GE RUBRIC/ASSESSMENT AT CSUN:
STARTING SMALL AND SCALING UP
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Beth Lasky
Anu Thakur
Gigi Hessamian
Mintesnot Woldeamanuel
Nina Golden
Ashley Samson
THE TEAM
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Questionnaires to department chairs
Responses from faculty teaching CCS
Faculty who agreed to participate in the assessment
Selection of 5 members:
 Different colleges and departments
 Tenured, tenure-track, full-time lecturer, part-time
lecturer
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THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
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Discuss classes and assignments
Similar assignments in each of the
5 classes
 Reflection papers
Can we use this assignment as a
signature assignment?
Discussion of assignments and
grading criteria
THE PLAN:
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Assess sample reflection papers
from each of the five classes using
a common CCS rubric
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DEVELOPING THE RUBRIC
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Developed rubric based on GE section
SLOs and five professors’ sample
rubrics/grading criteria
Calibrate the rubric
Each team member brought 15
assignments
Randomly selected 8 papers from each
class for a total of 40 papers
Two members applied rubric to each
paper
Quantified results
Updated rubric
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THE RUBRIC
Assignment
Component
Content
Excellent
4
Adequate
2
Poor
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Reflection
Articulates awareness of
how own experiences
have shaped perception
towards other cultures
and/or people with
different backgrounds
Identifies own
experiences, biases or
changing perceptions
and gives significant
supportive evidence.
Identifies own
experiences, biases, or
changing perceptions
and provides some
supportive evidence
Identifies either own
experiences, or bias, or
changing perceptions, but
not enough supportive
evidence.
Does not identify own
experiences, biases, or
changing perceptions and
provides no support
Empathy/Openness
Recognizes the feelings
and views of others from
diverse backgrounds
Effectively discusses the
feelings and views of
others from diverse
backgrounds
Discusses the feelings
and views of others
from diverse
backgrounds
Adequately discusses the
feelings and views of
others from diverse
backgrounds
Does not recognize the
feelings and views of
others from diverse
backgrounds
Observations
Descriptions about
diverse group or contexts
Observations are
specific and objective
with significant
supporting data or facts
Good observations that
are specific with good
supporting data or
facts
Observations are general
with adequate supporting
data or facts
Lacking in observations
and/or sufficient data.
Application of Knowledge
Effectively applies
course concepts to
personal views and
experiences
Good application of
course concepts to
personal views and
experiences
Adequately applies
course concepts to
personal views and
experiences
Does not apply course
concepts to personal views
and experiences
Paper has excellent
grammar and
organization
Paper has good
grammar and
organization
Paper has adequate
grammar and
organization
Paper has many
grammatical errors and
poor organization
Links course concepts to
personal views and
experiences
Style
Good
3
Writing & Organization
Writing is free from
grammatical errors.
Paper is well organized
and flows well
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PRELIMINARY RESULTS
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
1
2
30.00%
3
4
20.00%
10.00%
6
0.00%
Reflection
Empathy
Observations
Knowledge
Writing
DIFFERENCE IN SCORES BY TWO RATERS
16
14
12
10
1
8
2
3
6
4
2
7
0
Reflection
Empathy/Openness
Observations
Knowledge
Writing and Org
WHAT WE LEARNED
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Be specific about what a “reflection” assignment is
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Attach assignment directions to student papers
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Calibration and scoring need to occur on the same day
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IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RUBRIC
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The team met again to discuss and make changes
to the rubric based on feedback from team
members
Ask other instructors in CCS to use the rubric –
presentations to
General Education Council
 Various departments across campus
 Associate Deans
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Team members used rubric for grading in their
classes
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CONTINUING THE PROCESS
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Indirect assessment implemented in Spring 2014 – preand post-surveys to assess student motivation in the class
The process shared with the Critical Thinking GE
assessment/rubric team
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THANK YOU!
QUESTIONS…
Beth.lasky@csun.edu
 Anu.thakur@csun.edu
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