The assessment of the General Education Learning Objectives is based on a set of common rubrics developed by Penn State faculty. Faculty teaching General Education courses are encouraged to use these rubrics to assess key assignments in relevant courses regardless of whether their course is part of the annual assessment process.

• • • Is participation mandatory?
    • Which of my courses should I assess?
    • Why does my course have this particular learning objective?
    • I misplaced my email, how can I participate?
    • What is the deadline?
    • Are we being compensated?

Is participation mandatory?

Participation in the study in the strictest sense is not mandatory, but it is probably not appropriate to consider it elective either.  Penn State faculty own the General Education curriculum and its delivery, and assessment of General Education is a requirement supported by the Faculty Senate and by our accreditors.  In other words, we have an obligation as an institution to engage in the assessment of Gen Ed, and this study is one of the ways Penn State does so.  Invited instructors may elect not to participate but doing so abdicates that shared responsibility.

Which of my courses should I assess?

You only need to assess one section of one course. Fall course instructors will receive their invite on August 31; spring instructors will receive theirs on January 23. Your invitation will specify the domain or learning objective and the course selected for participation If you have multiple sections of the selected course – please choose the section that is most convenient to you by virtue of your course structure or enrollments.

Why does my course have this particular General Education Learning Objective?

When a course is proposed (or recertified) as a General Education course, 2-4 General Education Learning Objectives must be selected. The proposal requires justification and examples of how the course will meet the selected objectives. Curricular proposals are available in the Curriculum Archives if you would like to look at the course proposal and better understand the intentions when the course was proposed. The course proposal does provide examples of how the Learning Objective may be assessed, but it is only a suggestion, it is not required that you do it that way. You can also easily look your courses up via the Undergraduate Bulletin.  Once you have found your course, scroll down to see the various attributes or endorsements listed there.

I misplaced my email invitation, how do I participate?

Reach out to the Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research at assessment@psu.edu for this information.

When is the deadline?

The study period is the spring and fall semester, and you can submit your rubric scores at any time up to June 18 – as soon as you have scores, we will accept them!