General Education Assessment
The goal of assessment is improvement.
The assessment of academic programs is grounded in the principles practiced by the best teachers. Focusing on assessment, the best teachers constantly monitor and evaluate the progress of each student. On a larger scale, they also reflect upon the quality of the class itself: they consider the balance and effectiveness of daily assignments, the quality and relevance of textbooks and readings, the nature and type of graded work across a semester. The best teachers work to make sure that the courses they teach have clear objectives and that those objectives are met-and that they regularly consider ways to improve upon the classroom experience.
Similarly, the University regularly assesses its academic programming, both the foundational general education courses and the advanced and specialized programs of study, the academic majors.
As an institution, the University is constantly seeking to improve. Our commitment to regular, honest, and reflective assessment of our academic programs demonstrates our commitment to improving the quality of the Sewanee experience.
It is an absolute requirement of SACS that instructors of all courses with General Education attributes use assessment data periodically as the basis for some change that is meant to address one or more skills or content areas that students seem to have difficulty mastering.
Planning, Assessing, and reporting: the assessment process
Planning:
- Review the particulars of the Gen Ed objectives. Importantly, be aware that while Gen Ed objectives may intersect and even overlap with disciplinary objectives, this assessment process asks you to focus on the Gen Ed objectives.
- Each Gen Ed learning objective has within it several specific student learning outcomes (SLOs). These are detailed on the assessment reporting forms. Review the SLOs so that you can plan your semester more effectively, with assignments and tasks that support promoting students’ mastery of each SLO within the Gen Ed objective, and also decide when you will assess their mastery (typically in the last weeks of the semester). Having separate SLOs reminds us that we can have different educational goals—comprehension, analysis, and evaluation (for example) are different skills (see Bloom’s taxonomy of learning). It is strongly advised that you use a separate assessment instrument for each SLO, as they focus on different intellectual skills.
- Reviewing the assessment form will also give you a sense of what will be asked of you as the instructor at the end of the semester in terms of gathering and reporting data. You’ll see definitions of mastery: having common definitions makes it easier for us to consider outcomes from a range of disciplines. You’ll also be asked to consider your course data and observations and then outline ways you’ll modify your approach in future terms.
- To be clear: The course grade should not be used as data for the Gen Ed assessment. It is possible for a student to fulfill a Gen Ed learning objective while not fully mastering the disciplinary content (and vice-versa).
- Reviewing the assessment form will also give you a sense of what will be asked of you as the instructor at the end of the semester in terms of gathering and reporting data. You’ll see definitions of mastery: having common definitions makes it easier for us to consider outcomes from a range of disciplines. You’ll also be asked to consider your course data and observations and then outline ways you’ll modify your approach in future terms.
- You may find it useful to review the summaries of assessment reports from the past years at the bottom of this page. These reports importantly note (a) the range of assessment tools (assignments) that faculty have employed and (b) the ways faculty have adapted courses. You can confer with your chair and colleagues for examples and advice.
- Gather your data. Such must include data that can be reported on the tables on the forms; anecdotal data can also be useful in your section on discussion of outcomes.
- Download the blank template (see below), save with your name / course, and complete the report:
- Please note the definitions of mastery on the form; again, having consistent definitions allows us to consider outcomes across disciplines more readily.
- As noted, the course grade should not be used as Gen Ed assessment data.
- For discussion and analysis: Make some connection with the data: what do they suggest? Coupled with your own insight into the class, what comes across as a success or a point of concern? You may, as appropriate, draw comparisons to your reports from other semesters.
- Data help reflect the experience of the students and can highlight areas of strength or of concern. Numbers can help us see patterns that might otherwise not be apparent (or affirm perceived patterns). The data patterns may be particularly useful when considering multiple SLOs: perhaps the students demonstrated mastery on one SLO but not on another.
- Focusing on the data associated with particular tasks can also help you separate their mastery of Gen Ed from other factors: course grades are often the product of multiple factors beyond mastery of the SLOs, reminding us again that the course grade is not tantamount to Gen Ed assessment data.
- Data help reflect the experience of the students and can highlight areas of strength or of concern. Numbers can help us see patterns that might otherwise not be apparent (or affirm perceived patterns). The data patterns may be particularly useful when considering multiple SLOs: perhaps the students demonstrated mastery on one SLO but not on another.
- Finally, the next time you teach this Gen Ed objective, what will you do differently to promote student learning? Herein you should focus on the Gen Ed objective both because this is a Gen Ed report, and also because while you might not teach this specific class again, it may well be that you’ll be teaching this Gen Ed objective next semester. State your modification(s) assertively—not what you hope or will consider but what you’ve decided to change for next time.
- Modifications need not be sweeping (“I’m re-doing every lecture!”) but can be very focused (“I will add this extra type of assignment to address the SLO . . . I will take a class period to give students extra insight into [task associated with SLO] . . . I will develop a handout that offers a better introduction into [aspect of SLO]” . . . “I will partner with [campus office] on a session related to the SLO”).
- Send the report to Dean Bruce (who will send reminders in the last weeks of the term). If you are teaching multiple sections of the same course, you can combine the data and outcomes into a single report. Reports are due every semester within approximately two working weeks from the end of exams.
- Keep a copy your document / form responses to assist you in preparing your next course that addresses the learning objective!
The worksheets below are intended to aid, simplify, and standardize the assessment process.
Learning Objective 1: Reading Closely (Word File)
Learning Objective 2: Understanding the Arts (Word file)
Learning Objective 3: Seeking Meaning (Word file)
Learning Objective 4: Exploring Past and Present (Word File)
Learning Objective 5: Observing, Experimenting, and Modeling (Word file)
Learning Objective 6: Comprehending Cross-culturally (Word file)
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 7: ENCOUNTERING PERSPECTIVES (word file)
General Education Assessment Reports
Summary of Individual Reports, 2022-23
Summary of Individual Reports, 2021-22
Summary of Individual Reports, 2020-21
Summary of Individual Reports, 2019-20
Summary of Assessment Group Reports, 2018-19
Summary of Individual Reports, 2018-19
