2023 Biennial UCORE Assessment Summary of Student Achievement Available

The 2023 Biennial Summary of Student Achievement of UCORE Learning Outcomes (PDF) is now available to WSU faculty, leadership, and other stakeholders. This report summarizes the results of UCORE assessment on the learning outcomes of the UCORE general education program (and the associated WSU Undergraduate Learning Goals), using data collected in AY 2021-22 and AY 2022-23. 

As outlined in the UCORE Assessment Plan (PDF), UCORE Assessment Summaries of Student Achievement switched to a biennial format starting in 2019, to better align with key UCORE assessments. For 2023, this summary provides information about senior-level student achievement and perceptions related to the learning outcomes of the UCORE general education program (and the associated WSU Undergraduate Learning Goals). New direct assessment measures that were piloted in AY 2021-22 and AY 2022-23, including pilot assessments for [ROOT], [BSCI], and [PSCI] courses, are not included in this summary as they are still in the process of scaling up. As such, first-year student perceptions related to the UCORE learning outcomes (obtained from the 2023 NSSE survey) are not presented here, but are available in the 2023 National Survey of Student Engagement Summary of Key Evidence for UCORE (PDF). Note: In May 2022, revised designator learning outcomes were approved by the UCORE Committee to help clarify what students, regardless of major, should be able to know and do upon the successful completion of a course in that designator.

“This summary provides a helpful overview of student achievement of the learning outcomes of the UCORE general education program, as well as UCORE’s contribution to the WSU Undergraduate Learning Goals, by providing data from instructor assessment of student performance in UCORE capstone [CAPS] courses alongside related data from students about their own confidence or experience,” observed UCORE Director Ashley Boyd.

Results show that most students are meeting or exceeding faculty expectations on the [CAPS] designator learning outcomes at the graduating undergraduate level. UCORE [CAPS] courses require students to demonstrate designator learning outcomes associated with four of the WSU Undergraduate Learning Goals (Critical & Creative Thinking, Information Literacy, Written Communication, and Integrative Learning). In addition, [CAPS] courses may advance additional applicable designator learning outcomes associated with other WSU Undergraduate Learning Goals (Quantitative Reasoning, Scientific Literacy, Diversity, and/or Non-Written Communication) as appropriate to the course. See UCORE’s Curriculum webpages for more information.

“These results indicate that, across the wide variety of UCORE [CAPS] courses, most students are demonstrating the learning outcomes at an appropriate level near the end of the curriculum. That’s a positive reflection on undergraduate education at WSU, especially given that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted much of the undergraduate experience for these students,” Boyd added.

Note: In spring 2020, WSU made the emergency move to distance education beginning March 23rd as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For fall 2020 and spring 2021, undergraduate courses at WSU were delivered at a distance and completed remotely, with extremely limited exceptions for in-person instruction. The majority of undergraduate courses that had pivoted to distance delivery for AY 2020-21 returned to in-person instruction starting in AY 2021-22. Additionally, many COVID-19 related restrictions began to be lifted in spring 2022.

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