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Academic Assessment Program

General Education

University of Central Arkansas

The purpose of the General Education Program at UCA is

1. to enable students to have or to know where to locate the information they need to make informed decisions and hold responsible opinions about their lives and the relationship of their lives to the world in which they live;
2. to help students develop intellectual skills, practical skills, and emotional and aesthetic sensitivities--that is, to prepare them to think, to feel, and to act competently in a complex, diverse, and constantly changing world; and
3. to help students understand the values inherent in their culture and to be aware of other cultural traditions, values, and beliefs.

In fulfilling these general purposes, the program seeks to prepare students to be lifelong learners with the intellectual and emotional skills--the adaptability--to tackle the great changes they will undoubtedly experience during their adult lives; and to recognize the connectedness of human life and develop a sense of how humanity's diverse pursuits relate to one another.

1. Areas of Human Understanding and Intellectual Inquiry

Upon completion of the General Education program, students will have an introductory comprehension of certain fundamental areas of human understanding and intellectual inquiry; they will have been encouraged to develop a sense of how humanity's diverse pursuits relate to one another. These areas are: Writing, Fine Arts, Oral Communication, Health Studies, Mathematics, Humanities, American History and Government, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and World Cultural Traditions.

1a. Departments participating in the general education program, document and assess the achievement of their courses contributions to the objectives within the relevant area of inquiry. The general education council is responsible for reviewing and judging the success of the program in achieving its area objectives.

1b. Graduating seniors will be asked questions developed by the council and faculty in the relevant area that address the objectives of the general education areas.

2-7. Skills

Upon completion of the General Education program, students will have basic skills in the following areas: [Specific Objectives for the following skills will be developed. At this point documentation of a good faith effort to develop the skill is required.]

2-7a. Departments participating in the general education program document and assess the achievement of their courses contributions to the objectives within the relevant skill area. [In the near future the general education council will play a greater role in program skill assessment.]

2. Oral Communication: Students will have the basic skills of speaking necessary to advance to more complex communication tasks in their majors and careers. [More specific objectives will be developed.]

2b. Course embedded assessments.

3. Written Communication: Students will have the basic skills of writing necessary to advance to more complex communication tasks in their majors and careers. [More specific objectives will be developed.]

3b. Course embedded assessments.

3c. Rising Junior Exam: The UCA mean score on the CAAP Writing Skills and Writing Essay modules will meet or exceed the national mean. Furthermore, at least 60% of UCA students taking the CAAP will score at or above the national 50th percentile on the Writing Skills and Writing Essay modules.

4. Critical Thinking: Students will have the basic skills of thinking necessary to advance to more complex reasoning tasks in their majors and careers. They will be able to develop arguments, identify assumptions, and understand implications. [More specific objectives will be developed.]

4b. Course embedded assessments.

4c. Rising Junior Exam: The UCA mean score on the CAAP Reading module will meet or exceed the national mean. Furthermore, at least 60% of UCA students taking the CAAP will score at or above the national 50th percentile on the Reading module.

5. Research: Students will engage in techniques of discovery and be able to identify and use appropriate sources of information. [More specific objectives will be developed.]

5b. Course embedded assessments.

6. Math [Quantitative Analysis]: Students will have achieved basic competence in quantitative analysis. [More specific objectives will be developed.]

6b. Course embedded assessments.

6c. Rising Junior Exam: The UCA mean score on the CAAP Mathematics module, Algebra subscore, will meet or exceed the national mean. Furthermore, at least 60% of UCA students taking the CAAP will score at or above the national 50th percentile on the Mathematics module, Algebra subscore.

7. [Information] Technology: Students will have the basic information technology skills they need to find, access, manage, and communicate information. [More specific objectives will be developed.]

7b. Course embedded assessments.

8. Attitudes/Values

Upon completion of the General Education program, students will have had the opportunity and encouragement to develop thoughtful perspectives.

• Diversity and Connections: They will have been exposed to and encouraged to explore both the cultural diversity that defines many human differences and the connections that suggest common human concerns.
• Values: They will also have been encouraged to explore value-systems and to recognize the roles value-systems play in human life.

[Specific objectives for these areas (diversity/connections, values) will be developed.]

8a. Departments participating in the general education program document and assess the achievement of their courses contributions to the objectives within the relevant attitude/value dimension.

8b. Course embedded assessments.

[In the near future the general education council will play a greater role in program values/attitudes assessment.]