2021 Biennial UCORE Assessment Summary of Student Achievement Available

The 2021 Biennial UCORE Assessment Summary of Student Achievement (PDF) is now available to WSU faculty, leadership, and other stakeholders. This report summarizes results of UCORE-related student learning assessment on WSU’s Seven Learning Goals of Undergraduate Education, using data collected in AY 2019-20 and AY 2020-21. 

As outlined in the UCORE Assessment Plan (PDF), UCORE Assessment Summaries of Student Achievement of WSU’s Seven Learning Goals of Undergraduate Education switched to a biennial format starting in 2019, to better align with key UCORE assessments. These summaries offer a general picture of student achievement and perceptions at the senior and first-year levels, intended to provide an overview related to WSU’s Learning Goals of Undergraduate Education in the context of the UCORE curriculum. Other assessment of student learning on WSU’s Learning Goals, such as assessment by degree programs or majors, is beyond the scope of the 2021 UCORE Assessment Summary report.

“These summaries help us gauge student achievement of WSU’s Learning Goals in the context of the UCORE curriculum, by providing data from instructor assessment of student work in first-year experience [ROOT] and capstone [CAPS] courses, with related data from students about their own confidence or experience related to specific learning goals,” observed UCORE Director Clif Stratton.

Results show that most seniors are meeting or exceeding faculty expectations on the WSU Learning Goals demonstrated in [CAPS] courses. “These results indicate that, across the wide variety of majors at WSU, most seniors are demonstrating the learning goals at an appropriate level. That’s a positive reflection on our curriculum and instruction, and on undergraduate education at WSU,” Stratton added.

All UCORE-designated courses require students to demonstrate Critical & Creative Thinking, Information Literacy, and Written Communication (a sub-goal of the Communication goal), while Oral Communication (another Communication sub-goal), Quantitative Reasoning, Scientific Literacy, Diversity, and Depth, Breadth, & Integration of Learning are advanced in UCORE courses as appropriate to the designator (see UCORE’s Curriculum webpages for more information).

For more information about UCORE Assessment, see Current Assessment Activities and Evidence of Student Learning. For past UCORE summaries of student achievement, see UCORE Assessment Summaries.