University of Nebraska Kearney

General Studies Program Assessment Mission

Assessment of student learning and opinions will serve to identify the degree UNK is meeting the objectives of the GS Program. The assessment process described in this plan utilizes input from students and faculty using both direct and indirect measures. The information obtained from the assessment process will be used for making informed decisions to further improve the Program. The groups and individuals involved with the development and implementation of the GS Assessment Plan are listed and described in Participants in the Development and Implementation of the GS Assessment Plan.

Objectives of the General Studies (GS) Program

1. Overall GS Objectives

   Students will demonstrate:

   1. the ability to locate and gather information,
   2. the capability for critical thinking, reasoning and analyzing,
   3. effective communication skills including the ability to read, speak and write effectively, using the materials, ideas, and discourse modes of specific academic areas,
   4. an understanding of the experiences and values of groups and cultures which have been historically under-represented.
      
2. GS Category Objectives
   
   
   1. ENGLISH LANGUAGE
      In addition to those objectives required of all GS courses, students will:
      
      1. demonstrate the ability to form and support a coherent position on an issue,
      2. demonstrate the ability to write and speak in a formal manner appropriate to the audience,
      3. demonstrate the ability to read, speak, and write "expressive" as well as "transactional" language i.e., to develop and understand the role of voice in communication as well as the message itself.
         
   2. FOREIGN LANGUAGE
      (These objectives are currently in development and will be in place in fall 2008.)
      
   3. HUMANITIES
      In addition to those objectives required of all GS courses, students will:
      
      1. demonstrate the ability to comprehend primary texts, i.e., the work of literary figures, historical figures, philosophers, and critics; film and theatrical performance; works of art; music in performance and/or notation,
      2. demonstrate the ability to form and support , in writing, coherent positions on issues relevant to primary texts,
      3. demonstrate the ability to use, in speaking and writing, the forms of reference and the manners of discourse appropriate to the particular discipline,
      4. demonstrate the ability to see primary texts as cultural descriptions as well as individual creation. While not all courses in the Humanities focus exclusively on primary texts, students in every course will experience, through reading, seeing, or hearing, significant cultural works and documents.
         
   4. MATHEMATICS, STATISTICS & COMPUTER SCIENCE
      In addition to those objectives required of all GS courses, students will:
      
      1. demonstrate the ability to manage and interpret numerical data using the appropriate mathematical tools,
      2. demonstrate the ability to express formal, mathematical relationships using logical analyses and differing forms of mathematical reasoning,
      3. demonstrate the ability to utilize mathematical techniques in order to define problems and to search for strategies for testing solutions.
         
   5. NATURAL SCIENCES
      In addition to those objectives of all GS courses, students will:
      
      1. demonstrate the ability to apply the logical structure of scientific methodology in the laboratory setting,
      2. demonstrate the ability to comprehend how scientific concepts originate, are validated and refined,
      3. demonstrate the ability to use the specialized vocabulary needed to understand matter and energy.
         
   6. SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
      In addition to those objectives required of all GS courses, students will:
      
      1. demonstrate an understanding of human experiences and be able to relate them to the present,
      2. demonstrate the ability to understand the application of the empirical research methods used in the social sciences to understand individual behavior as well as the interrelationships among people,
      3. demonstrate the ability to comprehend how social scientific concepts originate, are validated and refined within a variety of social science disciplines,
      4. demonstrate the ability to evaluate the strengths and limitations of the social sciences and the explanations they offer for contemporary life.
         
   7. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
      In addition to those objectives required of all GS courses, students will:
      
      1. demonstrate the ability to confront the complexities--physical, emotional, economic, and/or technological--of the contemporary world.
      2. demonstrate the development of skills, behaviors and problem solving strategies necessary to prevail in the contemporary world.
         
   8. CAPSTONE COURSE
      
      1. demonstrate the ability to use the breadth and diversity of knowledge and experience from a variety of disciplines in order to solve real world problems;
      2. demonstrate an understanding of cultures other than their own;
      3. demonstrate the understanding and knowledge needed to function responsibly in one's natural, social, and political environment.

2007

Previous Mission, Replaced Fall 2007