FAQs | Program Assessment
- What's wrong with our current GE?
- Who will develop rubrics for the GE Goals and Outcomes?
- How will faculty (all kinds) be given the opportunity on how to incorporate outcomes, be normed, the use of rubrics, assimilated into the new model?
- To what degree will courses listed as potentially satisfying a GE outcome include that outcome in the course syllabus as a student learning outcome?
- Would it be possible to add second language study under Goal 4. "Communicative effectively
using a variety of formats"?
- How will this new system improve systematic and timely GE assessment for program improvement and for WASC, etc.?
- Are there faculty or programs on campus already using rubrics for outcome assessment?
- To what degree will courses listed as potentially satisfying a GE outcome include that outcome in the course syllabus as a student learning outcome?
- What might faculty get out of the new program?
- What are the relative costs of the new program?
What's wrong with our current GE? | Back to Questions
- Most crucially, our current GE does not provide a shared educational vision linked
to the university mission. A GE program that articulates a clear set of ideas can
help students and faculty carry these ideas forward into the rest of the curriculum
and co-curriculum.
- Our current GE assessment plan is unworkable. There is no way to link what students
learn and what's happening in courses to our stated outcomes, short of devising a
stand-study for WASC. Increasingly, both the CSU and WASC expect integrated, embedded
assessment, and our current GE program makes that impossible. The new GE program will
achieve such assessment without adverse impacts on faculty, particularly during the
lead-in to accreditation visits.
- The current "distribution model" creates a chaotic experience for students in which they often fail to connect course work to essential learning.
Who will develop rubrics for the GE Goals and Outcomes? | Back to Questions
How will faculty (all kinds) be given the opportunity on how to incorporate outcomes, be normed, the use of rubrics, assimilated into the new model? | Back to Questions
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
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."
How will this new system improve systematic and timely GE assessment for program improvement and for WASC, etc.? | Back to Questions
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.
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.
What might faculty get out of the new program? | Back to Questions
Faculty involved in teams building rubrics for each outcome and getting trained and/or training others in applying rubrics (sometimes referred to as “norming”) have the opportunity to develop their teaching skills.
As is true now for those who do it, faculty team who team teach as part of University Studies have the opportunity to broaden their own research methodologies, bring new questions to their work, through interaction with colleagues from different disciplinary backgrounds.
Having assessment built in to the University Studies courses will save faculty time during course level, program, and university-wide assessment and review.
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.