Examples of Assessment by Institution

Oglethorpe University: To assess achievement of the university’s general education goals, all students must complete a portfolio and oral presentation.  In each semester of attendance every student is enrolled in a class level-specific section of the interdisciplinary Core curriculum. In the spring semester each student writes a paper addressing a common question selected by the faculty which is designed to elicit understanding and accurate articulation of the main objectives for the Core course.  The paper provides an assessment of written communication skills, ability to read and evaluate evidence, and critical thinking skills. Upon graduation every student has four papers in his or her portfolio that have been evaluated for understanding and application of the learning objectives for the course, quality of writing style, and critical reading/thinking/ evaluation skills.  In addition, every student in every section of each Core course makes an oral presentation to the class based on the paper topic selected that year for the portfolio. The presentations are scored with a rubric focused on efficiency, accurateness, and persuasiveness.  The rubrics are behaviorally anchored, and inter-rater agreement is calculated. The collected portfolio papers and the oral presentations are used to assess overall achievement of the goals during an assessment workshop attended by all faculty at the end of each spring semester.   

Oglethorpe University