SACS Document 3.5.1
July 25, 2012
General Education Competencies & Associated Student Learning Outcomes
Literacy results from student engagement in composition, history, government, oral
language, and science courses in the core curriculum. While enrolled in these
courses, students organize and compose information and support conclusions and
interpretations using the written word. Students also accurately identify main ideas
and appropriately relate elements within written texts. College level literacy
competency in reading and writing is further defined by the AAC&U Written
Communication and Reading Value Rubrics:
Writing
 Students will understand the relationship among the context, the audience,
the purpose, and the assigned writing task.
 Students will use appropriate and relevant content to develop and explore
ideas.
 Students will use conventions particular to a specific discipline/or writing
task(s) including organization, content, presentation, and stylistic choices.
 Students will use credible and relevant sources to support ideas that are
appropriate for the discipline and genre of the writing.
 Students will use language that is essentially error free and conveys meaning
to readers with clarity.
Reading
 Students will use features of the text and general background knowledge to
draw inferences about the author’s message and attitude.
 Students will articulate distinctions among genres and their characteristic
conventions.
 Students will use text in the context of scholarship to develop a foundation of
disciplinary knowledge and to raise and explore important questions.
 Students will demonstrate advanced understanding of text resulting from an
awareness of the relationships between ideas and the structure of the text.
 Students will demonstrate multiple ways of reading and a range of
interpretational strategies appropriate to the reader’s discipline and
associated community of readers.
 Students will further personal understanding within a reading community
through intellectual and ethical discourse related to written texts.
Critical Thinking results from student engagement in composition, history,
government, oral language, mathematics, and science courses in the core
curriculum. While enrolled in these courses, students interpret, analyze, evaluate,
and infer with purposeful, self-regulatory judgment. College level competency in
critical thinking is further defined by the AAC&U Critical Thinking Value Rubric:
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Students will state, describe, and clarify issues or problems in ways that lead
to full understanding.
Students will question the assumptions and perspective of sources while
taking information from sources with sufficient interpretation to perform
useful analysis or synthesis.
Students will analyze personal assumptions, the assumptions of others, and
the relevance of context when developing and/or presenting a position.
Students will adopt positions that are imaginative and reflect the complexity
of the issues involved while acknowledging different perspectives and points
of view.
Students will reach conclusions logically and base them on a range of
information including perspective, consequence, implications, and priority.
Quantitative Reasoning results primarily from student engagement in Math
courses in the core curriculum. While enrolled in core mathematics courses,
students solve problems by applying mathematical concepts and problems involving
the interpretation of data presented in graphs, figures, charts, and tables. College
level competency in quantitative reasoning is further defined by the AAC&U
Quantitative Literacy Value Rubric:
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Students will provide accurate explanations of information presented in
mathematical forms.
Students will convert relevant information into appropriate and accurate
portrayal.
Students will make accurate and complete calculations and successfully
resolve mathematical problems.
Students will make judgments and draw qualified conclusions using
quantitative analysis.
Students will describe assumptions explicitly and provide rationale
supporting them.
Students will connect quantitative information with purpose and explain the
relationship effectively.
Scientific Reasoning results primarily from student engagement in the Science
courses in the core curriculum. While enrolled in core science courses, students
develop and evaluate hypotheses, predict outcomes, and draw conclusions based
upon the analysis of observable data. College level competency in scientific
reasoning is further defined by the AAC&U Scientific Reasoning Value Rubric:
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Students will identify manageable and relevant topics.
Students will use in-depth information from relevant sources representing a
range of perspectives and approaches.
Students will develop critical elements of methodology and theoretical
framework skillfully and appropriately.
Students will organize, analyze, and synthesize evidence to reveal important
patterns, differences, or similarities related to focus.
Students will state conclusions logically, supporting them with empirical
evidence from empirical findings.
Students will discuss relevant and supported limitations and implications.
Oral Communication results primarily from student engagement in Speech courses
in the core curriculum. While enrolled in speech courses, students organize, explain,
and support information using the spoken word. College level competency in oral
communication is further defined by the AAC&U Oral Communication Value Rubric:
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Students will use a consistent and observable organization pattern
(introduction, body, conclusion) within presentations.
Students will choose language thoughtfully and purposefully to support the
effectiveness of the presentation.
Students will use delivery techniques (posture, gesture, eye contact, and
vocal expressiveness) to make the presentation interesting and make the
speaker appear comfortable.
Students will use a variety of supporting materials (explanation, example,
illustration, statistics, analogy, quotation, and source citations) to support the
presentation and establish the presenter’s credibility.
Students will take steps to insure that the central message is clear,
consistent, and well supported.
Assessments
Institution-Level Assessments
The following institution-level assessments are used to measure general education
competencies of MSU students across all disciplines.
College Assessment of Academic Proficiency
The Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) is a standardized,
nationally normed program of assessment designed to measure college level,
general education competencies. The MSU Core Curriculum Committee
recommended the CAAP for adoption in 2006. A time-distributed schedule was
developed through collaboration between the Core Curriculum Committee and the
Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment, and testing began in
2010. The extended delay between adoption in 2006 and execution in 2010 was the
result of uncertainty arising from a number of state mandated changes involving the
core curriculum. The testing program was paused while the University considered
the impact of these changes.
National Survey of Student Engagement
The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) measures the extent students
engage in effective educational practices that link learning, personal development
and other desired outcomes such as satisfaction, persistence, and graduation.
Certain NSSE results provide useful indirect measures of student learning and
general education competencies when combined with other assessment tools. NSSE
is also useful in developing an understanding of undergraduate cohorts and
facilitating conversation between faculty, students, and administrators about
activities and environments conducive to student learning. NSSE was first
implemented in 2008.
Writing Proficiency Exam
MSU requires that all students demonstrate college level writing proficiency prior to
graduation. MSU has been assessing this competency since 1983, when the English
Usage Exam was first administered. This exam preceded the current Writing
Proficiency Exam (WPE), which was first administered in 2005. Both exams are
measures of college level writing and critical thinking competencies. The WPE is a
timed exam that requires students to write a persuasive, thesis driven essay using
standard American English. Students who fail the WPE must meet the writing
proficiency requirement by successfully completing ENGL 2113 Composition Skills,
a supplemental writing course designed to remediate college level writing skills.
Core Course Assessments
Assessment of general education competencies within required core courses
provides an added source of information that can be used to improve student
learning and performance. Of particular interest at this time is on-going assessment
of student proficiency in MATH 1233 College Algebra. Assessments of general
education competencies are currently being developed for all courses included
within the core curriculum.
Mathematics
The Department of Mathematics developed a list of ten goals and objectives based in
part on a document published by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).
These goals and objectives formed the basis for ten embedded multiple-choice
questions that appear as a common portion of all MATH 1233 College Algebra final
exams. Concepts assessed include: (1) transformations of graphs, (2) writing an
equation of a line, (3) solving a cubic polynomial inequality, (4) determining the
inverse of a function, (5) determining the domain of a function, (6) determining the
zeros of a function using technology, (7) identifying an asymptote of a rational
function, (8) determining doubling time for an exponential growth model, (9)
identifying the graph of a piecewise defined function, and (10) creating a function
rule to model volume.
Capstone Assessments
Although its general mission is that of a liberal arts institution, MSU understands
that the broad range of knowledge and skills developed by students during their
college career must, in meaningful ways, transfer to success in all aspects of life. The
professional colleges build their programs around the college level competencies
developed in the core curriculum. Capstone assessments associated with these
programs provide authentic measures of many of the college level competencies
informed by its core curriculum. Two capstone experiences stand out at this time.
Other capstone experiences will be included in the future as assessments are
developed that align with the AAC&U Value Rubrics.
Education
West College of Education students culminate their degree program with a student
teaching practicum. Student teaching requires that education majors apply mastery
level communication skills (written and oral), critical thinking skills, quantitative
analysis skills, and scientific analysis skills in the preparation and delivery of
instruction. These general education competencies are assessed by one or both
primary measures of student teacher performance: Student Teacher Evaluation
(STE) and Midwestern Impact on Student Learning (MISL). The STE is a rubric for
measuring candidate performance during student teaching. The MISL is a written
report documenting candidates’ authentic application of scientific (data driven)
decision making to inform instruction.
Business
Dillard College of Business students are required to demonstrate mastery skills in
writing by successfully completing an Individual Paper. This paper is completed in
MGMT 3013 Organizational Behavior in Business, a class required of all business
majors. The Individual Paper provides useful measures of reading, writing skills,
and critical thinking. The grading rubric includes a writing specific criterion
(grammar, spelling and diction), reading related criterion (summary of current
research), and two critical (analytical) thinking related criteria (integration of
research and ideas, and use of research and ideas).
Tables
Table 1. Principle 3.5.1 Linkage Between Competencies and Measures
Competency
Literacy Writing
Literacy Reading
Critical Thinking
Quantitative Reasoning
Scientific Reasoning
Oral Communication
Measure
CAAP
NSSE
WPE
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
MATH
1233
X
EDUC
CAP
X
X
X
X
X
BUS
CAP
X
X
X
Table 2. Principle 3.5.1 Timetable for Data Collection
Measure
F
0
5
CAAP
Writing
Skills
CAAP
Writing
Essay
CAAP
Reading
CAAP
Mathematic
s
CAAP
Science
CAAP
Critical
Think
NSSE
WPE
MATH 1233
EDUC
Capstone
BUS
Capstone
S
0
6
F
0
6
S
0
7
F
0
7
S
0
8
F
0
8
S
0
9
F
0
9
S
1
0
F
1
0
S
1
1
F
1
1
S
1
2
+
F
1
2
S
1
3
F
1
3
+
X
*
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X = Data analyzed and reported
+ = Data collected
* = Planned data collection
X
S
1
5
*
*
X
X
F
1
4
*
X
X
S
1
4
*
*
X
*
*
*
*
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
+
+
+
X
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
X
X
X
X
+
+
*
*
*
*
*
*