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general education assessment

Preamble

Following St. Ignatius of Loyola’s directive to “find God in all things,” the University of Scranton understands General Education to be the foundation for the spiritual development and character formation of its students. Founded on Catholic and Jesuit principles of liberal education, the curriculum aims to integrate the intellectual, spiritual and moral aspects of learning to provide our students with a transformational experience that will aid them in rising to the challenge of engaging in the service of faith and the promotion of justice. General Education assessment activities are conducted by faculty in various disciplines, and coordinated by the Office of Educational Assessment.

General Education Information

Please excuse our appearance as this website is being updated with new General Education Assessment Plan and Results information!

Click here to view the University of Scranton's general education learning outcomes.

These are further reinforced for all students in the University's institutional learning outcomes, the first and second of which directly address general education competencies:

ILO1: Oral and written communication, scientific and quantitative reasoning, critical analysis and reasoning, and technological competency and information literacy
ILO2: Broad knowledge of the human condition, understanding the world in its physical and natural aspects, the philosophical and theological basis for modern thought, faith, and belief

In addition to GE assessment activities outlined in the Comprehensive Plan, the Weinberg Memorial Library's faculty play an important part in the assessment of information literacy. Visit the Library's web site to learn more, and view reports on recent assessments.

General Education Assessment Calendar

GE Assessment Calendar

AY 2023-2024

Year of initial assessment GE Attributes Link to Broader GE Goals
AY 2023-2024 S GE Goal 1
CA, CF, CH, CL GE Goal 4
P GE Goal 5
D GE Goal 6

GE assessment is a continuous process. Faculty teaching in courses or programs within the specified attributes are responsible for assessing learning outcomes according to the schedule and describing the results in a report submitted to OEA. Assessments should be based on attribute-specific GE learning goals and objectives. Assessments completed in fall should be reported by February 15 of the following Spring Semester. Assessments completed in spring should be reported by July 15. In the following academic year, the program/department will discuss the results of the assessment and undertake any curricular change, if needed. A short report regarding the implementation and any future plan should be submitted to OEA by the end of the Spring semester.

Six Steps for an Effective GE Assessment

1. It is useful to start with a mapping of the GE learning goals and objectives ( GE learning outcomes) into specific course’s student learning outcomes or SLOs. A simple table can be constructed with GE learning outcomes and SLOs along the rows and columns.

2. Identify the GE learning outcomes that you want to assess. Not all GE learning outcomes need to be assessed at a time. It may be useful to assess a small number of GE learning outcomes that can be assessed effectively by linking them to the course SLOs (see 1 above).

3. Determine the instrument that you want to use for assessment. They may include but not limited to specific assignments—essays or homework, or questions on an exam. Selection of appropriate assessment instrument is crucial for successful assessment. Any instrument that can be suitable for a course can be used.

4. Determine appropriate criteria and benchmarks to assess student submissions/performance. A rubric may be developed for effective assessment. It is a good idea to share the rubric with students before their submission of essays or other homework.

5. Collect student submissions and compile data by using the benchmarks.

6. Analyze the data and reflect on possible future steps for “closing the loop.”

Outline of a GE Assessment Report

There is no specific template for an assessment report. But ideally the assessment report should explain the above steps for assessment.

1. Present the mapping of GE learning outcomes and course SLOs. (This is optional)

2. Identify the GE learning outcomes and course SLOs to be assessed. Describe the reasons, if any, for selection of the learning outcomes, such as a trend noticed in student performance, result of a previous assessment or specific curricular needs.

3. Describe the assessment instrument. Specific instrument, with the exception of exam questions, may be attached to the main report in an appendix.

4. Describe the rubric, if any, in detail--criteria and the benchmarks.

5. Describe how assessment data are collected.

6. Analyze the main findings from the data and explain the ideas and timetable for “closing the loop.”

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