Illinois is committed to ensuring that its General Education goes through a rigorous assessment and quality assurance process. General Education is an integral element of the premier education that the University pledges to deliver to our students at Illinois. The University is unwavering in its commitment to continually refine our curriculum, drawing on the valuable feedback provided through our assessment processes.
Building on previous ad hoc assessment efforts, in 2021 the General Education Assessment Committee (GEAC) was charged as a standing committee to craft assessment strategies to systematically gauge the learning outcomes of students within the University’s General Education program.
General Education Learning Outcomes by Category
Initiated in spring 2019 through a dynamic process that engaged hundreds of faculty, staff, and students, the General Education learning outcomes are continuously updated and improved. Each of these outcomes has been mapped to one of the General Education program’s four overarching thematic outcomes, namely, Foundational Knowledge, Contextual Knowledge, Inquiry Skills, and Application Skills.
Thematic Outcomes
- Foundational Knowledge: Students will be able to explain the fundamental concepts, theories, knowledge, and perspectives of a particular discipline.
- Contextual Knowledge: Students will be able to analyze concepts, issues, or human experiences within or across contexts.
- Inquiry Skills: Students will be able to use information or methods to investigate a question or problem and draw an interpretation.
- Application Skills: Students will be able to communicate and apply subject matter knowledge to new contexts and problems.
To view the current learning outcomes and their thematic classifications, visit the General Education Learning Outcome website. To propose modifications or updates to the General Education learning outcomes, please fill out this form.
General Education Assemblies on Assessment Topics
General Education Assemblies engage stakeholders in dialogues regarding various aspects of General Education. The following Assemblies focused on learning outcomes assessment:
In the 2019-2020 academic year, the General Education Assembly on Learning Outcomes convened faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students to develop learning outcomes for each general education category.
Starting in 2019 and continuing through 2021, these assemblies continued to gather faculty teaching in the newly established U.S. Minority Cultures category to review preliminary findings from ad hoc assessment projects and to discuss pedagogical strategies.