Undergraduate education, with a foundation in the liberal arts and sciences that guides the intellectual and ethical development of undergraduate students, is central to the academic mission of the Land Grant and Sea Grant University of the State of Maine. The guiding principle of the formal general education program at UMaine is to broaden the education of all graduates, regardless of their academic program, and to promote critical and creative thinking and engagement with the demands and complexities of our world. To this end, the general education curriculum partners with the specific disciplinary curriculum of all undergraduate students. It broadens their undergraduate education to prepare them to be civically engaged, responsible citizens for a diverse 21st century global society.

Through general education, UMaine stresses improvement of written communication skills in students as well as quantitative and scientific literacy skills necessary for success in the modern world. They develop knowledge and insight into human values within various social contexts, past and present, and utilize and apply systems thinking to the relationship of humans to other living things and to the non-living world. Students gain awareness and appreciation into the creative process through the arts. Students gain exposure to ethics and ethical decision-making in an assortment of contexts. Through the capstone experience, students draw on the various facets of the general education curriculum in a manner that bears directly upon the academic major in an experience that typifies the work of professionals within the discipline, often involving outreach in the community.

We have an important mission at the University of Maine to improve the quality of life for people in Maine and around the world, promoting responsible stewardship of human, natural and financial resources. General education provides undergraduate students with the knowledge, skills and dispositions to make them capable of furthering this mission through integration of their experiences in learning, research and outreach.

Improvement of General Education for University of Maine Students

In accordance with our regional accreditation agency, NEASC (the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, http://www.neasc.org/), the University of Maine continues to improve its general education curriculum, as recommended in an Action Letter to President Kennedy, sent in November 2009. The letter requires that an assessment and data collection and dissemination process be developed, with interim reports due to NEASC in 2012 and 2014. The following section responds to and enlarges upon the action items in the NEASC letter.

I. Development of Student Learning Outcomes for General Education categories. At the University of Maine, as in all public institutions of higher education, it is important to demonstrate the desired outcomes for education, and to provide evidence through various types of assessment for the achievement of these outcomes. The University of Maine faculty is currently engaged in the creation of student learning outcomes for all general education categories, including the Capstone experience, and these outcomes will be posted by category as the Faculty Senate approves them.

2. Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes. As Student Learning Outcomes are approved for a particular category, the faculty member teaching the course for which general education credit is awarded will review assessment techniques appropriate to the learning outcomes in conjunction with course goals and pedagogy. General education Student Learning Outcomes and the related assessment activities will be clearly indicated on the course syllabus and communicated to students. Assistance in the assessment process is provided by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Assessment, through workshops, panel presentations, and individual and group consultation.

3. Data collection and dissemination. A process for data collection of assessments for general education categories will be developed by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Assessment, and clearly communicated to the faculty. Once collected, generalized assessment data will be publicly available for general education on an ongoing basis, and updated regularly. Data will be collected and maintained by the Office of Institutional Studies.

4. Closing the loop. After analysis of the Student Learning Outcomes, faculty will reflect upon, modify, and improve teaching general education, based upon the evidence gained through the assessment process. This subsequent improvement will be incremental, and result in increasing enhancement of the teaching and learning process.

Timeline

In his UMaine 150 speech on May 4, 2010, President Robert Kennedy requested substantial progress toward the achievement of these goals by December 2010.  The General Education Committee of the Faculty Senate has formed working groups for each category, faculty led and faculty driven. This effort is coordinated through the Faculty Senate General Education Committee, and all approvals go through the Faculty Senate discussion and approval process. As Student Learning Outcomes for each category are approved, faculty teaching the general education category will be notified of the approved Student Learning Outcomes, and will be requested to place these on the syllabus for the next semester, and to clearly indicate how achievement of the outcomes will be assessed. Faculty will also be notified as to the mechanics of data reporting.

Please watch this page for updates on general education progress. Tina Passman chairs the General Education Committee of Faculty Senate, and may be reached via email: Passman@maine.edu

The Faculty Senate General Education Committee webpage is:

http://umaine.edu/gened/

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Assessment webpage is:

http://www.umaine.edu/teaching/

The Office of Institutional Studies webpage is:

http://www.umaine.edu/ois/

President Kennedy’s UMaine 150 speech may be retrieved at:

http://umaine.edu/umaine150/overview/

last revision: 12/10/10, Tina Passman for the Faculty Senate General Education Committee

Working Groups: Fall 2003

Science

Learner Outcomes (updated October 18, 2003)

Upon completion of general education study in the sciences, students should be able to:

Read and comprehend articles in one or several areas of science from sources at the level of Discover magazine or Science News.

Students should demonstrate proper application of scientific principles.

For all courses, examples of student outcomes include the ability to evaluate:

the integrity of the methods of treating the observations/experiments;

the appropriateness of the conclusions drawn from the data.

For laboratory courses:  Students will demonstrate that they can gather scientific data through observation or experiment, evaluate its significance/accuracy, draw appropriate conclusions from the data, and convey this to others via written analysis.

Types of assessment appropriate to measure these outcomes are:

Research and lab reports.

Embedded items on quizzes, prelims, etc.

Mini-essays or comprehension questions in response to a scientific article (from Discover or Science News)

Pre- and post-tests

Attitude surveys about scientific methodology

Portfolios

Faculty teaching courses in the basic or applied sciences should include explicit statements of their learning outcomes for General Education in syllabi of courses and identify specific assessment plans.  These should be reviewed in departments.

Faculty working on assessment in this area acknowledge the difficulties created by large classes.

Sample Assessment Items

Embedded Items in Prelim and Final Exams, etc.

In GES 101: Introduction to Geology, with 175 students, the instructor gives students 30 short essay questions for review for the exam.  Goals can be to read and comprehend text or visual information and explain or apply scientific processes.  Three of these appear on the exam (worth 45% of the exam).  Some require comprehension of issues gone over in the class; some require application of concepts to new situations.  TAs are trained to rate these holistically.

Term/Lab Term Papers

In FES 100:  Introduction to Forest Biology, students submit a semester lab term paper.  It requires students to gather evidence, evaluate its significance and draw appropriate conclusions.  Students receive the assessment guidelines and a grading rubric in a handout when they start writing the paper. Several TA’s work with the instructor and each other to ensure

consistent use of the grading rubric.  The TA’s also meet with each student and discuss their assessment of the paper so that improvements can be made prior to the final version.

In PHY 101:  Physics by Inquiry I

Learner outcomes:

Students are exposed to an inquiry-based science course.

Students develop Operational Definitions for various concepts: a set of steps to arrive at a determination of the quantity related to the concept, without necessarily including a descriptive definition of the term.

Students develop an understanding of various aspects of experimental science, including uncertainty, control of variables, and experimental design.

Students develop a functional understanding of mass, volume, and density, especially as they apply to buoyancy.

Students develop a functional understanding of temperature and heat, and especially the ability to distinguish between these concepts, as well as heat capacity, specific heat, and latent heats associated with phase changes.

Students develop an understanding of the idea that heat does not always cause temperature change in a substance.

Tasks and Assessment Plan:  (Note:  All assessments utilize free-response questions that require students to explain the reasoning used to arrive at their answer.)

In-class “checkouts” in which instructor reviews previous sets of experiments with group of 3-4 students and asks extension questions.

Almost-weekly homework assignments, which are graded, with extensive comments, and returned. Students may resubmit problems on which they received particularly low scores.

Occasional “reflection” homework questions that ask students to describe a particularly enlightening classroom experience.

Two papers are assigned:  one reflecting on the course structure and purpose, and a second to do with some content covered in class. Students are expected to describe how they came to understand a central concept and which experiments were pivotal in that process.

The setting of the paper often requires students to explain concepts to another student who knows no physics.

Two prelim exams are given during the semester.

A final exam is given at the end of the semester, which is almost comprehensive.

In some other Physics courses, the following rubric is used to assess laboratory performance:

Attitude Surveys

For example, see the Maryland Physics Expectation (MPEX) survey to be found at  HYPERLINK “http://www.physics.umd.edu/perg/expects/index.html” http://www.physics.umd.edu/perg/expects/index.html.  The site contains helpful articles on using the survey.

The Modeling Instruction research team at Arizona State University has developed an instrument called “Views About Science Survey” (VASS) suited to Biology, Chemistry, General Science, Mathematics, and Physics.  Find it at  HYPERLINK “http://www.flaguide.net/tools/attitude/views_about_science.html” http://www.flaguide.net/tools/attitude/views_about_science.html.

Quantitative Literacy

Learner Outcomes (updated October 18, 2003; March 17, 2004)

Upon completion of general education study in this area, students should have an understanding of the role that mathematics plays in solving and communicating information about real world problems and relationships. This understanding should include a familiarity with the following basic steps in the quantitative modeling process as well as an ability to carry them out in straightforward situations.

Translation: Translate problems from everyday spoken and written language to appropriate quantitative questions.

Processing: Interpret quantitative information such as formulas, graphs, tables, and schematics, and draw inferences from them.

Solving: Use arithmetical, algebraic, geometrical, or statistical methods to solve problems. Use logically valid arguments in the analysis of problems, and recognize fallacious reasoning in arguments.

Reflecting: Analyze answers to quantitative problems in order to determine reasonableness. Suggest alternative approaches if necessary.

Summarizing: Represent quantitative information symbolically, visually, numerically, and verbally. Present quantitative results in context using everyday spoken and written language.

Clarifying comments: Quantitative literacy encompasses the two foundational areas of analytical and symbolic literacy, and the three content areas of statistical, geometrical, and numerical literacy. A program addressing quantitative literacy should develop student understanding of quantitative information through exposure to a variety of perspectives such as numerical, statistical, visual, verbal, and symbolic, and also should develop student ability to solve problems involving model interpretation, estimation, risk assessment, and informed decision-making.

Courses addressing quantitative literacy should provide opportunities to assist the students in developing proficiency in the following skills:

The ability to evaluate information, to assess arguments for relevance, implications and logical validity; and to construct logically valid arguments.

The ability to quantitatively analyze and model a problem and to use quantitative representations to investigate relationships and patterns within the problem.

The ability to understand and interpret data.

The ability to understand elementary geometrical relationships and to use geometry for the representation of information.

The ability to understand, estimate and communicate quantitative information.

Sample Assessment Items (Parenthetical items indicate which of the learner outcomes are assessed by that item.)

Francis Galton collected data on heights of fathers and their full grown sons.  His goal was to predict the height of a full grown son from the height of his father.  Here are some sample data.  The mean and standard deviation for the fathers’ heights were 69” and 3”.  The mean and standard deviation for the sons’ heights were 70” and 2.5”.  The correlation between heights of fathers and heights of sons is just about .5.

Find the least squares regression line for predicting the height of a full grown son from the height of his father. (translation, solving)

Use your equation to predict the height of a son whose father is 72” tall. (solving)

How would you explain the meaning of the value of the correlation to someone who is intelligent but knows no statistics? (summarizing)

What are the units attached to the slope of the equation you computed in (a)? (processing)

F=?t+? models the amount of foreign oil imported into the United States during the 90’s.  f measures ?, and t measures year since 1990.

What does this equation indicate the amount of foreign oil was in 1990? (translation,

processing, solving)

When does this equation predict the amount of oil will be ? (as in a.)?

What is the slope (including units)? (translating, processing, summarizing)

What does the slope tell us about the foreign oil imports in the 90’s? (summarizing)

D =?t+? models the amount of domestic oil produced in the United States during the 90’s.  f measures ?, and t measures year since 1990.

Does this equation indicate the amount of domestic oil was greater than, less than, or about the same as foreign oil imports in 1990 (as in a)?

What is the slope (including units) of the relationship and what does it tell us about the domestic oil production in the 90’s (as in a.)?

Is there a time that the relationship in (e) changes? (translating, solving,

proocessing)

Why are we going to Iraq? (reflecting)

Candidates George W. Bush and Howard Dean are contesting in a two-way Presidential race. In order to predict the likely winner, a simple random sample of 100 voters was taken, out of which 52 favored Bush (the remaining voted for Dean).

Give an estimate of the true proportion of voters favoring Dean. (translation)

The margin of error was reported as plus or minus 8%. Is it a reasonable value from the data provided? (solving and reflecting)

Compute a 95% confidence interval for the true proportion of voters favoring Bush. (solving)

Is it reasonable to conclude that a majority of voters favor Bush? Explain your reasoning. (reflecting)

Provide an interpretation of your 95% confidence interval. (translating and/or summarizing)

Cereal company Super Sugar is considering marketing a new super size rectangular prism cereal box. If they double the dimensions of the original size box:

How much more cardboard is required for each box? (translation, processing, solving)

How much cereal would the new box hold? (translation, processing, solving)

Should the new box cost twice as much as the original box? (reflecting, summarizing)

Perform exercise (a), (b), and (c) for right circular cylinder cereal box.

Sample assessment questions from PHY 111 pre- and post-tests

Several expressions of H as a function of  r are given here, where  p and k are constants.  H is a linear function of  r if the rate of change of H with respect to  r is a constant.  Circle all of these expressions for which H is a linear function of  r:

a) EMBED Equation.3              b) EMBED Equation.3              c)  EMBED Equation.3              d) EMBED Equation.3

e) EMBED Equation.3              f)  EMBED Equation.3              g) EMBED Equation.3              h) EMBED Equation.3

Explain your reasoning.

Translation: from the linear equation template (y = mx + b) to H = kr + 78 p, etc.

Processing: interpret formulas or equations and their graphical equivalent.

Summarizing: represent written language in symbolic form.

This post-test has been given for the past seven years at the end of both semesters of General Physics, PHY 111 and PHY 112.  Both courses emphasize linear modeling throughout the semester, especially in laboratory.  Students are all science majors, and 80% have completed at least one course in calculus.  Fewer than 20% typically answer this question correctly (d only).

Sample Assessment Items in Nursing

The physician’s order is to administer one gram of a specific drug to a patient. The drug comes only in 500-milligram tablets. The patient’s weight is 150 pounds. Standard dosage for an adult patient is 20 milligrams (mg) per kilogram (Kg) of body weight. Questions: how many tablets should the nurse administer to the patient? Is this amount appropriate? Show your work and how you have arrived at the answer.

Translation: Students need to translate the everyday language of body weight to pounds to the metric format (Kg) used in professional dosing formula. They need to recognize the need to use a formula to determine correct number of tablets to administer. Students need to do the metric conversion of milligrams to grams to translate the dose ordered to the tablets on hand.

Processing: This is a two-step process, which includes the students figuring out the appropriate-ness of the dose (mg/Kg body weight) and number of tablets to administer if the dose is okay. They have several choices as to what math method to use to determine the number of tablets to administer. Choices include, a) Ratio/Proportion, b) Desired/what you have on hand Xs the stock, and c) Dimensional analysis (learned in chemistry).

Solving: Students need to carry out the math converting pounds to kilograms, the recommended dose formula- 20 milligram times the kilogram. Next the student will use one of the methods in #2 to determine the number of tablets to administer.

Reflection: While the ordered dose is 1000 milligram (1 gm), the standard dose in mg/Kg is greater than one gram (1360 milligrams). Students may need to question if the standard dose is a maximum or if there are other conventions regarding the administration of the drug. They may need to notify the doctor that the standard dose is greater than the one gram. Students might suggest talking over with the pharmacist or physician other dosages that the drug may be manufactured in such as liquid vehicle or pills in denominations other than 500 milligrams.

Other questions may include, why is the standard dosing norm relatively exact while the tablet comes in larger denominations; Is this an adult patient; Are the pills scored?

Summarizing: Students conclude that 2 tablets would represent the ordered dose and that the ordered dose is less than the standard dose by 360 milligrams.

Human Values and Social Contexts: Western Cultural Tradition

Learner Outcomes (updated 11/22/03; 4/26/04)

Students completing this General Education requirement should demonstrate that they can:

Analyze how humans are or have been defined by cultural traditions.

Recognize the complexity or variety of ideas, traditions, institutions, archaeological and historical texts and artifacts and/or values that inform the cultural traditions of the West.

Clarifying comments: Subject areas within this rubric may include, but are not limited to, artistic, economical, educational, historical, linguistic, literary, philosophical, political,

rhetorical, scientific, and social dimensions of the cultural traditions of the West.  Courses that meet this requirement examine the sources, transmission, development and/or outcomes of ideas,

institutions, artifacts, and/or values within the traditions of the West.  These courses may assume a traditional understanding of “western” and explore meanings of that term, or they may challenge its meaning.  They may focus exclusively on the West or study its traditions in a comparative or global context.  They may focus on a single topic, but will nonetheless encourage students to relate to the topic to a broader historical or theoretical context.

A number of faculty members teaching in the humanities area find this a controversial area, and a number of faculty members involved felt that major changes in the General Education requirement were in order for this category.  They were encouraged to work through the Faculty Senate and/or to consider proposing interdisciplinary core courses that might address this category and Diversity/International Perspectives simultaneously.

ASSESSMENT

Analysis of complex ideas and phenomena is often usefully measured through subsidiary categories of the activity, such as identifying terms and facts accurately, explaining key concepts clearly and fully, comparing and contrasting features, etc.   Holistic or analytic rubrics using such categories are effective for scoring achievement and for teaching students what is expected in an analysis.

Tools to assess learner outcomes may include, but may not be limited to, the following:

Projects

Essays & Papers

Journals

Student self-evaluation

Class discussion/debate

Presentations

Surveys

Examination questions

Papers

Portfolios

Sample Assessment Items

(An essay assignment) Articulate ways in which [this course] has helped you think about how [a character, historical figure, event, organization, group, etc.] reflects, resists or is influenced by the cultural traditions of the West.

An assessment rubric could be devised to assess critical thinking about and application of course material.

Human Values and Social Contexts: Social Contexts and Institutions

Learner Outcomes (updated11/08/03)

Upon completion of general education in this area, students should be able to accomplish at least two, and preferably more, of these learner outcomes:

Describe how social institutions function and how they both reflect and inform social and cultural values.

Analyze how social contexts and human institutions influence and are influenced by human behaviors.

Articulate how social, cultural, and biological factors affect human behavior, both individually and in society.

Critically evaluate how social science knowledge is acquired, analyzed, and disseminated.

ASSESSMENT

Each course in this area will have explicit measurements that are designed to assess the learner outcomes and that are an integral part of the course. Ideally, learner outcomes would best be assessed through open-ended measures such as essays, presentations, or term papers. Because   this type of assessment may be impractical in large courses, measures such as items included in short-answer or multiple-choice exams may also be used. Instructors relying on objective exams should strive to ensure that their assessment questions go beyond simple recognition and identification. Whatever specific measure of learner outcomes is used, careful attention should be paid to ensuring that the assessment asks students to relate specific aspects of the course content to the learner outcomes. In general, assessment should focus on higher-order thinking, as implied by the terms included in the above learner outcomes: “describe,” “analyze,” “articulate,” and “critically evaluate.”

Some potentially useful generic examples of essay-based measures of learner outcomes for this category are the following:

Essay: Using examples from this course, analyze how social contexts and human institutions influence and are influenced by human behaviors (or insert any other learner outcome here).

Essay: If institution/policy A changes, analyze what effect(s) this change might have on institution/policy B.

Sample Assessment Items

In POS 241: Introduction to Comparative Politics

Learner outcomes:  To be able to describe important cultural, social, and political traditions in two societies and analyze how these affect policy options facing them.

Task:  Consider the following statement:

“Thanks to their distinctive social systems, cultural norms, and political traditions, China and India are experiencing very different rates of political and economic development.  India needs to become more like China if it expects to progress similarly.”

Comment critically on this quotation in an essay.  Discuss and account for the differences between China and India.  If you could advise the Chinese and Indian governments on their future policies, what advice would you offer?  Why?

Assessment plan:  The instructor will use a rubric to assess students’ ability to 1) describe major social, economic, and political traditions for each country, and 2) to analyze the most salient differences.

In SOC 101:  Introduction to Sociology

Learner outcomes:  Students will show that they are able to discuss both sides of a social issue through sociological perspectives and concepts.

Task:  Write a 4-6 page paper on one of the following topics (keyed to discussion group presentations) in which you review various points of view and state your own viewpoint on the issue:

Should doctor-assisted suicide be legalized for the terminally ill?

Should same-sex marriages be legally recognized?

Is street crime more harmful than white collar crime?

Is the underclass the major threat to American ideals?

Is government dominated by big business?

In your paper, you should apply relevant concepts from lecture and reading to show that you understand both perspectives from the texts and lectures on the issue and can explain them clearly, using accurate citations for the perspectives and relevant research that you are discussing.  You should discuss your own insights and any personal experience you have with the topic that can illuminate your viewpoint.  Remember, while personal experience can highlight a point, in itself it does not prove or disprove an argument or social pattern.

Assessment plan:  The following analytic rubric is used.  The first five categories are used to assess the Gen. Ed. learning outcome:

Human Values and Social Contexts: Cultural Diversity and International Perspectives

Learner Outcomes (updated11/22/03)

Upon completion of general education study in this area, students should be able to identify, explain, or describe elements of a diverse cultural group, international cultural group, or group of persons understood in terms of gender, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.   They should demonstrate, in writing or through other means of documentation, one or more of the following competencies:

Students demonstrate that they can respond to a “primary source” (such as an idea, event, behavior, place, object, text, film, or work of art) by explaining:

how people from different cultural backgrounds  or perspectives (one of which could be the student’s own culture) might view that “primary source” in markedly different ways; and

how such different views of a “primary source” are rooted in the beliefs, practices, histories and experiences of people in those cultures and groups.

Students demonstrate that they can respond to a communication (or “primary source”) in a culturally appropriate manner (making use of suitable register, idiomatic language, language function, etc.)  or  initiate and sustain a culturally appropriate communication.

Students demonstrate that they can analyze the concept of cultural and/or international diversity and explain how it relates to the “Western” cultural tradition.

Courses or experiences in this area must require students to demonstrate one or more of the desired outcomes above.  Appropriate techniques may include:

Essays

Journals

Exams

Group discussions/debates

Case study analysis

Portfolios

We recommend that faculty teaching courses in this area engage regularly in discussions of assessment plans and share best practices.  Common rubrics for scoring responses to primary texts seem very possible in this area.

We also recommend that the Faculty Senate divide cultural diversity and international perspectives into two separate categories.

Sample Assessment Items

In WST 101:  Introduction to Women’s Studies

Learner outcomes: Students will demonstrate they can respond to a “primary source” (idea, cultural practice, law, etc.) by articulating the ideas of people from diverse cultural perspectives.

Task: Structured debate to look at opposing perspectives on particular issues, e.g., welfare, abortion, women in the military, divorce rights.

Assessment plan: This exercise does not assess individual students, but it provides formative information for the instructor.  It is an example of an activity that may be described in a narrative format with a reflective comment by the instructor about the formative information and plans for

the future based on this information.  Essay exam questions and paper assignments can be built on the same task model.  Rubrics will differentiate Gen. Ed. goals from other goals.

In ENG 243:  Topics in Multicultural Literature

Learner outcomes: Students will articulate their own cultural identity and how it is shaped by the practices and experiences of their particular “home” culture(s).

Note: this can be both a formative assessment, used early in the course, or a more summative assessment if repeated towards the end of the course.  The assignment is designed to help students develop a sense of their own cultural identities as comparable to the cultural identities of the writers they are studying.

Task: Write a cultural autobiography or “autoethnography.”  Students are instructed to examine their “home” culture by looking at such details as: neighborhood, family size and makeup (who’s in your family?), language, foods and food preparation, what music is on the radio at home, values (i.e., how is success defined in your family?), religious practices, etc.

Assessment plan: Papers will be assessed according to the following criteria:

Engagement with the task, attention to detail, and awareness of a variety of aspects of cultural markers.  This assignment provides formative information that can be described in a narrative format with reflective comment by the instructor.

In NAS 101:  Introduction to Native American Studies

Learner outcome:  Students will demonstrate they understand competing viewpoints on an issue of culture and diversity affecting Native Americans today and can think critically about the issue in the context of differing views.

Task: Groups take a position pro or con on a controversy (e.g., Indian casino in Maine) and create a 30-second to one-minute long script for a commercial arguing their position.  After presentation to the whole class, all other students write evaluations of each presentation using relevant course materials and concepts to explain their responses.

Assessment plan:  The group work is assessed for multiple outcomes:  students’ demonstrated knowledge of the given issue, their ability to work together, etc.  Criteria specific to General Education are:  demonstration of accurate and comprehensive knowledge about an issue, demonstration of the ability to apply course material with an awareness of relevant concepts.  The individual student evaluation papers are assessed on a student’s ability to engage relevant course materials, articulate competing viewpoints and cultural perspectives, and present ideas clearly and persuasively.  The first two of these criteria are used in assessing General Education outcomes per se.

200-level (intermediate) courses in French, German, and Spanish

Learner outcomes: Students will develop the proficiency to read, discuss, and write about the substantial differences between and commonalities within their own culture and those of the countries where the target language is spoken.

Task: On a daily basis, students will be exposed to particularities of language, history, beliefs, and values of countries where the target language is spoken.  These culture capsules are intended to form a mosaic aimed at broadening exposure to and understanding of a foreign culture. Students will be assigned projects on topics dealing with either material and intellectual culture, the results of which will be assembled in a portfolio that demonstrates growth in empathy for and intellectual understanding of the daily life of a specific group of citizens of the global village.

Assessment plan: Portfolios will be assessed according to the following criteria:

Engagement with the task, attention to detail, and a demonstrated growth of awareness with regard to the value and meaning of cultural markers.  Installments in the portfolio are intended to be spread out over two semesters since the intermediate program is delivered over the entire academic year.

Human Values and Social Contexts: Population and the Environment

Learner Outcomes (updated11/01/03; 6/30/04)

Upon completion of general education study in this area, students should be able to think in an informed and critical fashion about human population and the human impact on the natural environment.

Each course in this area will have explicit outcomes designed to support this general learning outcome. For each course there will be an appropriate assessment plan designed to evaluate the extent to which students master the outcome goal.  Appropriate assessment techniques include:

Pre-test and post-test assessments of knowledge and/or attitudes

Minute papers about key concepts

Portfolios

Group projects

Specific course outcomes and assessment plans for courses will be the purview of faculty teaching courses in consultation with the community of faculty committed to teaching the General Education requirement in the area of Population and the Environment.  Annual meetings of the faculty community in this area will include sharing and peer review of assessment plans and presentations of individual course outcome assessments.

Profs. Anderson and Teisl have urged colleagues to collaborate with them on a research project that explores changes in attitudes in response to instruction in this area (see samples from survey under EES 100 below).

Examples of some specific learner outcomes that might be appropriate for specific courses:

Students should be able to compare and contrast the effects of different belief systems on human interaction with natural ecosystems.

Students should be able to analyze the impact of a specific human cultural practice, belief system, or political/economic policy on the supporting ecosystem.

Students should be able to project and explain the likely effects of modifications to the ecosystem.

Students should be able to suggest specific modifications to cultural practices and/or political/economic policies that relate to a natural ecosystem.

Students can describe a technologically advanced human society structured to be in balance with its sustaining ecosystem.

Students demonstrate an understanding of how popular views of nature are influenced by scientific discoveries.

Students demonstrate their understanding of how stories within a culture shape perceptions and values about the natural environment.

Sample Assessment Items

In EES 100: Human Population and the Global Environment, students take a pre- and post-test (multiple-choice) that surveys both substantive information about the content of the course (which includes history of environmental theory and movements, concepts about demographic, atmospheric, climate, agricultural, and industrial changes and their interactions, and attitudes toward contemporary environment issues).  Some substantive items:

8.      Broad strategies for addressing climate change include prevention, mitigation, and adaptation.  An example of a specific mitigation strategy for dealing with climate change is:

Planting trees to remove additional amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions by reducing the use of fossil fuels.

Building public works like those of the Netherlands to protect coastal cities from sea level rise.

All of the above.

10. Maximum sustainable yield is:

A measure used in cost/benefit analysis to determine whether the construction of a new hydroelectric dam was economically viable to build.

The most that a farmer can produce from a field in the short run, regardless of the long term ecological effects.

The greatest population growth that can occur in a society in a certain period of time.

The most that one could harvest from a renewable resource without reducing the ability of the resource to produce that amount indefinitely.

12. The reason we have seen rapid urbanization on the planet in the last decades is:

Rural unemployment and natural resource degradation have pushed residents off rural lands.

Urban regions have attracted rural residents with the prospects of better economic, social, and cultural opportunities.

Both of the above.

Neither of the above.

Examples of attitudinal items on this pre-post survey are:

33. Overall, the quality of the global environment is:

a.             Getting better.

b.             Getting worse.

c.             Staying about the same.

d.              It is too hard to tell.

When air pollution from automobile exhausts causes asthma in children, that is:

a.             An unavoidable cost of living in a wealthy industrialized society.

b.             A moral outrage.

c.             Something that people who drive cars should compensate asthma sufferers for.

d.             A problem the Federal government is responsible for solving.

I would be willing to pay 5% higher taxes:

a.             To clean up the air and water in Maine.

b.             To improve the environmental and economic well being in Africa and Asia.

c.             To keep the Alaska National Wildlife refuge from being developed for oil production.

To do none of these—no more taxes.

Human Values and Social Contexts:  Artistic and Creative Expression

Learner Outcomes (updated 10/22/03; 6/30/04)

Students will demonstrate an active engagement in artistic and creative practices and knowledge of the implications of the artistic and creative choices they have made or an awareness of artistic/creative intentions in aesthetic practices.  There are many ways to demonstrate this.

For example:

Students will write, create or perform one or more of the following:

An informed response to a work of art, its cultural contexts, methods, or processes, drawing upon relevant terms, concepts, and approaches.

An original work of art, literature, architecture, film, design, music, theater, or dance or public reading.

A new interpretation of an existing work of art (e.g. play a role in a play, perform a musical or choreographic text).

These outcomes can be achieved through individual and collaborative activities.  The primary objective of courses in this category is to develop the skills and intellectual tools required to make and understand artistic and creative decisions and to participate in, evaluate, or appreciate artistic and creative forms of expression. Courses should regularly engage the student in critical thinking, creative processes, or aesthetic evaluation as a primary component.

Examples of assessment techniques that might be appropriate for this area include:

Portfolios

Juried shows or performances

Journals

Sketchbooks

Essays

Group discussions/debates

Response to public performance

Participation in a workshop (from creative writing to opera workshop to theatre/dance)

Field interview with artists

Investigation of media

Aesthetic use of media

Practical application of skill sets specific to each discipline

We recommend that the faculty teaching courses in this area engage regularly in discussions of assessment plans and share best practices.  Regional, national, and international conferences on teaching practices may support continuing development in this area.

A number of faculty members teaching courses in this area believe that only hands-on engagement with the experience of making art should satisfy this General Education requirement.   They would prefer to eliminate courses that do not include this direct engagement, from the General Education list and instead work to design or redesign courses through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Sample Assessment Items

ENG 241: American Literature Survey:  Beginnings Through Romanticism

Learner outcomes: Students should demonstrate an awareness of the influence of concrete historical or cultural contexts on specific artistic decisions in a literary text.

Task:  How does the historical and cultural context of _______ by _____, written in _____, differ from ours?  What different readings of the text emerge from these differing contexts?  How does that affect how we understand the author’s choices in form, language, and tone?

Assessment plan:  Instructor monitors several discussions of texts early in the semester along these lines.  An analogous essay examination question is assessed for how well the student can identify contexts relevant to a specific text and explain how the author’s formal choices relate to the context for readers in the past.

ENG 249: English  Sports Literature

Learner outcomes: Students should demonstrate an awareness of conventions of film and narrative fiction, and be able to identify different choices for film writers and narrators, and the consequences they have for an audience.

Task: (On an essay examination) Compare/contrast the presentation of the major character in the book and film, The Natural, with special attention to the differences in point-of-view as a literary and cinematic tool.  Give specific examples.

Assessment plan:  Analytic rubric will include the following categories:  1) Student can describe narrative point of view and give specific examples; 2) Student can describe cinematic point of view and give specific examples; 3) Student compares/contrasts the two versions of the story in a way that shows knowledge about adaptation of literature into film.

THE 117: Fundamentals of Acting

Learner outcomes:  To demonstrate the integration of skills (memorizing lines, planning movement, analyzing character) in a goal-directed performance with at least one other actor.

Task:  Act a short scene in such a way as to present a sense of truth, of being in the moment and in the character in relation to another character in the scene.

Assessment plan:  Criteria for response: (1) pursuit of the actor’s objective is sustained throughout; (2) giving and receiving (interactivity with other performers) is effective, (3) subsidiary skills (voice, stage movement, etc.) are non-distracting

Students receive written feedback to each criterion and use this in preparing for a final performance.

ARH 156: Art History II

Learner outcomes: Students will demonstrate an understanding of how differing definitions of art lead to aesthetic choices of materials, production processes and presentations in actual works of art.

Task: Compare and contrast the University of Maine Black Bear Statue and The Berm Piece installation (the wooden pieces installed in the grass near the Steam Plant Parking Lot).

Assessment plan: Essays will be assessed with a holistic rubric that includes the following criteria: (1). Clear and accurate descriptions of the works in consideration. (2). An awareness of how artworks carry symbolic, cultural and/or individual aesthetic values. (3). An understanding of artistic materials and processes applied to specific works of art. (4). A clear and insightful analysis of how the choice of materials and processes carry or refer to cultural values.

ART 110: 2-D Design

Learner outcomes:  Students will demonstrate the ability to recognize and use a specific color theory, and develop skills with materials.

Task:  Create a 12-color wheel, using acrylic paint, based upon the Itten color system.

Assessment plan:  Color wheels will be assessed with a holistic (1-5) scale that includes the following criteria:  clean/controlled application of paint, accurate choice of assigned colors.  Formative assessment is provided by a discussion among students of the relative strengths/weaknesses of individual projects, using design vocabulary, in relation to Itten’s concepts.  This also provides opportunity for self-assessment.

ANT 423: Folksong

Learning outcomes: Students should be able to identify key themes and stylistic influences within a traditional song repertoire, and to understand them in relation to the singer’s cultural context.

Task: Write a paper examining a repertoire of not less than twenty songs collected from an individual singer or community of singers.  National and large regional collections are too broad

and should not be used.  Where feasible, students are encouraged to conduct original fieldwork for the project.  The paper shall incorporate all of the following: the biography of the singer or contextual description of the community; detailed discussion of repertoire content with attention to prevalent themes and stylistic influences; and an evaluation of how the repertoire comments on or responds to concerns in the life of the singer or the community.  The paper should be 10 to 12 double-spaced pages, excluding transcripts.

Assessment plan: The following will be assessed on a five point scale, ranging from (1) unsatisfactory to (5) excellent.

Account of the singer(s) and/or the community

Thoroughness

Balance/objectivity

Effective use of historical and/or ethnographic literature

Quality of sources

Variety of sources

Identification of significant issues

Text transcription (if applicable)

Completeness and accuracy

Representation of spoken/sung language

Notation of non-verbal elements

Isolation of themes/motifs

Identification of formulas or commonplaces

Identification of explicit themes

Identification of implicit themes

Analysis of style

Assessment of generic unity or multiformity within the repertoire

Discussion of repertoire in relation to established genres

Assessment of “native” genres

Ability to co-relate textual and historical/ethnographic materials

Ethics

Learner Outcomes (updated 11/08/03)

Upon completing general education study in this area (a course or sequence), students should be able to demonstrate, in writing or through other means of documentation, one or more of the following competencies:

Distinguish two or more ethical theories, illustrate the differences between or among them in application to particular moral problems, and make an argument from the standpoint of one theory with an awareness of alternative positions.

Identify at least two ethical controversies within one or more disciplines or practices, and rehearse arguments for different sides of the controversies.  For example, in biomedical practice and research there are ethical controversies over cloning, genetic engineering, and just allocation of health care.  A student fulfilling the ethics requirement in this area should be able to present the moral pros and cons of at least one such controversy and support a considered judgment of his or her own, using professional codes and standards where relevant.

Identify and analyze the ethical issues, questions, and ambiguities arising in a work of literature, historical narrative, or social scientific account. For example, after taking a course on the history of colonialism that meets the ethics requirement, a student should be able to articulate the ethical issues raised by colonial practices and review the ethical (as distinct from economic or strategic) arguments for and against such practices.

Each course or sequence satisfying the ethics requirement will have explicit outcomes designed to support one or more of these general learning outcomes. Programs that satisfy the ethics requirement through a sequence of courses need not include assessment in every course in the sequence, but must assess the final course in the sequence.

Courses in this area must require students to demonstrate the desired outcomes through at least two assessments.  Appropriate techniques include:

Essays

Journals

Exams

Group discussions/debates

Case study analysis

At least one assignment must enable assessment of individual students.   Written assignments must require students to demonstrate integrated understanding of ethical issues.  Normally this integration cannot be demonstrated solely with multiple choice exams.

We recommend that faculty teaching courses in this area engage regularly in discussions of assessment plans and share best practices.

Sample Assessment Items (some are hypothetical; many are being used now)

In PHI 102:  Introduction to Philosophy

Learner outcomes:  Students will demonstrate that they can illustrate differences between ethical positions of Aristotle and Locke on property rights and make an argument for one with an awareness of counterarguments from the other position.

Task:  Compare Locke and Aristotle on property rights.  Defend one against the other.

Assessment plan:  Essays will be assessed with a holistic rubric (1-5 scale) that includes the following criteria:  clear and accurate explanation of each position, clear and accurate

explanation of significant differences between the positions, clear and well-substantiated argument in favor of one position that considers a relevant counter-position.

In NUR 455:  Senior Clinical Practicum

Learner outcomes: Students will identify and rehearse arguments pro and con about a nurse’s ethical responsibilities in a patient care case study situation.

Note:  This is a formative assessment of the group, used as one of several activities in the course.  The group activity is designed to help students review the relevance of the following frameworks for their decision-making, based on previous course and clinical work in the nursing sequence:  Nonmaleficence; Utilitarian approach; Best Interest Standard; Sanctity of life vs. quality of life; Patient autonomy and rights; Duty of care.

Task:  Consider the following situation:  A patient has chronic undifferentiated schizophrenia and has been assigned a court appointed guardian because of incompetence.  He has diabetes and a severe infection in his foot which is causing secondary complications such as severe anemia, which could lead to death if untreated.  The patient does not want an amputation, and the guardian is respecting the patient’s wishes even though the whole medical team feels that

amputation is the most appropriate action to take.  There is no advanced directive.  In your group, discuss: What do you think the guardian’s decision should be?  Describe the thinking process which brought you to your group decision.  Be prepared to report minority views if you do not reach consensus.

Assessment plan:  This exercise does not assess individual students, but it provides formative information for the instructor.  We give it as an example of an activity that may be described in a narrative format, with a reflective comment by the instructor about the formative information and plans for the future based on this information.

In CHE 477:  Elements of Chemical Process Design

Learner outcomes:  Students will demonstrate that they know the Chemical Engineering Code of Ethics and can apply it professionally to a variety of situations in the field.

Task:  Students read a number of case studies and choose a course of action based on the code of ethics for the discipline.

For example, here is one such case study, adapted from Chemical Engineering, May 3, 1990.  The article (by Philip M. Kohn and Roy V. Hughson) contains nine similar cases:

Only a Little Poison

Larry’s company has been using a flavor additive in one of its products, but there have been problems with the flavor’s stability.  One of Larry’s chemists accidentally finds that the flavor can be stabilized by adding a mixture of tin and lead in very small quantities.  Although

both tin and lead are recognized poisons, the chemist points out that the amounts added are no more than might be leached out of the soldered seams of the common tin cans used for a multitude of food products.  The new product will be packed in glass, so no further addition of heavy metals will occur.

Should Larry (check one):

__ Recommend that the additive not be used, because it is unethical to add poisons no matter what the quantity?

__ Prevent any further problems by suppressing the finding?

__ Recommend the open use  of this heavy-metals-stabilized additive?

__ Recommend that it be used, but that the deliberate addition of heavy metals be considered a trade secret, and be kept from leaking to the public because “it would only cause unnecessary worry”?

__ Other (please specify)

Explain in your own words your view of the ethical issues facing Larry, the relevant professional ethical standards, and why you would apply them as you indicated above.

Assessment plan:  Responses are scored using a two-part analytic scoring rubric to determine (1) whether students have clearly articulated the ethical issues,  and (2) used the Institute for Chemical Engineers’ code of ethics to justify their recommendation.

In BUA 449:  Administrative Policy and Business Environment

Learner outcomes:  Students will demonstrate that they can identify an ethical controversy within the field of business law and environment, explain arguments for different sides of the controversy, and present the moral pros and cons from their own points of view.

Task:  In a 3 page paper, apply an ethical analysis on the issue of the FBI’s use of information technology and U.S. citizens’ privacy rights.  [This question is keyed to a copyrighted case study on privacy, so we are not reproducing it here.]

Assessment plan: The case study is assessed with a rubric tied to the general learner outcome for disciplinary-based courses and sequences.  (The paper clearly identifies different ethical issues, explores alternative positions, and clearly identifies the student’s own stance.)

In ENG 253 or 453:  Shakespeare

Learner outcomes:  Students will demonstrate that they can identify and analyze ethical issues relating to the actions of morally flawed characters in King Lear, using evidence from the literary text; formulate a tentative position of their own on the relative culpability of Lear compared to his daughters; and apply this position to some contemporary issue where neither party is blameless.

Task:  King Lear says he is “ a man more sinn’d against than sinning.”  In an essay, discuss the views of at least three characters in the play on the relative sinfulness of Lear’s actions compared to the actions of his daughters.  Then discuss how you situate your own views of Lear’s behavior relative to these characters’ attitudes.  Finally, apply your position to some contemporary issue or conflict where neither party is blameless.

Assessment plan:  Student essays will be rated with the following analytic rubric, which will be shared with the assignment (research suggests that students like to have evaluation standards articulated like this, and may write more effectively as a result of such clear expectations):

In ENG 235:  Literature and the Modern World

Learner outcomes:  Students will demonstrate that they can articulate positions on moral issues exemplified by characters in a literary text and discuss how an author’s presentation affects how they respond to the characters and how they understand the moral issues involved.

Task:  In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” there are two principal characters, a mother and grown son.  Choose a moral issue on which these two people disagree and discuss their points of view on the issue, using rich examples from the text to identify and characterize their moral perspective and actions.  Then discuss how Flannery O’Connor presents these points of view and affects your response to these people and the issues they represent.  Develop your essay with a clear thesis, use MLA format for quoting and citing your sources, and edit carefully for clarity and conventions of Edited American English.

Assessment plans:  The essays will be assessed using a holistic rubric with ratings from 1 to 4 that integrate the following criteria (1) the ability to illustrate and support claims about the two characters’ positions with rich and appropriate textual evidence, (2) a clear and well-supported discussion of literary techniques that affect how we understand and respond to the characters and their moral positions, and 3) a clear exposition of the student’s response to the ethical issues.

Writing Competency

Learner Outcomes:  (updated 11/08/03; 3/17/04; 6/30/04)

Throughout their study at the University of Maine, students enhance their abilities to think and communicate effectively through frequent writing within and outside their major.

Because students take at least three writing intensive courses in their careers at the University of Maine, it is expected that their competencies will continue to grow throughout their undergraduate experience.

Because of the great variety of courses within this area–including courses in argumentation, journalism, creative writing, and content courses with intensive attention to writing–specific learner outcomes must be appropriate to each course.  Most syllabi will need to state outcomes that relate to the forms of writing practiced in the course (e.g. argumentative essays, reports, poems, news articles, reviews of the literature, case study analyses) and to a variety of readers.  In addition, they will state expectations for how students at the end of the course will handle specific content, rhetorical, stylistic, and editorial issues.

For each writing intensive course, including ENG 101, learner outcomes should be specified in the syllabus and identify what students should learn and be able to demonstrate at the end of the course.  These outcomes should be stated in measurable terms. The use of rubrics for scoring and to clarify criteria for success is encouraged, especially those that aid students in assessing their own success in meeting the course goals and demonstrating various writing competencies.  There are many examples available of both analytic and holistic rubrics, some nationally validated.  Instructors are encouraged to use or adapt these whenever possible.

Courses with multiple divisions should develop consistent goals and outcomes, and use the same learner outcomes and measurements for each division of the course.  Frequent discussion of sample papers and/or formal reliability training will ensure consistency between divisions.  New staff should be integrated into these ongoing processes.

Sample Assessment Items

In ENG 101:  College Composition

Students prepare portfolios consisting of two revised argumentative papers and a reflective introduction.  Passing papers will show that the students can compose arguments in support of a thesis in response to college-level readings.  The arguments will include at least two supporting assertions as well as textual evidence, whether quotations, summary, or paraphrase in support of those assertions.  The arguments will show that students can, for the most part, use appropriate sentence structure and correct punctuation.

1.            Substantially exceeds the standard, showing both sophisticated skill with argumentation and mature command of the conventions of academic discourse.*

2.            Meets the standard.

3.            Approaches the standard, often but not always by having one portfolio paper that is fully acceptable and one that is not quite acceptable.

4.            Fails to meet the standard.

* Students achieving this rank at the fifth or the tenth week of the semester have the option of exiting the course with the grade of A at that point.  Students achieving this rank on the diagnostic essay administered the first day of the semester are eligible for three credits of ENG 101 by examination.  Students receiving credit by examination do not have to prepare portfolios.

In ENG 317:  Business and Technical Writing, the instructor stipulates learner outcomes keyed to the effective presentation of a feasibility study and a research report.   For example, students must demonstrate that they can prepare an accurate research report that addresses a significant question, that is clear, complete, and useful for a variety of readers (including others not in their own technical field), that anticipates the professional perspectives and constraints of those readers, and that organizes information effectively for easy use.  There is a clear statement of the criteria for evaluation of effectiveness keyed to an analytic rubric developed through staff discussions between ENG 317 instructors.

In PHY 441: Physical Electronics Laboratory and PHY 442: Modern Experimental Physics, a two-course sequence that gives credit for writing intensive in Physics, students hone writing skills in the discipline with thirteen technical reports (10-15 pages each), in addition to short writing assignments focused on elements of the report process (such as abstracts, statement of objectives, review of theory, etc.), and an oral presentation.  The writing instructor (A. Brownstein) meets with each student (once or more often) each week throughout each semester for feedback on the current lab report draft. The following rubric is used:

After revisions, students submit final reports to the physics faculty member, who assesses them for disciplinary-specific goals.  The tutor and the professor work collaboratively to discuss standards and needs as they arise in the course of this year-long sequence.

In a senior seminar for a social science major, students are required to demonstrate that they can present a review of the literature on an assigned topic, write a research proposal, collect data, and write up a research report that incorporates literature review, discussion of methods, data, and discussion of conclusions.  They are given an analytic rubric, invited to use it in work-shopping peer drafts in class, and assessed with the same rubric.

APPENDIX B

Center for Teaching Excellence

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Assessment Session  – Ethics; Social Contexts and Institutions; Western Cultural Tradition

APPENDIX C

Center for Teaching Excellence

Saturday, October 18, 2003

Assessment Session  – Science and Mathematics

Facilitator:  John Thompson

APPENDIX D

Center for Teaching Excellence

Saturday, November 1, 2003

Assessment Session - Population & Environment, Writing Competency

Facilitator:  David Adams

APPENDIX E

Center for Teaching Excellence

Saturday, November 8, 2003

Assessment Session – Social Contexts & Institutions, Ethics

Facilitator:  Connie Perry

APPENDIX F

Center for Teaching Excellence

Saturday, November 22, 2003

Assessment Session – Diversity & International Perspectives; Western Cultural Tradition; and Artistic & Creative

Expression

Facilitator:  Chris Mares

APPENDIX G

Motion on Outcomes Assessment

Preamble:

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), our campus’ accrediting body, directed President Hoff on October 19, 1999, to prepare a 5^th year interim report for consideration in Spring 2004.  In this report, the University of Maine must “give emphasis to” four specific goals, one of which is “implementing measures to assess student learning outcomes in both general education and the undergraduate major, and using the resulting findings for the improvement of academic programs.”  In short, NEASC requires that the University of Maine conduct a data-driven process of instructional improvement.  The following motion calls on the administration and faculty to work together to carry out this mandate.

Motion:

The Faculty Senate recommends that the University Administration, in cooperation with the Faculty Senate’s Academic Affairs Committee, the Undergraduate program Curriculum Committee (UPCC), the Center for Teaching Excellence, other appropriate campus bodies, and the individual faculty members who teach courses approved for general education requirements, undertake a process to assess student learning outcomes in general education with the greater goal of improving teaching and learning on our campus.  The Faculty Senate’s Academic Affairs Committee is charged to monitor actions taken with respect to this task and prepare a progress report to be submitted to the Faculty Senate no later than December 2003.

Faculty Senate

January 29, 2003 Minutes

APPENDIX H

Gen Ed Assessment Draft Action Plan

As follow-up to the Senate resolution regarding assessment of general education, the following steps will be taken by the associate vice president for academic affairs and the director of the Center for Teaching Excellence in cooperation with the Faculty Senate’s Academic Affairs Committee, the Undergraduate Program Curriculum Committee (UPCC), and other appropriate campus bodies.  Our goal is to fulfill NEASC’s requirements for continuing our accreditation by providing meaningful assessment of our general education program and to improve teaching and learning on our campus, particularly in our general education courses.

Contact NEASC for names of peer institutions which have successfully met the NEASC requirements regarding assessment.

Determine what other universities have done, and what accreditation bodies or disciplinary organizations have recommended, to assess student learning outcomes in the area of their requirement and to apply the results from such assessments to improve instruction.

Search the internet and other sources for sample statements of general education requirements as student learning outcomes.

Form separate working groups of faculty teaching currently approved gen ed courses in each requirement cluster.  Have these groups meet in a summer workshop format to develop and agree upon language that expresses each requirement in terms of learning outcomes (What do we want students to know and be able to do?) and charge the groups to proceed in carrying out the steps indicated below for their requirement cluster with support from the Center for Teaching Excellence.

[NOTE:  We already have drafts of such language for Science, Writing Competency, and the following rubrics within Human Values and Social Context:  Cultural diversity and international perspectives, Population and the environment, and Artistic and creative expression.  We need to have learning outcomes articulated for Math (there is apparently a draft of this language), Ethics, and the following rubrics within Human Values and Social Context:  Western cultural traditions, Social context and institutions.]

Identify realistic measures of these outcomes (How can we demonstrate/measure that students have acquired the knowledge and skills indicated?  Do we need both qualitative and quantitative measures?  Are there nationally normed assessment tools “out there” that would be appropriate for our use?).

Integrate a set of common assessment measures into all courses in each general education knowledge/skill requirement cluster (i.e., develop a set of common assessments that can be adapted and used – in addition to regular tests, assignments, etc. – in every course in each requirement cluster to assess students’ success in achieving the articulated learning outcomes for that gen ed requirement).

Consider the addition of a technology rubric in general education that parallels the writing rubric but for technological literacy.

Work with UPCC to require that future proposals for all new courses seeking gen ed credit include syllabi expressing specific learning outcomes along with a set of integrated assessments designed to measure achievement of these outcomes (The measures must include those common measures agreed upon for all gen ed courses in the particular cluster in addition to other assessments.).

Work with UPCC to establish a process and timeline whereby all courses currently meeting gen ed requirements will be reviewed, cluster by cluster, and required to incorporate into their syllabi specific learning outcomes and appropriate assessment measures, including those agreed upon for all courses in their particular cluster(s).

Provide information/training/support to faculty responsible for integrating (designing, administering, and interpreting/evaluating) these assessment measures into their courses.

Design and monitor an effective feed-back loop so that assessment results are used to revise and improve courses to better achieve desired outcomes.  For example, gather a random sample (using class lists and a table of random numbers) of student work produced in response to the common assessment measures referred to above, and convene a larger group of faculty teaching courses approved for that requirement to review and discuss these samples of student work and develop suggestions for course redesign to improve student outcomes on these common assessments in the future.

Report at least annually on the results of this work to the Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Education and the Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee of Faculty Senate.

Design and implement an institutional research mechanism for gathering the resulting assessment data from gen ed courses for purposes of monitoring our success and reporting to external agencies like NEASC.

Continue to provide faculty development support (through CTE and other venues) to assist faculty with course design, delivery, and revision related to improving teaching, establishing learning outcomes, measuring/assessing achievement of learning outcomes, etc.

Determine what resources (human and financial) will be needed to achieve these tasks (articulation of measurable outcomes; identification/design of appropriate assessment tools, training/support for those who will be integrating and interpreting assessment measures; support to faculty revising their courses in terms of design, delivery, and assessment, etc.).

Secure administrative approval and support for these efforts.

NOTE: Determine what resources will be necessary for these efforts and securing such resources will be an in-going process.  We recommend that the Center for Teaching Excellence coordinate the process of gathering information regarding necessary resources and manage the distribution of resources received.

Center for Teaching Excellence

Dennis King

Doug Bousfeld

James Gilbert

Jeffrey StJohn  (ex officio)

Kathryn Slott

Kirsten Jacobsen

Len Kass

Michael Grillo

Patricia Poirier

Robert Franzosa

Stuart Marrs (ex officio)

Sue Erich

Thomas Sandford

William Ellis

William Livingston

General Education Requirements

IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES

(Updated February, 2009, by Faculty Senate and accepted by UPCC. Please discard all previous copies.)

Beginning in September, 1995, all students initiating their baccalaureate programs at the University of Maine will be required to meet certain general education requirements that apply uniformly to all students, regardless of program. Additional general requirements may be imposed by individual colleges, and each academic major imposes requirements specific to that discipline.

The General Education Requirements cover six broad areas, listed below.

SCIENCE

Students are required to complete two courses in the physical or biological – sciences. This may be accomplished in two ways:

By completing two courses with laboratories in the basic or applied sciences;

By completing one approved course in the applications of scientific knowledge, plus one course with a lab in the basic or applied sciences.

DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS

A laboratory course in the applied physical or biological sciences brings basic knowledge to bear on the solution of practical problems in engineering, medicine, agriculture, forestry, and other fields for which natural science forms the foundation. Normally applied science courses require one of the basic natural sciences (biology, physics, chemistry, geology) as a prerequisite, and carry at least 4 degree credits.

A course in the applications of scientific knowledge has the following attributes:

it focuses on one or more basic or applied natural sciences

it includes significant blending of presently accepted science with its application in common situations;

it discusses both the applications and limitations of the relevant scientific methodology;

it includes as a major component of the course the observation of natural phenomena coupled with the gathering of data and its quantitative analysis, and its interpretation in an expository format;

its overall focus is on guiding students towards the scientific literacy necessary for modern life rather than on training future science professionals.

MATHEMATICS

Students are required to complete at least six credit hours in mathematics, including statistics and computer science. No more than three of the six credit hours may be in computer science.

DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS

A course in the Mathematics category (which includes statistics and computer science) must satisfy at least one of the following criteria:

it focuses upon mathematical theory and/or applications;

it focuses on the logical structure and development of statistical methods, or on their application to data evaluation within a particular discipline;

it focuses on mathematical logic and analytical thinking; or

it emphasizes the principles that underlie the operation of computers or the design of the software that controls them.

HUMAN VALUES AND SOCIAL CONTEXT

Students are required to complete 18 credits in this broad area, selected from lists of approved courses to satisfy each of the six sub-categories listed below. (Courses that satisfy requirements in more than one sub-category may be counted in each appropriate sub-category.)

Western cultural tradition

Social context and institutions

Cultural diversity and international perspectives

Population and the environment

Artistic and creative expression

DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS

Courses included in the Western Cultural Tradition category have as their primary focus the historical and/or philosophical examination of the basis of Western culture. Courses may be discipline specific [e.g., the history of economic thought, the history of education] while others may touch on subjects [e.g., the Platonic or Aristotelian traditions] that cut across disciplinary boundaries. Subject areas may include, but are not limited to, artistic, economic, educational, historical, linguistic, literary, performative, philosophical, political, rhetorical, scientific, and social dimensions of the Western cultural tradition.

Courses included in the Social Contexts and Institutions category focus upon the ways in which social contexts shape and limit human institutions (defined broadly to include customs and relationships as well as organizations). The specific focus may be upon ways in which social contexts and institutions interact with human values, the role of institutions in expressing cultural values, or the social and ethical dimensions attendant upon particular academic disciplines.

A course included in the Cultural Diversity and International Perspectives category satisfies one or more of the following criteria:

it places primary emphasis on the experiences, perspectives, and cultural work of one or more groups who are not dominant within a particular culture;

it has as a primary goal encouraging students to become aware of the diversity of American culture and to discover their roles within that diversity; or

it places primary emphasis on the relationships among or within different cultures in the past or present.

it introduces students to a culture other than their own through an intermediate or advanced course in the language of that culture.

Courses included in the Population and Environment sub-category help students to understand how humankind interacts with our finite physical and biological environment. This understanding will be best achieved by a highly interdisciplinary approach that brings together aspects of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. Although the technical solutions to environmental problems will be based upon scientific knowledge, the goals to be set and the ethical, political, economic and social dimensions of meeting them are the domain of the humanities and social sciences, which therefore must constitute a major focus of the course.

Courses fulfilling this requirement should address the following:

the role of both local and global environmental change on the quality of human life;

the pervasive role of human population growth on environmental quality and the quality of life, both in industrial and developing countries;

the influence of cultural, religious, economic, educational, and political factors on population growth and environmental quality;

possible solutions to the population/environment problems, which may include tile role of technological advancements, a reexamination of educational and political institutions, enlightened reassessment of traditional religious and economic conceptions, and rethinking of the contemporary Western conception of “the good life”.

Courses included in the Artistic and Creative Expression category engage tile student in creative thinking and processes. A primary objective is to develop skills and intellectual tools required to make artistic and creative decisions, and to participate in, evaluate, or appreciate artistic and creative forms of expression.

ETHICS

Students are required to take a course or a series of courses placing substantial emphasis on discussion of ethical issues. (This requirement becomes effective on September 1, 1996.)

DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS

The ethics requirement can be satisfied by 1) a stand-alone course in which ethics constitutes a substantial focus of the course, or 2) by a well defined series of courses required in a particular curriculum, wherein the treatment of ethics in any one course may be somewhat less, but which taken together sum to a substantial emphasis on ethics.

Courses that satisfy the ethics requirement have one or more of the following attributes:

they teach methods of ethical analysis;

they deal intensively with ethical issues associated with a particular discipline or profession;

they engage the student in the study of ethical questions arising through the interpretation of literature or history, or social scientific analysis designed to include ethical evaluation. [In order for a course to be approved under this criterion, the treatment of ethics must be substantial rather than merely incidental. Examples: i) a course in history that focuses strongly on the ethical issues raised by a particular policy, e.g. colonialism, and the ways in which those issues were addressed or ignored, might be appropriate; ii) a course in econometrics typically would not count, but an economics course broadened to include questions of distributive justice could; iii) a course on psychophysics might not count, but a course on moral development could.]

DEMONSTRATED WRITING COMPETENCY

Students are required to write throughout their academic careers and must demonstrate competency both at the introductory level and within their majors. To fulfill this requirement, students must:

Complete ENG 101, College Composition, with a grade of C or better, or be excused from this course on the basis of a placement exam.

Complete at least two writing-intensive courses, at least one of which must be within the academic major.

DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS –

In a writing-intensive course:

students must have an opportunity to revise their writing in response to feedback from the instructor;

a substantial portion of the student’s final grade must be based upon the quality of the written work, and

course enrollment should normally be limited to 25 students or less.

CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE

Students are required to complete an approved capstone experience within the major by the end of their. senior year. The approved experience must be one in which the student draws upon and integrates the formal components of his or her undergraduate education to perform at a professional level. Students should consult closely with their academic advisor within the major program to explore the range of options available for meeting this requirement.

DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS

The capstone experience should have the following attributes:

the experience must be of significant depth and require innovation, creativity, reflection and synthesis of prior learning;

the experience must result in a thesis, report, presentation or performance that demonstrates mastery of the subject matter;

faculty/student interaction should be an integral part of the experience.

minimum student effort in the capstone should reflect the equivalent of three credits of work.

Interdisciplinary experiences and opportunities for group participation in the capstone experience should be encouraged.

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