General Education Assessment

The University of Richmond has four areas of general education requirements used to determine the degree to which students are demonstrating the stated learning outcomes. Four of the general education areas serve students in our traditional undergraduate programs in the Schools of Arts & Sciences, Business, and Leadership Studies — First-Year Seminar, second language (SLP, previously COMII), the Integrated Focus Areas. and the Areas of Inquiry. Please visit the General Education Curriculum site for more information regarding general education requirements for traditional undergraduate students.

First-Year Seminars

Each semester, a sample of the first-year seminars are selected to be assessed. Instructors are randomly assigned to assess two of the four First-Year Seminar learning outcomes. Instructors select an assignment, exercise, work product, etc. that best incorporates the learning outcome and provides the best illustration of the extent to which the students have achieved the outcome. When fitting, the same assignment may be used to assess both outcomes that are being assessed that semester.

At the end of the semester, the instructor uses the designated rubric to assess each student's work and assign a rating. The results are submitted to the Assessment Specialist to be aggregated and analyzed. The General Education Committee will review the results and make recommendations for any potential changes.

Second Language (SLP)

Students from a sample of sections from the modern languages are selected and assessed in the Fall and Spring using the Standards-Based Assessment and Measure of Proficiency (STAMP) test, which is an external standardized language proficiency test. Once all selected students have completed their assessment, the Assessment Specialist provides a report on the language proficiency to the Director of the Global Studio.

Integrated Focus Areas

The 4 Integrated Focus Areas are assessed using the four-semester timeline below. Each semester, courses are randomly selected for the assessment of the designated Focus Area. Each selected course instructor then selects an assignment, exercise, work product, etc., that best incorporates each of the learning outcomes and provides the best illustration of the extent to which the students have achieved the outcomes. When fitting, the same assignment can be used to assess both of the outcomes designated for the semester.

At the end of the semester, the instructor uses the designated rubric to assess each student's work and assign a rating. The results are submitted to the Assessment Specialist to be aggregated and analyzed. The General Education Committee will review the results and make recommendations for any potential changes.

Areas of Inquiry

The six Areas of Inquiry are assessed using the timeline below. Each semester, a random sampling of courses is conducted to assess of the designated learning outcomes for that period. Each selected instructor then will select an assignment, exercise, work product, etc., that best incorporates each of the learning objectives and provides the best illustration of the extent to which the students have achieved the outcome. When fitting, the same assignment can be used to assess multiple outcomes designated for the semester.

At the end of the semester, the instructor uses the designated rubric to assess each student's work and assign a rating. The results are submitted to the Assessment Specialist to be aggregated and analyzed. The General Education Committee will review the results and make recommendations for any potential changes.