Frequently Asked Questions

Effective Fall 2020, faculty will be assessing only the Common Curriculum tags on their courses. Courses will maintain their University Curriculum tags, until they are retired (probably in 2025 or so) and students under the University Curriculum will still be able to fulfill requirements, but faculty will assess only Common Curriculum tags.

Faculty will not be assessing their own courses, as they did under the University Curriculum. Instead, assessment and scoring will be done by dedicated faculty committees coordinated by the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness. You do, however, need to design and identify an assessment assignment for each Common Curriculum component your course has. Often this assessment assignment is developed when the course was originally proposed. 

You can verify the Common Curriculum tags your course has on your schedule in my.SMU.  You can check using the Course Search.

Once you know which Common Curriculum (CC) tags your course has, you look up the CC rubric associated with each CC component. You can find those on our website www.smu.edu/cc

Next, you want to identify the supporting skills for each component associated with your course. These are listed on the individual rubrics for General Education requirements and Proficiencies and Experiences.

Once you are familiar with the CC components and supporting skills associated with your course, you design an assignment for each CC component your course has. This assignment could be a homework assignment, an essay, a research paper, a project, a presentation, or an exam. You want to make sure that you design an assessment assignment that will allow students to demonstrate their level of mastery of ALL of the supporting skills associated with the component.  You should use a single assignment to assess for each component, and you should have a separate assignment for each component. Group or team assignments are not permissible for assessment - they must be the work of an individual student. 

There are two options for assessing the learning outcome and supporting skills for a component. Faculty may either use a written assignment (assigned essay or essay-length assignment or an essay question) that is tailored in such a way as to prompt students to demonstrate all supporting skills associated with a component.

Alternatively, faculty may use objective exam questions to assess each skill. If faculty use a written assignment (essay or essay question, for example), the assignment must be a single assignment.   If faculty use a block of objective exam questions, there must be five questions for each supporting skill and all question blocks must be part of the same exam.  For Oral Communication, obviously, there is a third option, and that is an oral presentation.  If using an oral presentation for the assessment, there must be a recording of the presentation in Canvas.

For questions about assessment please contact Dr. Yan Cooksey in the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness.

 

First, you should make sure that you upload the assessment assignment as an assignment in your Canvas course.

Each semester, the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness will give specific instructions about how to link the assignment, once in Canvas, to the relevant CC component.

Please visit the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness website for step-by-step instructions. 

In general, Foundation courses are limited to those offered by the departments of English, Mathematics, Statistics, and World Languages and Literatures.

Foundations are entry-level, Freshman courses, offered to all students, and they meet the requirements for specific Foundation requirements (Quantitative Reasoning, the Second Language Requirement, Academic Writing, and Critical Reasoning). 

One exception to this is WRTR 1313 courses, which focus on critical reasoning. The Department of English has developed a template for these courses and is developing training to allow other faculty to propose and teach sections of these courses. 

No, Foundation courses may not carry other Common Curriculum tags.

Breadth courses, broadly, are introductions to disciplinary modes of inquiry.

For that reason, it is presumed that the primary focus of any Breadth course is to introduce students in a discipline and its approaches and applying it to the study of a particular time period, socio-cultural context, natural context, group of artifacts or artworks, set of theoretical questions, technology or technologies or other relevant subset related to the discipline. 

This means that the majority, if not the entirety, of the course should be devoted to meeting the content criteria and learning outcomes associated with the Breadth.

Breadth courses must be at the 3000 level or below. Courses at the 3000 level may not have pre-requisites. Breadth courses may also count toward major requirements, but, ideally, they are open to all students. They must also be regularly and predictably offered (at least once every other year).

Each course may carry only one Breadth component. 

Each course may carry one Breadth component and up to four Proficiency components, although the Council of General Education recommends no more than three Proficiency components, in order to ensure there is sufficient attention to all components taught in the course. 

Like all Breadth courses, CA requires that the course have a primary focus on the Breadth topic. 

For CA, there are two options, CAA (Analysis) and CAC (Creation). For analysis courses, students must spend the majority of time in the course learning about the conventions of a particular art form. This means learning the formal properties of that art form, the terminology associated with the art form, and the conventions of the art form. Students must also learn how to utilize all of these elements in interpretive analysis. Examples of CAA courses include Art History courses, Film Studies courses, Theater Studies courses, or Musicology courses. 

CAC courses are courses in which students spend the majority of the of time in the course learning about the conventions of a particular art form and then use that information to create examples of work within the conventions of that form. Examples of CAC courses are Creative Writing courses, Dance courses, Theater performance or production courses, Ceramics courses, or Music composition or performance courses.

Like all Breadth courses, ES requires that the course have a primary focus on the Breadth topic.

For ES, the course must be primarily an introductory natural science course.  Natural sciences include Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Geology and can also include courses in departments such as APSM and Anthropology. Principally, these courses introduce students to ways of analyzing and solving problems in the natural world through hypothesis-driven collection and analysis of evidence. 

These courses must have applied as well as theoretical elements, involving students in direct experimentation and problem solving using the scientific method. This means that ES courses generally have a lab component, either as a separate section that must be taken concurrently with the lecture, or as an integrated component of the lecture course.

Like all Breadth courses, HC requires that the course have a primary focus on the Breadth topic. For HC, the course must be primarily historical in nature and must provide students an introduction to historical reasoning.

Broadly, this means that students are not only studying actors, events, and cultural artifacts from a defined historical period and geographical area, it also means that students are learning about the relationship between primary historical texts (those produced during the period studies) and secondary historical texts (texts produced later that seeks to interpret a period. They must also be introduced to the idea that historical interpretations are contingent, and that they may change over time, or may different among different people during the same period of time, depending upon their orientation to the material studied. Historical courses may be found in the History department of course, but they may also be found in Anthropology, Art History, Film and Media Arts, English, World Languages and diverse other departments.

HC courses that study art or literature must be using the texts studied, principally, as primary historical sources.

Like all Breadth courses, LAI requires that the course have a primary focus on the Breadth topic.

For LAI, the course must be primarily an introduction to textual analysis and the theories and methods of textual analysis.  A text, for the purposes of LAI, could be a literary text, a play, a film, an opera, or other similar types of texts.  Broadly, students should leave LAI courses with an understanding of at least one critical approach to the text and an understanding of the methods used in analyzing texts. Courses in English, Film and Media Studies, Theater, and World Languages and Literatures fit into this Breadth category. 

Courses in other departments may also fit if their primary focus is to teach students how to analyze texts through an analytical or theoretical framework. 

Like all Breadth courses, PREI requires that the course have a primary focus on the Breadth topic. For PREI, the course must be primarily an introductory course that exposes students to the theories and methodologies used in Philosophy, Religious Studies, or Ethics. 

Courses do not have to cover all of these areas, only one.  Although these courses could introduce students to specific branches of these disciplines, this specific inquiry must be preceded by a broad overview of the discipline in question, and students must come away from the course with a general understanding of how one of these three disciplines frames knowledge and engages in analysis  For courses on ethics, what separates PREI from the Civics and Individual Ethics proficiency is the theoretical nature of the course.  PREI courses focused on ethics should introduce students to ethics as a discipline. CIE courses are more applied and invite students to think about ethics in particular contexts and about how to apply ethical learning or theories. 

It is worth noting, however, that a course may not carry both the PREI Breadth tag and the CIE Proficiency tag.  

Like all Breadth courses, SBS requires that the course have a primary focus on the Breadth topic.  For SBS, the course must be primarily a disciplinary introduction to Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, or Sociology. 

Courses in other departments may qualify if they serve, primarily, as disciplinary introductions to one of these disciplines.  Courses may introduce students to sub-specializations within these disciplines, but these introductions must be framed in a broad introduction to the discipline as a whole, and students must leave the course with an understanding of the theories and methods of one of these disciplines and the way they are used to frame knowledge. 

Specifically students should develop an understanding of the role generalizable theories and empirical evidence play in analysis in the Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Like all Breadth courses, TAS requires that the course have a primary focus on the Breadth topic. For TAS, the course must focus substantially on a technology, technologies, or forms of technological innovation.

The technology or technologies in question must be ones that have or have had a measurable impact on contemporary society.  This means that the technology or technologies have a measurable impact on human behavior (for example, they have shaped rules, policies, or laws or changed the landscape or environment in which we think or live).

The course must have a sustained focus on both the technology and the societal impact.

Proficiency courses are courses that develop awareness, skills, or competency beyond the primary focus of the course.

It is presumed that courses maintain a sustained focus on the proficiency being developed, which means that the course repeatedly, over the duration of the semester, asks students to engage in application of the skill or competency or to build the particular awareness that is the focus of the proficiency. 

However, the particular skills, competency, or awareness is not necessarily the primary focus of the course.  

Each course may carry up to four Proficiency components. However, the Council on General Education recommends that courses carry no more than three, and ideally only one or two Proficiency components.

Ideally, courses at the 5000 level should not carry proficiency tags, as these can be graduate level courses as well as undergraduate and should not, therefore, be used to fulfill undergraduate requirement.

As noted, 5000 level courses are, strictly speaking, graduate level courses.  Ideally, therefore, no undergraduate courses should not be at the 5000 level.  If you have an undergraduate course that you think is a good fit for Proficiency components, it is strongly advised that you renumber it to the 4000 level before proposing it. 

Yes, a course can carry both a single Breadth component and up to four Proficiency components. Although the Council on General Education recommends limiting Proficiencies to three per course.  This ensures that students spend enough time in a course to properly develop each proficiency.

Broadly, CIE courses are those in which students engage in sustained learning and reflection about what it means to be ethical as an individual or a society.

Courses must offer students multiple opportunities, over the course of the semester, to reflect upon issues of justice, fairness, equality, or related issues in either an individual or social context. Courses that ask students to think about whether specific societies are equal, just, or fair, or courses that ask students to reflect on what it means to be equal, just, or fair, as a person, fit into CIE.

Courses in this category range from Art History courses that reflect upon the ethics of collecting artworks produced by subjugated peoples to courses on Positive Psychology.  

PREI courses are courses that introduce students to theories and methods in Ethics, Philosophy, or Religious Studies. They are more theoretical in nature, and are leading students to an understanding of how these disciplines frame knowledge and engage in analysis. 

CIE courses are applied courses, in which students are using existing frameworks to think through ethical issues in specific contexts. A course may not have both PREI and CIE. If a course is an introductory course that exposes students to the theories and methods of ethical inquiry, it is a PREI course, and if it is asking students to apply these theories and frameworks to particular individual or social contexts, it is a CIE course.  

Broadly, CE courses must require students to spend at least 25 hours per semester preparing to engage in and engaging in activities that are both life-enriching and social beneficial to the community. At least 10 of these hours must involve direct engagement with the community.

In addition, courses must have a sustained focus on understanding and meeting the needs of the community, or some segment of the community, in addition to opportunities for direct engagement. This means that there are multiple opportunities in the course, throughout the duration, for students to learn about social and community needs, the fulfillment of these needs, and the tools available to meet such needs.

Internship courses may satisfy Community Engagement (CE) if the internship in question meets a clear community need, rather than a purely professional need.

For example, an internship where an Accounting major works in an accounting firm would not meet CE, because there is no community need being met. However, an internship where an Accounting major interns at a local homeless shelter and provides accounting services to that homeless shelter might well meet CE, if, in addition to the time spent, the student spent time reading and learning about non-profits and the ways in which they meet community needs.

In summary, what determines whether an internship meets CE is whether the student’s engagement in the community benefits the community and does not serve, exclusively, to provide professional opportunities or experience for the student.

GPS are courses that provide students an understanding of the contemporary world. Courses in this category must have a sustained focus on global issues or societies and must provide students multiple opportunities over the course of the semester to learn about, analyze, and reflect upon contemporary global issues or societies.

Courses in areas as diverse as Anthropology, Film and Media Studies, Political Science, and World Languages and Literatures may be included in this category, as can courses from other areas of the university, provided they have a significant global focus and an emphasis on the contemporary world. 

HD courses provide students an understanding of the ways in which race, gender, social class, religion nationality, ability/disability, sexual orientation and immigration status impact human experience.

Courses in HD must explore power dynamics within a given society of context and the ways in which power dynamics combine with these categories of identity to produce inequality within societies. Courses in this category must have a sustained focus on the relationship among identity, power, and equality or inequality and the way this interrelationship impacts both individual and collective conceptions of identity.

Courses in areas as diverse as Anthropology, Film and Media Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and World Languages and Literatures may be included in this category, as can courses from other areas of the university, provided they have a significant focus on issues of identity, power, and equality or inequality. 

Broadly, OC courses must require students to speak to a live audience on at least two occasions. One of those presentations must be scripted or prepared, and one must be minimally prepared or completely unscripted. 

In addition, students must be given direct instruction or guidance on best practices in public speaking (a list of resources will be available on the CC website), and must be given feedback on their presentation.

No. Class participation does not count as a presentation. A presentation involves an individual student, or small group of students presenting to an audience. If a group presentation is used, there must be a mechanism for evaluating the contributions and performance of each member.

A scripted presentation could be a presentation made using a Powerpoint presentation; it could be a theatrical performance where someone is presenting a part they have rehearsed.  It could also be a news broadcast or similar presentation, where a student is reporting, potentially with a teleprompter.

Essentially, it is a speaking activity or presentation where the student knows the topic on which he or she will present in advance of the presentation and has time to outline or fully script the presentation and to practice it in advance of presenting.

An unscripted presentation could be a debate, or it could be an extemporaneous speaking event, or it could be an improvisational performance.  Essentially, it is a speaking activity or presentation where the student does not know the topic on which he or she will present in advance of the presentation and does not have time to outline or fully script the presentation or to practice it in advance in advance of presenting.

QA courses provide students direct instruction on applying quantitative methods and that invite students to engage in quantitative analysis and to use quantitative data to answer questions and solve problems.

To qualify for QA, courses must repeatedly, over the course of the semester, require students to engage in these activities.

QA courses range from Mathematics and Statistics courses, to courses in Biology, Physics, Sociology, and Engineering that use mathematical or statistical analysis.  

For the Writing tag, courses must require students to complete 15-20 pages (exclusive of charts, diagrams, or illustrations) or 4500 to 6000 words of writing across the span of the semester. Instructors may assign multiple assignments that equal 15-20 pages or 6000 words, in total. Alternatively, instructors may assign a single, long assignment of that length.

Direct guidance / instruction about best practices in writing must be given to students in the course, and there must be commented feedback (close grading) of written work with opportunities for revision of at least some of the writing assignments in the course. 

Faculty using a single assignment must require drafts and revision or aspects emphasizing the writing process.

Faculty must select one of the writing assignments in the class as an assessment assignment, and the selected writing assignment must allow students to demonstrate the supporting skills contained in the Writing assessment rubric. For instructors using a single assignment, that assignment would constitute the assessment assignment.