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.

The university has adopted the following Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) VALUE rubrics for the assessment of the learning outcomes.

AAC&U Critical Thinking VALUE Rubric (PDF)
Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2009). Critical thinking VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/critical-thinking

AAC&U Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric (PDF)
Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2009). Intercultural knowledge and competence VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/intercultural-knowledge

AAC&U Oral Communication VALUE Rubric (PDF)
Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2009). Oral communication VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/oral-communication

AAC&U Quantitative Literacy VALUE Rubric (PDF)
Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2009). Quantitative literacy VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/quantitative-literacy

AAC&U Written Communication VALUE Rubric (PDF)
Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2009). Written communication VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/written-communication

Upcoming Assessments

Mathematics (Artifacts collected in Spring 2018 and assessed in Spring 2018)
This assessment concludes the final assessment cycle under the General Education Program, prior to the implementation of Cardinal Core in Summer 2018. The University of Louisville Mathematics Critical Thinking Rubric will be applied in the assessment of student artifacts.

Cardinal Core Program Assessment (First Cycle): 

Arts & Humanities (Artifacts collected in Fall 2018 and assessed in Spring 2019)

Quantitative Reasoning (Artifacts collected in Spring 2019 and assessed in Spring 2019)

Social & Behavioral Sciences (Artifacts collected in Fall 2019 and assessed in Spring 2020)

Natural Sciences (Artifacts collected in Spring 2020 and assessed in Spring 2020)

Written Communication (Artifacts collected in Fall 2020 and assessed in Spring 2021)

Oral Communication (Artifacts collected in Spring 2021 and assessed in Spring 2022)

Past Assessments/Reports

Natural Sciences (Spring 2017) (PDF)

Written Communications (Fall 2016) (PDF)

Social & Behavioral Sciences and Cultural Diversity (Spring 2016) (PDF)
(Screen Reader optimized PDF)

Arts & Humanities and Mathematics (Fall 2015) (PDF)
(Screen Reader optimized PDF)

Oral Communications (Spring 2015) (PDF)

Natural Sciences (Fall 2014) (PDF)

Written Communications (Spring 2014) (PDF)

Additional Resources

GER Assessment FAQ (PDF)

Student Learning Outcomes (PDF)

Assessment Contacts

Dr. Katie Shanahan, Director
katie.shanahan@louisville.edu
(502) 852-8113

Christine Romesburg, Assessment Coordinator
cawigg01@louisville.edu
(502) 852-7865