Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions

I am teaching two sections of the same Gen Ed course: do I do this twice?
No;  if you are teaching more than one section of the same Gen Ed course, you just submit once.

Does my lab instructor or GTA for a break-out section fill out this form?
No.  The template will provide access to the faculty member assigned to the Core or Science lecture.  You might gather the student work from the lab or break-out section, but lecturers and GTAs will not have access to the electronic template. 

I am a part time employee: must I submit this data?
Yes.

Do Visiting Faculty provide this information?
Yes.

What faculty do not participate in this project?
If you are teaching a Gordon Rule Writing or Math course, you do not need to participate in this project.  If you teach a 1,000 or 2,000 level course that is not in the General Education Program you do not participate in this project.  The list of General Education courses are available on the COAS website.

I’m a bit confused about how you are identifying an outcome. Please help!
The Gen Ed Outcomes are identified in three categories: Skills, Knowledge, or Values.  You identify each outcome at the most specific level. A Political Science professor, for example, might go to the category II. Knowledge, B. The social, political, economic, and physiological world”, we would need to assess only sub-item  and select item number 3. “demonstrating a general knowledge of American politics and society including the experience of significant minority groups.” The professor would not choose all four sub-items.
 
Why do we have to do this now?
The GEATF has been working on this project for several months this academic year.  This group of faculty piloted this project in 2005-06.  The General Education Council needs this base-line data in preparation for our upcoming site visit.

Why can’t I do all this now?
Academic Affairs is creating the electronic template now; it will be ready April 16. 

What can I do now?
Bring the student work products to the COAS Dean’s Office 51-3300 right away. You can certainly write Step 2 and a first draft of Step 4.  Then as the end of term pressures mount, you could quickly submit this information when the Template is available.

Will I have to do this every term I teach my Gen Ed course?
No: the GEATF will determine an assessment cycle, probably on a two-year cycle.  Be aware that the GEATF may ask you to provide more information next fall as it creates a base-line of data for SACS.

I teach a lower level course that isn’t part of the General Education Curriculum: why isn’t it?
The COAS website provides information: Gen Ed Course Proposal

What is being done with this data?  Who sees it?
Initially, the GEATF members and Marnie Jones, Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences, will have access to the data. Later, the data will be available to the SACS site team as we get closer to the visit.  This May the GEATF will review the data and make a report that will go the General Education Council; relevant sections of the report will go to Department Chairs.  The evaluation is at the programmatic, not the course, level.
Initial improvements may center on methodology such as improvements in process and procedures for collecting data; it might lead to changes in the actual expression of the outcomes: assessment might reveal we need to clarify what the outcomes mean. It may lead to a more direct alignment between assignments and with stated learning outcomes.

Who are the current GEATF members?