Bell Tower and CSUCI skyline

Office of the Provost

FAQs | Building Blocks

 

What are the General Education Goals and Outcomes? | Back to Questions

These are found in the Senate document “Revisions to SP 06-06 General Education Learning Goals and Outcomes”. There are 7 Goals, with each associated with from 2 to 4 outcomes. 

The first Goal incorporates the mission pillars, and could be highlighted within the portfolio as an area where students not only upload the course artifact that demonstrates having met the outcome, but also reflect on their mission-based learning experience.

 

Can current GE courses still be GE courses? | Back to Questions

Programs with courses currently meeting some area of the A-E distribution will be invited to show that their courses offer students the opportunity to meet specific GE outcomes. Upon approval by a faculty committee, course listings will be keyed to the outcomes, so that students can choose those courses based on what outcomes they have yet to fulfill.

 

Can an existing "UDIGE" course be converted into a Required Element Level 2 course? | Back to Questions

Yes. It may be that some current UDIGE courses can be taught at a more introductory level. Others may remain closer to their current form in Level 3. Some UNIV 392s could might also be appropriate at Level 2.

Are there examples of existing courses that could be converted into Level III courses? | Back to Questions

Yes, 498s, UDIGEs, capstones.

Are Level 1 and Level 2 iterations of First Year Experience and Second Year Experience? | Back to Questions

Yes, all Level 1 and 2 courses will include some shared outcomes and course materials and/or methods. Courses may also include outcomes and materials beyond the shared ones, but the shared ones will ensure a common educational experience that will anchor other co-curricular aspects of our first and second year experiences.

What is the timeline for the new GE program? | Back to Questions

Fall 09: Faculty feedback, refinement of vision 
Senate approval of the new University Studies vision and direction 
Spring 10: University Studies Coordinator Appointed 
Development and Senate approval of policies 
Required Elements levels fully developed and NEW? courses approved by GE and Curriculum Committees 
Fall 10: Faculty teams devise rubrics keyed to GE outcomes 
University Studies Outcomes Elective courses approved by GE Committee or faculty task forces 
Development or adoption of e-portfolio software 
Catalog copy 
Spring 11: University Studies Director hired 
Scheduling and staffing of Required Elements level classes for Fall 11 
Faculty training for e-portfolio 
 Fall 11: Freshman class and transfers begin new University Studies program

Who will develop rubrics for the GE Goals and Outcomes? | Back to Questions

Faculty with expertise with specific outcomes will develop rubrics for evaluating student work and course suitability. These groups will also approve student petitions to meet outcomes with work from outside of courses.

How will the Required Elements classes be defined and outlined? | Back to Questions

For each level, faculty will be invited to join a working group charged with 1) writing learning outcomes that will be shared by each section of the course and that map to GE Goals and Outcomes; 2) identifying essential elements of course content and pedagogy; 3) and choosing a set of readings that will form a portion of the syllabus for all courses in that level. These shared elements will create a common intellectual foundation and learning experience for students and faculty alike. Faculty teaching the courses will be free to build upon these foundations in ways that reflect their own expertise.

Will there be a rubric for each outcome within the seven goals? | Back to Questions

There will be seven rubrics, one for each goal, that include within them each outcome associated with that goal.

How will students learn about this new University Studies/GE program, how to use the e-portfolio? | Back to Questions

The e-portfolio will be featured at most orientations, and each Required Elements level (especially Level 1 courses) will emphasize teaching students to understand and use the e-portfolio. Student perceptions of the e-portfolio are related to our goal of shifting student perceptions from GE (an obligation vaguely connected to their educational and career goals) to University Studies, where the e-portfolio helps them take ownership of and responsibility for their own learning. The e-portfolio allows students to see and assess their own growth over time; it allows them to chart their own progress prior to waiting for the mysterious and intimidating grad check. It is our intention to have a e-portfolio that allows students to customize portfolio views for employers and graduate school applications.

To what degree will courses listed as potentially satisfying a GE outcome include that outcome in the course syllabus as a student learning outcome? | Back to Questions

Including the GE outcome as a student outcome in the course would be a reasonable requirement for approval in the University Studies Program. Course may include additional outcomes that may be necessary to meet other goals of the course (as a disciplinary prerequisite, for example), but the GE Outcomes will be listed separately so that students can clearly see which outcomes the course will help them meet.

Would it be possible to add second language study under Goal 4. "Communicative effectively using a variety of formats"?| Back to Questions

Yes, the rubrics for each goal can specify the means of achieving the outcomes under each Goal. For example, the rubric for Outcome 4.2 "Write effectively in various forms" could include a second language as one "form."

Are there faculty or programs on campus already using rubrics for outcome assessment? | Back to Questions
Yes. For example, the Education program uses an eportfolio for credential students. The composition faculty meet together to evaluate writing using rubrics. The library has used rubrics to assess information literacy outcomes.

Might the new program make the CSUCI multicultural graduation requirement now separate from GE unnecessary? This is one area where General Education committees deal with many student petitions and transfer students perceive bottlenecks in completing their GE. | Back to Questions

Yes. Multicultural perspectives is included in Goal 1, Outcome 1. Courses at Level II would give students the opportunity to satisfy this outcome. 
One suggestion has been to pull the mission outcomes in Goal 1 into a section of its own in the e-portfolio, where students not only provide evidence that they have met the multicultural perspectives outcome, but also have a space in the e-portfolio for reflection on that learning process. The reflection would be an extra step that solidifies the centrality of multicultural perspectives and other mission elements. 
Executive Order 1033 states that instruction approved to fulfill the subject-area GE requirements “should recognize the contributions to knowledge and civilization that have been made by members of diverse cultural groups and by women as well as men.” So any University Studies/GE course can include a multicultural outcome.

Will Level II and Level III courses include STEM disciplines, which would support the university’s STEM strategic initiative? | Back to Questions

Yes. A Level II course might emphasize mathematics and quantitative reasoning as part of an integrative course. UDIGE courses with STEM aspects that already exist can become Level III.

Where does undergraduate research fit in? | Back to Questions

Level II courses are an opportunity to introduce students to the methodologies of a number of disciplines, as well as interdisciplinary methodology in their sophomore year. This may get students thinking about research earlier, and prepare them for robust projects in their junior and senior year.

What are the relative costs of the new program? | Back to Questions

University Studies adminstration and release time for “faculty seminars” for rubric development and norming are new and on-going costs. Once the rubrics are developed, the faculty release time could diminish to training and being trained in their application.

E-portfolio acquisition is a cost up front that will payoff in the long run when Assessment release time is greatly diminished as University Studies administration can easily do assessment from information stored and database analyses. An E-portfolio system also has the potential to streamline the GE portion of academic advising.

Faculty development opportunities are built-in to the system at no separate cost.

©