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Assessment
and General Education
How do you know that the General Education curriculum is successful? When
the goals are met – simple enough, or is it?
What are the goals?
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT GENERAL EDUCATION GUIDELINES
(As approved by the University Senate on May 12, 2003)
Goals of General Education*:
The purpose of general education is to ensure that all University
of Connecticut undergraduate students become articulate and acquire
intellectual breadth and versatility, critical judgment, moral
sensitivity, awareness of their era and society, consciousness
of the diversity of human culture and experience, and a working
understanding of the processes by which they can continue to acquire
and use knowledge. It is vital to the accomplishment of the University’s
mission that a balance between professional and general education
be established and maintained in which each is complementary to
and compatible with the other.
* Based on the Ad Hoc Committee on General Education
of 1985, the Task Force on General Education Report of 2000,
and the Senate Curricula and Courses Committee Report of May
2001.
But, how do we know when a student has
- become articulate?
- acquired intellectual breadth and versatility?
- acquired critical judgment?
- acquired moral sensitivity?
- acquired awareness of their era and society?
- acquired consciousness of the diversity of human culture and
experience?
- acquired a working understanding of the processes by which they
can continue to acquire and use knowledge?
No idea! What will students know and be able to
do as an outcome of their Gen Ed experience?
To answer these questions, the General Education Oversight Committee
(GEOC) is working hard to clarify the goals/objectives/outcomes
of the Gen Ed Content Areas and Competencies so that assessment
of student achievement in reaching the goals of the General Education
curriculum may be undertaken.
Some assessment is already underway as given below ...
The General Education Content Areas
- Content Area 1 Arts and Humanities
- Content Area 2 Social Science
- Content Area 3 Science and Technology
- Content Area 4 Diversity and Multiculturalism
The General Education Competencies
- Computer Technology Competency
- Information Literacy Competency
- Quantitative Competency
- Writing Competency
Link to GEOC
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