General Education Assessment
In fall 2004, the Board of Regents
began implementation of System-wide general education
requirements. As one focus on improving quality, the
Tennessee Board of Regents’ Strategic Plan,
Setting New Directions, addresses the
development and implementation of a system-wide student
assessment of general education. A proposal, approved by
presidents and chief academic officers, calls for every
System institution to assess four competencies of vital
interest to students, educators, employers and other
stakeholders—mathematics, oral communication, writing,
and critical thinking. The proposal also calls for
institutions to engage in either reflective practice or
direct assessment of learning in the areas of Humanities
and Fine Arts, Social and Behavioral Sciences, History,
and Natural Sciences.
Each
institution is to reflect upon its assessment results
and implement strategies for improving general education
based upon these results. It is through data-driven
decision making that change leading to improvement can
occur.
The System assessment of general education will be
phased over a number of years. The activities for the
remainder of the 2007-08 academic year will emphasize
the development of plans for pilot projects to conduct
embedded assessment in the vital competencies of
writing, oral communication, mathematics and critical
thinking. Campuses will submit their plans this spring
to the Board of Regents for approval, with
implementation in the 2008-09 academic year.
Beginning in 2009-10, institutions will conduct required
assessments annually and submit assessment reports to
the Board each year. These reports will include the
strategies and activities undertaken by each campus to
improve general education as a result of the
assessments.
Assessment Conference
A
conference to initiate the general education assessment
process was recently held for faculty and administrators
who have responsibility for developing initial
assessment pilot projects. Participants were able to
discuss the expectations, challenges, guiding
principles, and opportunities in the assessment of
general education.
