Guidelines for Assessing Towson's General Education Curriculum

Underlying Principles  

	Each category should have a few common learning outcomes (goals) that are clearly stated and measurable.  The goals should address thinking skills as well as conceptual understanding.
	Every student enrolled in a course in a particular category should have sufficient opportunity to master that category’s key learning outcomes.
	Because every assessment tool and technique is imperfect and has inherent strengths and weaknesses, multiple assessment tools and techniques should be used.
	Assessment tools and techniques should be appropriate for the learning outcomes being assessed, should provide equitable opportunities for students to demonstrate what they’ve learned, and should yield truthful and fair information that can be used with confidence.
	Assessment findings should not dictate decisions about students and programs and should not be a factor in tenure, promotion, merit or other decisions concerning an individual faculty member unless that faculty member so chooses.
	The time and resources devoted to assessment activities should be in proportion to their value in improv­ing student learning.
	The General Education curriculum should have a written assessment plan and annual reports on its assessment activities and results.

Assessment Process

1. As each category comes up for its five-year recertification, as part of that review the faculty will establish common learning outcomes for all courses in that category and design and implement assessment strategies for those learning outcomes.
2. The Director of Assessment & Institutional Research is available to help the faculty establish learning outcomes and design and implement assessment strategies. 
3. Each category that is planning or undertaking assessment activities will report annually on those activities.
4. The Director of General Education will compile the category reports into an annual report on the assessment of the General Education curriculum.

Endorsed by the General Education Subcommittee 
May 15, 2002

Assessment data and a report on how a program is using that data is
required for recertification, beginning with IIA1 courses in spring 2004.  Exceptions will be made only for courses for which no assessment program has yet been approved by the General Education Subcommittee and the Office of Assessment & Institutional Research.

Approved by the General Education Subcommittee
December 20, 2002

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Last updated: 4.1.05

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