Assessment

Assessment

The Cardinal Core program assessment continues to build upon the university's long-standing General Education Program assessment. The University of Louisville General Education Curriculum Committee (GECC) first developed and implemented a campus-wide General Education Program in 2005. In alignment with the General Education Program's three overarching competencies, the assessment focused on: critical thinking, effective communication, and understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity. The focus of the Cardinal Core assessment is on critical thinking, effective communication, quantitative reasoning, and understanding of historical, social, and cultural diversity, in alignment with the Cardinal Core program's philosophy and guiding principles.

Assessment Process

The Cardinal Core Curriculum Committee (CCCC) determines a schedule for sampling student artifacts from the Cardinal Core content areas (Arts & Humanities, Natural Sciences, Oral Communication, Quantitative Reasoning, Social & Behavioral Sciences (including Historical Perspective), and Written Communication. The Cardinal Core Office coordinates the collection of these artifacts with each of the designated academic departments.

A panel of university faculty (tenured, tenure-track, term, and adjunct) and graduate teaching assistants are recruited either through past involvement in General Education Assessment/Cardinal Core Assessment or by department chair recommendation. Efforts are made to include faculty involved in the development and teaching of Cardinal Core courses. All assessors participate in a mandatory assessment training in which the foundations for holistic outcomes assessment is covered and readers actively engage in dissection and practice application of assessment rubrics.