3.5.1 The institution identifies competencies within the general education core and provides evidence that graduates have attained those college-level competencies.
JUDGMENT OF COMPLIANCE
Compliance.
NARRATIVE/JUSTIFICATION FOR JUDGMENT OF COMPLIANCE
The University identifies competencies within the general education
core and provides evidence that graduates have attained those college-level
competencies.
The 42-semester credit hour General Education Core (GEC) Curriculum
Mission Statement is to “introduce
students to academic disciplines which form the foundation of human thought…(the)
Core is conceived to open new areas of learning for our students and
to foster skills necessary for success in higher education. As they move
through this course of study, students are encouraged…to develop
the capacity to articulate and to support a thesis, to think critically,
to synthesize their observations and to perceive analogies and relationships
between diverse ideas and intellectual pursuits.” (Catalog
2004-2005, Core Curriculum Mission Statement) The GEC encompasses
three underlying competencies that address the intent of the Mission
Statement: writing, reading, and mathematics.
Writing competency is assessed by means of the University Writing Assessment
(UWA) (Catalog
2004-2005, Programs for Academic Support and Enrichment,
University Writing Assessment ), a writing exercise
that undergraduate students must pass prior to graduation. The UWA
is a locally-generated
instrument that examines
skill in composing an essay on a current events or literary topic.
Two rubrics assess achievement. (UWA
Rubrics) Faculty
and Writing Center administrators that serve as readers
undergo training on the application of the rubrics before reading the
samples. A holistic rubric is used to evaluate logic, organization,
development, and mechanics.
Readers
employ
this
rubric
to assess the overall quality
of the essay and to assign it a level of adequacy. To establish
reliability, each writing sample receives at least two readings. When
scores differ, one of the chief readers evaluates the essay for a final
determination.
Results are posted on the student's unofficial transcript through LASSO,
the Laredo Automated Student Services On-line. Students
who are not successful are advised by Programs for
Academic
Support
and
Enrichment
staff
and directed to the Writing Center or asked to take additional English
classes to improve their writing skills. Assessment Reports for
the GEC identify a benchmark of 70% first time pass rate on the UWA
for students who
have taken all nine semester credit hours of English language and literature
at the University. Results of the first three semesters of assessment of this
outcome indicate first time pass rates as follows:
Spring 2003 |
58.11% |
|
Fall 2003 |
57.14% |
|
Spring 2004 |
56% |
The second rubric is analytical and serves to validate the UWA and to
provide more specific information about particular areas of weakness
in student writing. The
information
from
the
rubric
is
compared
to establish
internal
validity
of the UWA and to provide more detailed information about student deficiencies
in writing. A total of 300 sample essays were randomly selected from
Spring 2003, Fall 2003, and Spring 2004. These essays were scored according
to the analytical rubric which identifies five categories of writing
skills. Four experienced readers participated each semester, each reading
approximately
25 essays each term. The results indicate that students' greatest instructional
need is in logic, coherence, and development followed by mechanics and
usage. The categories with the lowest number of points represent the
greatest area of weakness.
Evaluation of UWA results led to the selection of writing as the focus of
the University’s
Quality Enhancement Plan. (QEP
Executive Summary) The effect of a university-wide emphasis
on writing will be considered in subsequent
interpretation
of the UWA as an outcome measure of the GEC.
Reading, the second dimension of assessment, is evaluated by a sampling technique in which students enrolled in Political Science 2306, American State Government, take the reading module of the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP). Intended to document student readiness for advanced study, the CAAP module is a national, standardized examination that assesses reading levels after students have taken at least a year of courses within the core curriculum. CAAP has longitudinal validity so it can be used to assess different groups of students from semester to semester. Assessment Reports for the reading dimension of the Core Curriculum indicate as a desired outcome that the average score of University students will meet or exceed the national average. Test results from the first three semesters of administration of the CAAP Reading Module are as follows:
Semester |
TAMIU Average |
National Average |
Evidence |
Spring 2003 |
58.5 % |
62.6 % |
Assessment Report |
Fall 2003 |
58 % |
62.9 % |
Assessment Report |
Spring 2004 |
58 % |
62.6% |
Assessment Report |
Reading competence presents a unique challenge on a campus with a high minority/bilingual population. To address the lower-than-desired test results, a reading assessment and improvement program PLATO was added to the English 1301 English Composition I course. Because CAAP is normed with PLATO reading software, students’ scores in their first-year courses can be compared with their scores subsequent to their second-year political science classes.
Competence in basic mathematics, the third dimension evaluated for the GEC, is measured by a locally-developed Common Final Examination in College Algebra administered upon completion of the course. The benchmark set for this assessment is that 75% of all students taking this examination will achieve a score of 60 or better. Results for the first three semesters of implementation are reported in the Assessment Reports as follows:
Spring 2003 |
34% |
|
Fall 2003 |
67% |
|
Spring 2004 |
40% |
Faculty comments on the Assessment Report for Fall 2003 indicate that the improved results may have been attributed to early intervention and expanded tutoring, along with more emphasis on traditional College Algebra sections.
Evaluation of the GEC is complicated by the fact that
students can transfer the
core
curriculum
in whole or
in
part
from
one
institution
to another
in the state of Texas. (Catalog
2004-2005, Academic Regulations - Undergraduate, Transfer of the Core
Curriculum) A planned
refinement of GEC evaluation is to compare results of students who
completed their
core
coursework at the University with those of transfer students.
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