Self-Study Assessment PlanObjectives and Outcomes

See Mission and outcomes and Intended student outcomes sections in Curriculum II Assessment Plan below.

Assessment Plan

Mission and outcomes

General Education at Gustavus Adolphus College is one expression of our commitment to helping students develop their potential as persons, establish habits of life-long learning, and cultivate capacities for reasoned and responsible citizenship. In our tradition as a church-related liberal arts college, students study a broad spectrum of disciplines to develop their whole persons: body, mind, and spirit.

In CII students will develop knowledge and demonstrate understanding of the artistic, literary, religious, philosophical, and scientific heritage of the Western tradition. CII encourages the appreciation of interdisciplinary connections and the relationship between past and present. Study of foreign languages encourages students to see themselves as part of a global community. CII encourages students to identify and develop values, to realize that those values are related to social and cultural norms, and to relate these insights to their fields of study and the roles they will play as citizens of the world. CII also encourages personal health and fitness, and competence in quantitative and analytical reasoning, writing, and speaking.

Intended student outcomes

  1. To develop an informed historical perspective on Western culture.
  2. To develop an informed and mature understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
  3. To appreciate the nature and place of artistic expression in the development of the Western tradition.
  4. To consider the significance of the Western tradition for our own time and for the future.
  5. To recognize and value traditions which differ from those of the West.
  6. To reflect on the competing and complementary claims of individuals and communities.
  7. To appreciate the ways in which we gain knowledge, identify issues, discover and evaluate evidence and form judgments.
  8. To learn to analyze ethical problems critically and to improve the capacity to make discriminating moral choices.
  9. To strive for competency in a second language.
  10. To think and write clearly and effectively.
  11. To develop an awareness of and a program for physical well being.
  12. To develop the ability to integrate and relate knowledge and insights from their college experience to inform their identity and future activities.

Assessment

  1. Assessment of students’ knowledge and mastery of relevant intended student outcomes will be course-embedded, including exams, papers, individual and group projects, group discussions or presentations.
  2. Student self-report survey data, collected annually, reviewed by Director.
  3. Portfolio with Individual and Morality and Senior Seminar papers, collected and reviewed by Senior Seminar instructors. A random sample will be reviewed by the CII Director.

We now also have ten years of data collected from graduating seniors regarding their general education experiences, tabulated by Barbara Simpson, and divided by CI and CII.

Interpretation

At the annual wrap up meeting for CII in the spring, faculty teaching that year will report on their classes. The director will report on assessment data collected. All CII faculty will be invited to consider these results and suggest changes to the program.

Reporting

Following the meeting, the director will summarize in a written report the information presented at the retreat, the discussion, and any plans for future action. This report will be circulated among CII faculty and filed with the Dean’s Office.

[See Appendix A for copies of student self-report survey forms.]