SACS, Georgia Board of Regents, and GSU Policies Relevant to General
Education Outcomes
Relevant SACS
Standards
Section III. Comprehensive Standards
Institutional
Institutional Effectiveness
16. The institution identifies expected outcomes for its educational programs and its administrative and educational support services; assesses whether it achieves these outcomes; and provides evidence of improvement based on analysis of those results.
Programs
Educational Programs
Standards Specific to Undergraduate Programs
15. The institution identifies competencies within the general education core and provides evidence that graduates have attained those college-level competencies.
Relevant BOR Policy
General Education in the University System of
From the origins of intellectual study to the present, general education has
been a key to a fulfilling life of self-knowledge, self-reflection, critical
awareness, and lifelong learning. General education has traditionally focused
on oral and written communication, quantitative reasoning and mathematics,
studies in culture and society, scientific reasoning, and aesthetic
appreciation. Today, general education also assists students in their understanding
of technology, information literacy, diversity, and global awareness. In
meeting all of these needs, general education provides college students with
their best opportunity to experience the breadth of human knowledge and the
ways that knowledge in various disciplines is interrelated.
In the University System of Georgia, general education programs consist of a
group of courses known as the Core Curriculum as well as other courses and
co-curricular experiences specific to each institution. The attainment of
general education learning outcomes prepares responsible, reflective citizens
who adapt constructively to change. General education programs impart
knowledge, values, skills, and behaviors related to critical thinking and
logical problem-solving. General education includes opportunities for
interdisciplinary learning and experiences that increase intellectual
curiosity, providing the basis for advanced study in the variety of fields
offered by today's colleges and universities.
Approved by the Council on General Education, October, 2004
Approved by the Chief Academic Officers, December, 2004
Relevant
University Senate Policies
Approved by
Senate
Approved by APACE Committee
DEPARTMENT RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF
UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS AND ORAL, WRITING, AND COMPUTING COMPETENCIES
Policy: Academic departments have the responsibility for the assessment of the programs of their undergraduate majors and for the assurance of their competency in written and oral communication and computing competencies. Each department will develop and implement a program of assessment that will include student learning outcomes, measurable results, and methods of assessment. Departments will detail their use of outcomes assessment to improve their instructional programs in their annual departmental reports and in Academic Program Review. Departments will include in their assessment plans the writing, speaking, and computing competencies required by their graduates.
Rationale: The Assessment Subcommittee operated under the principle that in order for assessment to be effective, faculty must be the guiding force. In these two proposals, faculty across the university as well as faculty within departments have both the responsibility and the opportunity to shape what student learning outcomes should be, how the achievement of these learning outcomes should be assessed and how the information derived from the assessments should be used to improve student learning and institutional effectiveness.
General Education Goals
Approved by the Undergraduate Council 1/30/04
Approved by the University Senate 2/13/04
Goal
I. Communication
1. Students communicate effectively using appropriate
writing conventions and formats.
2. Students communicate effectively using appropriate oral or signed
conventions and formats.
Goal II. Collaboration
1. Students participate
effectively in collaborative activities.
Goal III. Critical Thinking
1. Students formulate appropriate questions for
research.
2. Students effectively collect appropriate evidence.
3. Students appropriately
evaluate claims, arguments, evidence and hypotheses.
4. Students use the results
of analysis to appropriately construct new arguments and formulate new
questions.
Goal VI.
Technology
1. Students effectively use
computers and other technology appropriate to the discipline.
400 ACADEMIC INSTRUCTIONAL INFORMATION
401.01 Course Syllabus
4. course objectives that specify measurable and/or
observable student learning outcomes. These learning outcomes should state
course objectives in language that makes explicit the knowledge and skills
students should have after completing the course. Consequently, these
objectives may be quantitative or qualitative, as appropriate for the learning
outcomes. The learning outcomes for general education courses are available at http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwapa/goalsassessmentofgeneraleducation.html,
as approved by the GSU Senate