Core Assessment FAQ

TCU began a new method of Core Curriculum assessment in 2021 based on revised Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges expectations for general education. Core Curriculum courses are assessed on a university-wide rotation. If the director of the Core Curriculum has sent you an email notice, the Core Curriculum attribute associated with your course is scheduled for assessment during the current cycle.

Faculty are contacted only when the Core Curriculum attribute associated with their course is part of the current assessment cycle. Because the assessment rotates among competencies, you may not have participated recently.

You can verify Core Curriculum attributes through TCU Class Search, the Undergraduate Course Catalog, or the Tableau report “Core Curriculum Courses with Attributes,” which is available on campus or through VPN.

Program assessment evaluates learning within a certificate, major, or minor. Core Curriculum assessment measures institution-wide achievement of four Core competencies: Critical and Creative Thinking, Quantitative and Scientific Reasoning, Communication, and Responsible Citizenship.

Before the semester begins, you will receive notification if your course is participating. During the semester, you will receive a survey asking you to identify one assignment that can be assessed using the rubric, provide the assignment name exactly as it appears in D2L, and upload the assignment prompt and grading rubric, if one is used. Current dates will be included in the faculty notification.

Every offering of a Core Curriculum course should include several formative assessments and at least one summative assignment that aligns with the Core competency. Student work is collected only during the scheduled assessment year.

Summative assessments measure student learning after learning is completed, often at or near the end of a unit or course. They differ from formative assessments, which are lower-stakes activities that allow instructors to gauge learning while instruction is taking place.

Any summative assignment, including one completed in a language other than English, may be appropriate if it produces a student artifact that can be evaluated with the applicable Core rubric. Examples include research papers, reflections, lab reports, and selected examination responses. Videos are currently evaluated only for courses in Oral Communication.

Coordination is not currently required. Beginning in Fall 2027, multi-section courses are encouraged to implement one common signature assignment across sections to promote consistency in assessment. Faculty teaching the course should design the signature assignment collaboratively and include it in each section’s syllabus.

The faculty assessment team uses HelioCampus to retrieve student work directly from D2L. Matching the assignment name helps ensure that the correct student artifacts are collected.

If students normally submit handwritten work, have them upload a single PDF to a D2L assignment folder created for assessment. Contact the Core Curriculum director if another solution, such as scanning, is needed.

These materials help faculty assessors understand the context of the student work. They are not used to evaluate the quality of your assignment or your grading practices.

No. Faculty assessors complete the scoring through a juried assessment process. You are welcome to adapt the rubric for your own course if it is helpful.

No. Core Curriculum assessment results measure student learning at the institutional level and are not used to evaluate individual instructors, courses, or departments.

Results are used by the Faculty Senate Core Curriculum Council to improve the Core Curriculum, support teaching and learning, and provide evidence for accreditation. Summary reports are published on this website following each assessment cycle.

Your course may carry multiple Core Curriculum attributes. Each attribute is assessed on its own schedule.

Future offerings of the course should include a summative assignment that aligns with the applicable competency rubric. Contact the Core Curriculum director for assistance.

Consult with your departmental colleagues. You may revise the course to align with the competency or work with the Core Curriculum director to remove the attribute if appropriate.

Contact Dr. Theresa Gaul, Director of the TCU Core Curriculum, at t.gaul@tcu.edu for assistance with assessment requirements, assignments, rubrics, or other questions.