The case for assessing complex general education student learning outcomes

Abstract

This chapter gives a brief history of general education assessment, responds to common criticisms of general education assessment, and makes a case for assessing general education as a critical element of our responsibility as faculty members.

Student Perceptions About Their General Learning Outcomes

“…Although we want students to learn discipline-specific skills, a recent trend has been to measure general learning outcomes at the program or institutional level as a measure of institutional effectiveness (Penn, 2011). General learning outcomes in higher education typically refers to the knowledge and skills graduates need to prepare them for the workplace and society, such as critical thinking, writing, and problem solving, that are not discipline specific but are skills that can be applied across the disciplines (Spelling Commission on the Future of Higher Education, 2006).…”

“…Multilevel models that can handle smaller group sizes at the higher-level units and the within-group population are of considerable importance in institutional settings, particularly for institutional effectiveness researchers. Measuring general learning outcomes is a complex process because currently there is little consensus on how to measure student general learning across programs and institutions (Penn, 2011;Porter, 2012). There are few studies of the quality of higher education that make the appropriate linkages of quality and effectiveness indicators to educational process for the differences in educational outcomes between students, programs, and the learning environment within a single institution (Borden & Young, 2008).…”

Realizing General Education: Reconsidering Conceptions and Renewing Practice

“…Still others equate general education with particular academic disciplines. Recent articulations have framed general education to be a set of learning outcomes (National Leadership Council for Liberal Education and America's Promise, ; Penn, , ). Differing perspectives not only make it challenging to consider the significance of general education but also open it up to a wide range of determinations regarding its effectiveness.…”

“…Moreover, general education programs must focus on students’ learning needs. Intentionality is particularly important given the cross‐institutional and interdepartmental context in which general education plays out (Allen, ; Penn, , ).…”

“Orthogonality” in Learning and Assessment

“…Recent articles (Arum & Roksa, ) and press coverage (Carey, ) focus popular opinion—and therefore that of policy makers—on the impression that colleges and universities rip off the public due to low expectations and standards for learning, high tuition, and plenty of diversion for undergraduates beyond the classroom. The disconnect between contemporary accreditation standards requiring assessment of outcomes and what the public thinks about learning in college belies over 70 years of conceptual progress (Penn, ) in measuring both the array of collegiate outcomes and the design of value‐added studies. See also, for example, work of Astin and Antonio (), Dressel (), and Pace ().…”