General Education Program Assessment

Assessment of General Education

General education assessment is the systematic and continuous process of collecting and analyzing empirical data in order to improve general education student learning outcomes (SLOs).

CUNY-wide, the general education program is Pathways. Pathways defines SLOs, which are measurable statements about the expected knowledge, skills, and values that students are expected to attain as a result of the general education learning experience. At York, these Pathways SLOs are mapped to general education competencies for the purposes of assessment.

In order to ensure that the intended goals of York's Pathways Program are being met, SLOs specific to the aims of general education need to be specified and continuously evaluated. This not only acts as an internal check on the General Education programming but provides a systematic means for continual improvement of student learning. This work is led by the College's General Education Assessment Committee (GEAC).

General Education Competencies

Written Communication

The development and expression of ideas in writing. Written communication involves learning to work in various genres and styles. Written communication abilities develop through iterative experiences across the curriculum. 

Oral Communication

A cycle of interaction from the speaker’s mind to the formulation of words, from the expression of those words to the audience, to the audience reaction and the speaker’s response.   

Critical Thinking

A habit of mind characterized by the comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion. 

Scientific Reasoning

An adherence to a self-correcting system of inquiry and a reliance on empirical evidence to describe, understand, predict, and engage natural phenomena (often experimentally). 

Quantitative Reasoning

The ability to calculate, interpret, and apply quantitative solutions to varied scenarios, and to communicate mathematical reasoning in a variety of formats such as in narrative form, tables, graphs, mathematical formulas, expressions, and equations. 

Information Literacy

The set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the critical evaluation of information and its sources, the use of information in creating knowledge for a purpose, and the incorporation of information in a responsible and ethical way. 

Technological Competency

The ability to adopt and demonstrate a fluent usage of new digital tools within and across comparable platforms with sufficient agency to successfully apply digital resources to classroom and professional problem solving.