Assessment of General Education Student Learning Outcomes at the College of General Studies (Campus First Level)
General education student learning outcomes, such as oral and written communication in Spanish and English, critical thinking, social responsibility, and information literacy are assessed at UPRRP at the initial level in the College of General Studies (FEG for its acronym in Spanish). They are also assessed in the academic programs from the perspective of the disciplines since the academic year 2008-2009. From the common set of intended learning outcomes for all undergraduate students at UPR-RP, as described in the Student Profile (Academic Senate Certification 46 2005-2006), the following general education competencies were assigned for assessment at the College of General Studies (CGS) and distributed among its departments and program as follows: (1) written and oral communication skills in the Spanish and English Department courses, (2) scientific reasoning in the Physical and Biological Sciences Departments’ courses, (3) critical thinking in the Humanities Department’s courses, (4) social responsibility in the Social Sciences Department’s courses, and (5) information literacy skills in all departments.
For the purpose of institutional assessment efforts, courses from the 30 credit general education Bachelor’s degree component allocated to CGS were included. Although students can take these courses at any time during their academic program, they are generally completed during their first and second years at UPR-RP, especially English and Spanish. The general education competencies continue to be developed throughout their careers in other colleges.
