GLOBAL ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR ASSESSING CORE CURRCICULUM OBJECTIVES OF
ELEMENTARY GERMAN I – GERMAN 1234
KULTURELLE GESCHICHTE1
Description:
The Kulturelle Geschichte serves as an assessment of the student’s performance of the
core curriculum objectives of Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Social and Personal
Responsibility in the specific context of this course. Students will develop the portfolio based
upon three activities from the Kulturelle Verteilungen section of the text and corresponding
sub-sections (Verteilungen, Kulture, Unterschieden and Kommunautäten). Each one of the
activities must be from a different chapter and a total of three activities must be completed and
corresponding work submitted as components of the portfolio. The activities in the Kulturelle
Verteilungen sub-sections are meant to be a starting point for further investigation, analysis,
and synthesis by the student. Students are also encouraged to refer to the chapter sections
titled En Directe, Redaktion ,Lesung and Professionelle Erkundungen as additional sources of
ideas for activities to complete their portfolios. Students should choose topics that interest
them and demonstrate that they have adequately researched and considered the topics in the
framework of the core curriculum objectives. Sometimes, an assignment from the sub-section
Kommunautäten may not be feasible. Thus, if a student is interested in an activity from that
section or one of the additional chapter sections referred to above, he/she should consult with
the instructor prior to beginning work.
In addition to the above textbook-based assignments, students may report on a
personal intercultural experience gained through a minimum of four (4) hours of volunteer
service in the local, regional, national or global German-speaking community through the
service projects of the German Club, another campus or community organization and/or
through an alternative Spring Break option. This option can “replace” one of the assignments
based upon the Kulturelle Verteilungen activities. However, the assignment must meet the
same submission requirements as the textbook-based tasks. Students must also request the
instructor’s permission prior to submitting this alternative assignment.
The Kulturelle Geschichte will also include a personal reflection essay on a specific
cultural topic based on one of the other assignments chosen for the Geschichte or on a specific
cultural topic presented by the instructor. The cultural topic chosen by the student or
presented by the instructor will present students with an ethical dilemma or issues for
resolution. In the essay, students will identify their core beliefs and the origins of those core
beliefs, recognize the ethical issues presented and relationships between issues, state a
position on an ethical issue and connect their position to implied actions and consequences.2
1 The Portafolio Cultural Global Assessment Tool is based upon the Portafolio Cultural described by Mary Ann Blitt
and Margarita Casas, authors of Exploraciones, 2012. Cengage, in their document Teaching Culture with
Exploraciones, August 2011.
2
Modified from AACU Ethical Responsibility VALUE Rubric.
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GLOBAL ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR ASSESSING CORE CURRCICULUM OBJECTIVES OF
ELEMENTARY GERMAN I – GERMAN 1234
Format and submission of work:
Various formats of work will be accepted as components of the portfolio. However, if
students would like to submit work in a format other than the one described below, they
should first obtain the instructor’s permission. Students must keep in mind that the portfolio
will be an assessment of their demonstration of the core objectives listed above. Thus, the
portfolio must show evidence of development of these objectives. Any visual, auditory, or
technology-based submissions such as art work, theatrical or musical works, must be
accompanied by at least a half page explanation of how the submission fulfills the activity
chosen from the Kulturelle Verteilungen spread. For example, if a student were to submit a
sketch of a favorite building in town for the Connections architecture sub-section, the student
would also need to also submit at least a half page description of how his/her work answers or
fulfills the purpose of the corresponding Kulturelle Verteilungen.
Portfolio documents may be submitted in German or a combination of English and German.
However, each of the three components of the portfolio must contain a minimum usage of
German as determined by each instructor (generally a minimum of four complete lines of
German). Students are expected to use German learned over the length of the course
specifically demonstrating grammar, vocabulary and idiomatic usage in the context of the
varied cultures of the German-speaking world.
Criteria for Assessment of Kulturelle Geschichte
Content: The Kulturelle Geschichte



includes three assignments based on sub-sections (Verteilungen, Kulture, Unterschieden and
Kommunautäten), and/or a personal intercultural experience as mentioned above
includes a personal reflection essay of at least one page (25-28 lines, font 10-12) on a specific
cultural topic that includes an ethical dilemma or address ethical perspectives related to culture.
meets the minimum requirement of at least one page per topic (25-28 lines, font 10-12) or the
minimum requirement of at least ½ page per topic (12-14 lines, font 10-12) if the student is
submitting work in an alternate format.
Critical thinking: The Geschichte demonstrates inquiry, analysis, evaluation and synthesis of
information from various resources available in German and English on the topics of the
student’s choosing.
Communication: The Geschichte demonstrates effective use of memorized vocabulary, highfrequency expressions, accurate grammatical usage and idiomatic expressions in the target
language to develop, interpret and express ideas with culturally appropriate sensitivity.
Furthermore, the Kulturelle Geschichte demonstrates accurate interpretation of target language
print and multi-media resources.
Personal Responsibility: The Geschichte demonstrates the student’s ability to connect choices,
actions and consequences to ethical-decision making. In the form of a personal reflection essay
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ELEMENTARY GERMAN I – GERMAN 1234
that addresses a culturally-bound ethical dilemma, the student identifies his/her core beliefs
and the origin of those beliefs, recognizes complex ethical issues and relationships between
issues, states a position on an ethical issue and connects his/her position to implied actions and
consequences. 3
Social responsibility: The Geschichte shows evidence of the student’s intercultural competence
and knowledge of civic responsibility as demonstrated in the connections or comparisons made
by the student between his/her own culture and the target culture.
Rubric for Scoring Geschichte Criteria
Please see the attached document titled Rubric for Assessment of Kulturelle Geschichte.
Target Level of Attainment
Ninety percent of students will obtain a score of 70 % or better on this global assessment of the
core curriculum objectives specified above.
3
see note 2
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