All UT Tyler Core SLOs are assessed using faculty-selected dimensions from the AAC&U VALUE Rubrics. VALUE stands for Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education and is a campus-based, faculty developed assessment approach organized and led by AAC&U as part of its Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative.

AAC&U developed the VALUE rubrics as an open educational resource to reliably assess original student work across 16 broad learning outcomes. The VALUE Rubrics were initially developed from 2007 to 2009 by teams of faculty from colleges and universities across the United States and are periodically revised based on feedback from faculty.

Core faculty follow the practices set forth in UT Tyler VALUE Rubric Scoring Guidelines to score sampled student artifacts from each Core course, which are based on AAC&U’s Rubric Calibration Training and Scoring Guidelines. 

Core Assessment Rubrics

• Critical Thinking: Critical Thinking VALUE Rubric

• Empirical and Quantitative Skills: 
  • Mathematics/STEM, Social and Behavioral Sciences: Quantitative Literacy VALUE Rubric
  • Life and Physical Sciences/STEM: Problem Solving VALUE Rubric
• Personal Responsibility:

  • American History, Communication/Human Expression, Government and Political Science, and Language, Philosophy, and Culture/Human Expression: Ethical Reasoning VALUE Rubric 

  • Communication (Composition and Rhetoric): Lifelong Learning VALUE Rubric

• Communication:
  • Written Communication VALUE Rubric
  • Oral Communication VALUE Rubric
• Teamwork: Teamwork VALUE Rubric
• Social Responsibility: 
  • American History, Government & Political Science: Civic Engagement VALUE Rubric
  • Creative Arts, Language, Philosophy, & Culture: Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric
  • Social and Behavioral Sciences: Global Learning VALUE Rubric

In addition to the VALUE Rubrics, AAC&U has developed VALUE Assignment Design and Diagnostic (ADD) Tools for Critical Thinking and Written Communication. The VALUE ADD Tools are intended to aid faculty and instructional designers in developing assignments designed to elicit evidence of student attainment of the learning outcome.

Assessment Plan Forms

To ensure that course learning outcomes and content are aligned with the relevant Core objectives, AIE developed Assessment Plan forms for each FCA that identify the required Core objectives, the course learning outcome that aligns with each required Core SLO, the signature assignment, and the rubric dimensions to be assessed. An assessment plan form should be completed for all new Core course proposals and updates to existing course assessment plans. Please contact the CAS Assessment Coordinator with questions or assistance in completing the form.

Foundation Component Area (FCA):

• 2024-25 American History Assessment Plan Form
• 2024-25 Communication Assessment Plan Form
• 2024-25 Creative Arts Assessment Plan Form
• 2024-25 Government-Political Science Assessment Plan Form
• 2024-25 Language, Philosophy, and Culture (LPC) Assessment Plan Form
• 2024-25 Life and Physical Sciences (LPS) Assessment Plan Form
• 2024-25 Mathematics Assessment Plan Form
• 2024-25 Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Assessment Plan Form

Component Area Option (CAO):

• 2024-25 Human Expression/Communication Assessment Plan Form
• 2024-25 Human Expression/LPC Assessment Plan Form
• 2024-25 STEM/LPS Assessment Plan Form
• 2024-25 STEM/Mathematics Assessment Plan Form