Faculty Forum on General
Education Outcomes
QCC General Education Assessment Task
Force
March 21 and 22, 2016
Context: What is General Education?
General Education: “Refers to the part of a liberal education
shared by all students. Typically grounded in the humanities,
sciences, social sciences, and arts, general education provides
a platform for fostering proficiencies that span all fields of study
(e.g., social and ethical responsibility, critical thinking, evidencebased reasoning, communication, and problem solving) while
also providing opportunities for hands-on experience with
complex questions and problems.”
General Education Maps and Markers, AAC&U 2015
Context: What are General Education Outcomes
and why do we need them?
 Statements of those learning proficiencies which the
College wants and expects graduates to attain
 Required by NYSED, Middle States, and disciplinespecific accrediting agencies
 Assessment measures how well students are achieving
the outcomes for two main purposes – accountability to
stakeholders and information that faculty and students
can use to improve learning
QCC’s General Education Outcomes
Approved by the Academic Senate May 2007
1. Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking
2. Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to make
informed decisions
3. Reason quantitatively and mathematically as required in their fields of interest and in everyday
life
4. Use information management and technology skills effectively for academic research and lifelong
learning
5. Integrate knowledge and skills in their program of study
6. Differentiate and make informed decisions about issues based on multiple value system
7. Work collaboratively in diverse groups directed at accomplishing learning objectives
8. Use historical or social sciences perspectives to examine formation of ideas, human behavior,
social institutions, or social processes
9. Employ concepts and methods of the natural and physical sciences to make informed judgments
10. Apply aesthetic and intellectual criteria in the evaluation or creation of works in the humanities
or the arts
http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/assessment/geoa.html
Context: The Assessment Challenge:
 QCC did not have any consistent and meaningful evidence of
students’ general education proficiency. We had course
assessment reports, but they focused mostly on course outcomes,
and the connection to general education outcomes was spotty and
limited.
 Faculty did not have common understandings of what achievement
of the outcomes looked like.
Context: Response to the Assessment Challenge:
Creation of the General Education Assessment Task Force in April 2014.
 Charge: http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/assessment/geatf.html
 Membership: Faculty representatives from each academic department,
from the Academic Senate Assessment Committee and the Academic
Senate Curriculum Committee, led by VP for Strategic Planning, Assessment
and Institutional Effectiveness and by the Outcomes Assessment Manager
Task Force actions 2014 - present
Initial Goal: to create rubrics for all the QCC General
Education Outcomes
 June 2014 – created and normed rubric for Outcome #2, Analytical
Reasoning; scored student artifacts
 Fall 2014: created and normed four rubrics for Outcome #1,
Communication (Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening)
 Taking stock of the remaining task (writing rubrics for eight more
outcomes, some of which are more discipline-specific), the task force
reported to the Senate that the outcomes themselves needed to be
reviewed with possible revision; Senate approved this additional goal.
Task Force actions 2014 - present
Additional Goal: to review QCC General Education
Outcomes for possible revision
 Spring 2015: collected student artifacts for scoring with the rubrics
created so far; began review of outcomes, reading literature on General
Education assessment, and looked at other colleges’ outcomes, wrote
General Education Mission Statement and Guiding Principles - see
http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/assessment/docs/GEATF-Progress-Report-toAS-5-4-15.pdf
 June 2015: scored 858 artifacts from 54 class sections (from all
academic departments) using the rubrics for Outcomes #1,
Communication, and #2, Analytical Reasoning. Report to Senate in Fall
2015
Task Force actions 2014 - present
Where are we now?
 Fall 2015: created and normed rubrics for Outcome #3, Quantitative
Reasoning and Outcome #4, Information Management; created Faculty
Survey on General Education Outcomes
 Faculty pilot using Digication to upload assignments and evaluate student
artifacts in Digication, using Writing and Analytical Reasoning rubrics
 Spring 2016:
 Student artifacts being sought for scoring with all the rubrics for the
first four Outcomes; support for Digication use; student artifacts to be
scored in June 2016
 Report on faculty survey sent to all faculty
 Faculty Forum on General Education Outcomes; recommendations on
Outcomes revision to be presented to Senate for May 2016 meeting.
Goals for today’s forum
The Task Force needs your advice on:
1. Which General Education Outcomes should be assessed for all
students in all programs? i.e., which are the highest priority?
2. How frequently should the outcomes be assessed campus-wide to
give feedback to faculty?
3. Should the outcomes with lesser priority be combined and/or dropped
or assessed less frequently?
Criteria for the outcomes:
 Every outcome must be assessed on a regular
cycle, according to a standard about which there
is general agreement
 Outcomes must be understood by students,
informed by curriculum, and measurable
Faculty Survey results
The majority of faculty who responded to the survey indicated that all of
the listed outcomes were important, but there was less consensus
about which should be assessed for all students in all programs. (See
Appendix A for the full list of results.)
The following slide shows those outcomes which received the highest
ratings.
Group discussion questions
1. Which
General Education Outcomes should be
assessed for all students in all programs? i.e., which are
the highest priority? Do you agree with the priorities
reflected in the faculty survey? Why or why not?
2. Outcomes can be assessed according to a cycle, say of
one, two, or three years. How frequently should these
outcomes be assessed campus-wide to give feedback to
faculty? And why?
Using the outcomes prioritized in the survey, approximately how often
should the college assess the following General Education Outcomes?
1. Analytic reasoning
Annually __ Biennially __ Less often or other (specify) __________
2. Communication (writing)
Annually __ Biennially __ Less often or other (specify) __________
3. Communication (oral)
Annually __ Biennially __ Less often or other (specify) __________
4. Quantitative reasoning
Annually __ Biennially __ Less often or other (specify) __________
5. Ethical reasoning/awareness of value systems
Annually __ Biennially__ Less often or other (specify) ___________
6. Another Outcome: EXAMPLE: Work and learn collaboratively___________
Annually __ Biennially__ Less often or other (specify) ___________
3. Should the outcomes with lesser priority be combined
and/or dropped or assessed less frequently? Could the more
discipline-specific outcomes be grouped under one heading
and assessed on a rotating basis along with the more
general outcomes?
Possible example: Demonstrate broad knowledge of the
concepts and methodologies of multiple fields central to a
liberal arts and general education, including science, arts
and humanities, and social sciences.
Questions for further discussion:
4. Should certain courses be designated as the key courses for
assessing particular General Education Outcomes? If so, please
suggest courses or disciplines and the pertinent General
Education Outcomes.
5. Should we be assessing the growth of individual students over
time, as opposed to the characteristic level of achievement upon
completion of a course or degree? For example, should the college
assess the same General Education Outcomes in both
introductory and advanced courses for each curriculum?
Resources:
What do the rubrics look like?
 Writing rubric
 Analytical reasoning rubric
Resources:
Sample Assignments for Writing
(handouts)
 Criminology 102
 Music 180
Resources:
Sample assignments for Analytical Reasoning
(handouts)
 Biology 201
 English 101
Thank you for coming today!
Photo from Stephen Rolfe Powell exhibit, Montgomery, Alabama