencil approach, IA
can design CapScore™ response forms for your survey instrument,
and CapScore™ can scan, score, and analyze the data gathered
by your survey. Visit the Custom
Designed Survey and Evaluation Tools web page
for more details.
How can we put our questionnaire on-line?
IA's On-line
Testing Center is the place to go for details
about how your questionnaire, evaluation form, or test can be
put on-line for your target audience.
Can
IA help us design a better student course evaluation form?
Sophisticated course evaluation forms focus on the pedagogical
approaches and learning outcomes appropriate to different kinds
of instructional settings and fields of study. Our instrument
design specialists can assist you in selecting items from our
teaching evaluation form item banks to create an evaluation form
that suits your educational context. Begin by visiting our Teaching
Course Evaluation Form web page.
If
I use the CCTDI or the CM3, what can I infer about people's reasoning
skills?
Not much. These tools measure the disposition, the consistent
internal motivation, to use one's skills. But these tools do not
test the quality of those skills, which may be anywhere from quite
stellar to sadly abysmal.
And,
if I use the CCTST, the HSRT, the TER, the CRA, or the Quant-Q,
what can I know about a person's disposition toward thinking?
There is not scientific research that we know of that allows us
to give a definitive answer to this question. The
Delphi Report contains some speculation about an association
of very high levels of skills and a positive disposition toward
critical thinking. However, this has yet to be confirmed as far
as we are aware, by empirical research. Our published research
on the relationship of CT skills and dispositions shows no strong
relationship. Click
here to download PDF files of articles and research on critical
thinking.
Why
We Do What We Do
IA
was founded by educators who love teaching, love research, and believe
in the importance of high quality administrative leadership. We
believe that success in any endeavor demands good thinking. In education
it means that students at every level must be taught to reason skillfully,
objectively, and fair-mindedly In business this means that every
level of an organization must be enabled to solve problems, make
decisions, and propose changes that will move the organization forward.
But even more important are the personal, societal, and democratic
applications of good reasoning. For, no society can become truly
free or remain truly free unless its citizens can and do think.
We
at Insight Assessment share a deep commitment to the assisting people
of all ages and walks of life to become both willing and able to
solve problems creatively, to make informed decisions, and to judge
wisely what to believe and what to do. We know that in this commitment
to the development and evaluation of reasoned judgment, we are joining
many other people around the world and down through the centuries
who value reasoning and truthseeking.
Insight
Assessment was established as The California Academic Press in 1986
by Dr. Peter A. Facione, a leading figure in the quest to demonstrate
empirically that a consensus understanding of critical thinking
could be attained and that the core cognitive skills and centrally
important dispositional habits of mind of critical thinking could
be learned, taught, and assessed. In 1990 The California Academic
Press published its first reasoning skills test and in 1992 its
first critical thinking disposition inventory. Since that time research
has continued on the development of a broader array of reasoning
assessment tools and on expanding what is known about critical thinking,
problem-solving, and decision-making. The focus of this research
has been on integrating humanistic and scientific approaches with
the expressed purpose of achieving practical gains. The aim is to
assist people in becoming better thinkers by knowing how thinking
works, how improvements in thinking can be learned, how mistakes
in thinking can be identified and avoided, and how one can use meta-cognition
as well as objective assessment information to improve one's own
thinking.
First
as The California Academic Press and now as Insight Assessment,
the sale of reasoning tests lead naturally to consulting activity,
to the custom design of assessment tools for a clients with particular
evaluation objectives, and to the development of support services,
such as test scoring and analysis, to provide cost-effective, high
quality, and technically sound services and products to an ever
expanding client base. Today Insight Assessment's tests are used
throughout the world, having been translated into many languages.
Our team of senior consultants are in high demand by business, government,
and education clients. And demand for our customized assessment
support services, including instrument design, scanning, scoring,
and statistical analysis of data, has resulted in productive long
term relationships with a number of for-profit and not-for-profit
organizations throughout the United States.
It
is our goal that all of our clients will have confidence that the
decision they make are guided by valid and reliable assessment data.
Having worked with Insight Assessment, clients will justifiably
take pride in the achievements of their organizations, and their
employees or their students, because of the quality of the thinking
that is manifested. By using our materials reflectively, clients
will be better positioned consistently to make better judgments
in their personal, professional, and civic lives.
As
long as individuals and groups find it necessary and useful to engage
in effective problem-solving, intelligent decision-making, and sound
reasoning, Insight Assessment will be there to assist in the development
and evaluation of the skills and habits of mind that are the basis
of those critically important processes.
January
2006.
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