GE Learning Outcomes Assessment

GE Learning Outcomes (GELO) Assessment – Spring, 2011 Mapping of Courses to GELOs

GELO background SCC’s GELOs were adopted in Spring, 2007 after an extensive college-wide development process. These outcomes have served the college as a major component of our institutional learning outcomes in conjunction with course, program, and student service SLOs. They have also been particularly useful in assisting the GE approval process in the curriculum committee. (Please see http://web.scc.losrios.edu/slo/GELOs for more complete information on SCC’s GELOs and the process of their development.)

Course-embedded GELO assessment Although some broad-based assessment of our GELOs has occurred via the analysis of the CCSSE data, direct assessment at the course-level has yet to occur. The SLO subcommittee of the Academic Senate has developed the current GELO-Course mapping process as the first- step in implementing a course-embedded GELO assessment.

During the spring term, the SLO subcommittee will utilize the GELO-Course mapping and associated course SLO assessments to provide an aggregate summary of at least one GELO. Specifically, the subcommittee will work with department faculty to identify a sample of recent course SLO assessments that align with the GELOs. These assessments will be summarized by the subcommittee and used as a college-wide measure for how well our students are achieving these GELOs.

GELO-Course Mapping Instructions The GELO-Course mapping is designed to be a one-time process very similar to the Program Learning Outcome (ProLO) alignment that occurs as part of program review. The main component will be a series of spreadsheets for each Title V GE area that lists a department’s courses approved in that area along the rows and SCC’s GELOs across the columns. Please note that unlike the ProLO process, only courses that satisfy a GE category will be included for GELO assessment. The specific aim is for departments to indicate the extent to which their courses relate to the GELOs. The following steps outline this initial process:

1. Departments will receive a separate spreadsheet for each of the GE areas for which they have approved courses (e.g. Natural Sciences, Humanities, etc.)

2. Departments will determine the extent to which the courses listed on the spreadsheets relate to SCC’s GELOs, and indicate this utilizing the “IER” criteria.* a. If a course is approved in more than one GE area, it should be mapped the same way on all spreadsheets. b. More details on each GELO are provided on separate tabs of the spreadsheets. c. It is recommended to utilize departmental collaboration for this review.

3. Submit completed spreadsheets via email to Alan Keys ([email protected]) or Rick Woodmansee ([email protected]) by February 14th.

* “IER” refers to “Introduced,” “Elaborated, Emphasized or Expanded” and “Reinforced”. See next page for further clarification. “ IER Scale”

Use the scale below to determine the extent of alignment between each course included on the spreadsheets and each GELO.

Note: It is appropriate to leave cells blank if the associated course does not relate to the GELO. ------

“I”: “Introduced”

Students acquire the abilities indicated in the GELO at an introductory level as expected from a student learning these skills for the first time.

“E”: “Elaborated, emphasized, expanded in detail”

Students demonstrate competence with the abilities indicated in the GELO at an intermediate level. In other words, students show greater breadth and/or depth in the GELO than would be expected from a beginning student.

“R”: “Reinforced”

Students reinforce their already significant abilities in the GELO and use those abilities in their development as independent learners.