GE Program Assessment Plan Developed – Fall 2006 Discussed and approved by the Board of General Studies – 12/7/06 Assessment of the General Education Program includes various components to provide multiple lines of evidence of achievement of GE Program Objectives. The plan includes a mix of internal instruments and external studies or standardized tests. This allows for comparison with other institutions and provides the flexibility to assess objectives that are unique to SJSU. The components are: Course embedded assessment Writing Skills Test (WST) Team SJSU Studies ETS Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy Assessment Test Benchmark Studies Overall results from these assessment components will be reported to the Academic Senate in the fall of each academic year. Course Embedded Assessment SJSU has a well established system for collecting and evaluating, on a regular basis, assessment data from GE courses. New General Education program objectives were approved by the Academic Senate in spring 2005 and were mapped onto GE area objectives. Evidence collected from GE area student learning objectives can be used to assess GE program objectives by summing over courses. Each year the Board of General Studies will select one or two GE areas and summarize the course embedded assessment data that were collected for courses in those areas. Mapping these data onto the GE program objectives, the Board will evaluate the effectiveness of courses in these areas in meeting GE program objectives.. Writing Skills Test (WST) for Assessment of GE Program Objectives For each of the five annual administrations of the Writing Skills Test (WST), writing prompts will be used to draw out evidence of student learning with respect to both GE area learning objectives and GE program objectives. Each administration of the test will focus on a different GE area or GE program objective. Prompts have been, and will continue to be, reviewed by the Writing Requirements Committee. A rubric parallel to that used to evaluate student writing skills will be used to assess student learning with respect to GE area and program objectives. After each administration of the WST, graders will summarize both writing and area achievement. The GE area assessment data will be reviewed each Spring, by the Board of General Studies. GE Program Assessment Plan Page 1 Writing Skills Test (WST) Data Analysis The Office of Institutional Research is exploring the development of a standard report that would summarize the scores from each administration of the WST with respect to demographic information, student preparation, and program/College. This standard report will allow Colleges and programs to examine any trends that emerge as a result of changes in curriculum or pedagogy, or changes in preparation of incoming Community College students. Team SJSU Studies Team SJSU Studies (to be piloted in fall 2007) consists of a two-course sequence (six units in fall and three units in spring) that will organize all of the goals and objectives for the four SJSU Studies areas: (Earth and Environment; Self, Society & Equality in the U.S.; Culture, Civilization & Global Understanding; and Written Communication II) around a contemporary issue. Students will complete a project that incorporates opportunities to put theory into practice, such as service learning, community-based learning, undergraduate research, or community education. The courses will be team-taught by faculty from three different discipline areas. Assessment from these courses, equivalent to collecting data from a capstone course, will provide summative data about achievement of GE program objectives as well as integrative learning. The first data will be collected in spring 2008 and reviewed in 2008/2009. Information Literacy Test for Assessment of GE Information Literacy Outcome SJSU is piloting the administration of the Educational Testing Service’s (ETS) standardized Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy Assessment Test. The ETS assessment test uses real-time, scenario-based tasks to measure research/information literacy skills in seven components: define information need, and access, evaluate, manage, integrate, create, and communicate information. The test instrument also measures computer technology skills. The Office of Institutional Research will develop summaries of the data each year, which will be reviewed by the Board of General Studies. Benchmarking Performance of SJSU Students An ideal assessment plan includes comparison of SJSU with comparable students at comparable institutions. SJSU has been piloting two examples of national studies. Collegiate Learning Assessment The Collegiate Learning Assessment was administered to 59 freshmen and 49 seniors in fall 2005. The test is designed to assess critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving, and written communication. The results are normalized using SAT or ACT scores of the participants. The Institutional Report was received October 19, 2006. The report is under review by the AVP of Undergraduate Studies, the AVP of Institutional research and the University Assessment Committee. A summary report will be provided to the Board of General Studies. Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education San José State University is one of 19 institutions participating in a large scale quantitative and qualitative longitudinal protocol designed to assess liberal education outcomes. In fall 2006, GE Program Assessment Plan Page 2 4500 college and university freshmen from around the country began a 4-year investigation of their knowledge and skills across a variety of outcomes (among them are: integrating learning, moral reasoning, and multicultural awareness). The SJSU campus recruited 288 freshmen to take a 90 minute survey; of those, 46 have now participated in an on-campus 90 minute interview. Institutional data will be available for the early phase of the study by fall 2007 and then for follow up data for a minimum of two years thereafter. Data resulting from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Education will provide the campus with a systematic approach to measuring students’ understanding of liberal education outcomes. Summary Table Component Course embedded assessment Writing Skills Test (WST) – Program Objectives Writing Skills Test (WST) – Data Analysis Team SJSU Studies Frequency Every Semester a course is offered Once/year Five times/year Once/year ETS ICT Literacy Assessment Test Once/year Benchmark Studies Current study (2006-2010) GE Program Assessment Plan Responsible Office/Committee Office of Undergraduate Studies/ Board of General Studies Office of Undergraduate Studies/ Board of General Studies Office of Institutional Research/ Colleges and programs Office of Undergraduate Studies/ Board of General Studies SJSU Library/ Office of Institutional Research Office of Institutional Research Page 3