Appendix 8: General Education Assessment

Appendix 8: General Education Assessment
April 2004

Statistical Data:
Student ID:

Major(s):

Minor(s):

Gender:

I fulfilled my general education in the following manner:
          ___ Entirely at PLNU
          ___ Mostly at PLNU
         ___ Equally at PLNU and another academic institution
         ___ Mostly outside of PLNU
         ___ Almost entirely outside of PLNU

Overall comments about the PLNU general education program:

Essay Question:
In a well-constructed essay, write about a social or ethical issue of significance to society in general. Be sure to do each of the following:

Clearly state your position on the issue, supporting it with the one or two best arguments you know.
Consider and respond to the most significant objection to your opinion.
Indicate what you believe would be a significant Wesleyan response to this issue.
Indicate what PLNU experiences (either in or out of the classroom) helped lead you to your current view on this issue.
Utilize appropriate academic style.

Rubric for Grading The General Education Holistic Writing Exam

Behavior	4	3	2	1
Student presents a significant topic.	Topic has great social significance, clearly presented.	Topic has social significance, implied not stated.	Topic’s significance is limited to few people.	Topic is not at all significant.
Student presents a clear, well-placed thesis statement.	Student presents a coherent, original thesis statement.	Student presents a clear, interesting thesis statement.	Student provides a vague thesis statement.	Student gives no thesis statement.
Student introduces essay’s thesis early.	Student presents thesis in a timely manner.	Student presents thesis, but it may be overly delayed.	Thesis is overly deferred.	Thesis is left to the concluding page or paragraph.
Student divides main idea into logical sub-points.	Thesis has two or more clear, logical and significant sub-points, with good transitions.	Thesis has fairly clear sub-points with implicit, not stated connecting logic.	Vague, poorly differentiated sub-points; insufficient or poor connecting logic.	No clearly differentiated sub-points; thesis is merely restated several times.
Student supports sub-points with appropriate evidence.	Student’s evidence is abundant, clearly connected, and correct.	Student’s evidence is ample, implicitly connected, and fairly correct.	Evidence is sparse, not always connected, and a bit inaccurate.	Evidence is totally absent, disconnected, or false.
Student considers objections.	Student considers a major objection and responds logically to it.	Student raises an implicit objection and responds to it fairly well.	Objections are weak and responses poorly developed.	Student raises no serious objections; Student does not argue logically.
Student’s style follows correct academic format.	Style is virtually free of grammatical or mechanical errors.	Competent style; occasional errors of grammar and mechanics.	Mechanical and grammatical errors frequent; little critical language.	Seriously flawed grammar and mechanics; absent or misused terms.
Student uses appropriate diction level.	Correct terms without slang or jargon.	Approximate terms, with occasional jargon or colloquialisms.	Student mixes academic and colloquial style; uses jargon.	Style flawed by frequent jargon or colloquialisms.
Student has a Christian (and Wesleyan) view and can relate it to specific problem.	Student has a clear Christian, Wesleyan view that is references in treatment of topic.	Student has general Christian view implicitly referenced in treatment of topic.	Student’s theology is vague and the connection to the topic treatment is vague.	Student has garbled or absent theology. No understanding of self or us.
PLNU has contributed to student’s knowledge.	Student’s views derive from PLNU experiences, including academic ones.	Student’s views derive from PLNU experiences, but from nothing academic.	PLNU has made only a slight impact on the student’s views.	PLNU has had no impact on the student’s beliefs.