Editor’s Note

The reform of general education often occurs at many colleges and universities. However, such a major reform process often is time consuming and requires a commitment from the faculty to articulate a revised set of learning goals that can be achieved by undergraduate students as they complete their bachelor’s degrees. In the first article, “General Education Reform: Opportunities for Institutional Alignment,” Fuess and Mitchell provide an excellent overview of the general education reform process at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. This new program focused on promoting student achievement and emphasizing assessment. Faculty created ten distinct learning outcomes that serve to define expectations for student learning, and all eight undergraduate colleges shared in the development and implementation of courses designed to reinforce these particular outcomes. Faculty members were successful with their implementation in part because the reform process was decentralized and allowed faculty to become more engaged in the reform process.

Assessment of undergraduates’ co-curricular experiences is also important. Feldmann et al. discuss the development of a scale focused on emotional intelligence in their article “Co-curricular Assessment Scale Development.” The authors developed a survey to determine the extent to which co-curricular programs had an impact on students. Initially, five goals were included as factors in this new instrument, including leadership development; tolerance and respect for diversity; moral responsibility; critical thinking; and adaptability, self-reliance, and independence. Freshmen and seniors were assessed on these five goals. Most of these students were assessed by at least two assessors from two co-curricular programs. From this initial study, Feldmann et al. find that leadership development, ethical self-direction, and adaptability are the three factors that match with the college co-curricular goals for student development.

The assessment of students’ mathematical abilities is crucial for a variety of majors and an important component of general education programs. In the article “Exploring the Feasibility of Dual Credit Mathematics Courses in High School via a Web-Enhanced, Blended Model,” the authors carefully examine the wveb Mathematics Project, where high school seniors complete college-level courses. They find that students enrolled in the wveb Algebra course strongly outperformed their peers who took a similar course on campus. Analyses of scores on course-embedded assignments including exams and laboratory work demonstrate moderately higher averages for wveb students as compared with their on-campus peers. This collaborative program is a good example of innovative curricular designs that reach into the high schools and help students successfully develop their mathematical skills.

This issue concludes with two book reviews. Sarah Selmer critiques the book Learning to Teach Through Discussion: The Art of Turning the Soul. Jennifer Chubinski evaluates the book The Dissertation Desk Reference.

The collection of articles in this quarterly issue clearly portrays that curriculum reform and assessment of student learning are meaningful endeavors for faculty, staff, and students. As new initiatives are implemented, useful assessments provide important information about student achievement.