General Education Assessment 2024-25
Overview
In consultation with the Office of the Provost, SBU Assessment Council, and General Education Advisory Committee the Office of Educational Effectiveness will continue to facilitate the assessment of the SBC general education curriculum.
This assessment will focus on a subset of SBC categories, including undergraduate general education courses certified in the SBS, QPS, ESI, SPK, and HFA+ categories. Guided assessment conversations will take place in the Spring as a reflection on completed Fall SBC courses. This will be supplemented by faculty and student focus groups to gain deeper insight into the campus community's perceptions of the general education curriculum.
For more information on the general education assessment process, see our FAQs.
Methodology
Following the SBU enrollment census date of 9/18/24, OEE generated a list of all SBC courses in the affected categories from Fall 2024 (SBS, QPS, ESI, SPK, and HFA+). To promote consistency across the kinds of courses included in the assessment, courses that met any of the following criteria were removed from the total population of available courses (n=401):
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Courses with low enrollment, qualified as fewer than 10 students (n=84)
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Courses certified in multiple SBC categories (n=21)
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Courses designated as ‘Tutorials’ (n=7) and ‘Supervisions’ (n=1)
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Courses designated at the 300- or 400-level, with the exception of HFA+ courses (n=100).
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The rationale for the broad exclusion of 300- and 400-level courses was that these courses are often geared toward instruction of students who are completing major requirements, whereas 100- and 200-level courses are typically a better reflection of general education learning outcomes.
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The rationale for including 300- and 400-level HFA+ courses was that the ‘plus’ (+) designation and the language of the SLOs in ‘plus’ categories implies application of concepts at more advanced levels, and the majority of courses certified in ‘plus’ categories occur at the 300- and 400-level.
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This elimination process yielded a population subtotal of n=188. From there, OEE reflected on its prior general education assessment process and sample, finding that it met with approximately 10 faculty members per category in 2023. To ensure greater participation and depth of assessment within the targeted categories, OEE set a goal of meeting with a minimum of 15 faculty members per category. To solidifying its total sample size, OEE used the following approach:
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Due to the small sample size of the ESI and SPK categories, 100% of courses in these categories were included in the sample (ESI n=13; SPK n=16)
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Due to the comparatively large sample size of the remaining categories (SBS, QPS, and HFA+), OEE used a random sampling technique to select approximately half the instructors teaching in each category.
This refinement resulted in a total requested sample size of n=107, or approximately 57% of the total courses available to be assessed. See the breakdown of courses included in the sample by SBC category below:
| 2024-25 SBC Assessment Sample | Eligible Population (n) | Requested Sample (n) | % of Total |
| ESI | 13 | 13 | 100% |
| HFA+ | 81 | 40 | 49% |
| QPS | 37 | 18 | 49% |
| SBS | 41 | 20 | 49% |
| SPK | 16 | 16 | 100% |
| Total | 188 | 107 | 57% |
OEE then circulated the list of selected courses/instructors to assessment coordinators and instructors, and made adjustments to according to faculty availability (accommodations for sabbaticals, leaves of absence, etc.) and suitability (graduate assistant instructors, adjunct faculty not available to participate in a retrospective assessment, etc). As such, the final sample size of SBC courses actually assessed will depend upon the number of faculty members who ultimately participate in a guided assessment conversation with an assessment consultant in Spring 2025.
Timeline
| September 2024 |
OEE will provide assessment coordinators with a list of select instructors teaching SBS, QPS, ESI, SPK, and HFA+ general education courses during the Fall 2024 semester. Assessment coordinators will be asked to review the list and notify OEE of any questions or concerns by 10/1/24. |
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| October 2024 |
Assessment Coordinators will notify OEE of the faculty members selected to participate in the SBC assessment. OEE will contact identified instructors to provide them with an overview of the SBC assessment process. |
| November - December 2024 |
OEE will send periodic reminders and logistical details to instructors participating in the SBC assessment. OEE will also host general education focus groups with current students. |
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January 2025 |
OEE will contact instructors participating in the SBC assessment to schedule a mutually convenient meeting time for the guided assessment conversation. |
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February - March 2025 |
OEE staff will meet with participating instructors for a 45-minute guided assessment conversation by email or zoom. After participating in the assessment meeting, faculty will receive a copy of their individual assessment reports for verification. Data will be reported in aggregate at the level of the SBC. Instructor- and course-level data will be kept confidential. |
Results
Results from this assessment will be available by Fall 2025.