English Department
Program Assessment
Faculty in the Academic Writing Program see assessment as a basic part of teacher-research. It is a way to respond to issues we see in student writing, to contribute to best practices in the field of writing instruction, and to improve our assignments and classroom practices.
Our assessments are in dialogue with the student learning outcomes that are expressed in a document called the EM 99-05 A2, which governs writing instruction in GE courses at Chico State. Students enrolled in courses meeting the GE written communication requirement must demonstrate the ability to
- Write and read texts in order to question, investigate, and draw conclusions about ideas and issues on a selected subject;
- Find, evaluate, analyze, synthesize, and interpret appropriate primary and secondary sources, and integrate their own ideas with those of others;
- Apply knowledge of genre conventions such as organization, evidentiary support, and citation styles;
- Revise papers to reach specific audiences for specific purposes;
- Reduce errors in grammar, syntax, punctuation, and spelling.
Below is our program’s latest 5-Year report to the General Education Advisory Committee (GEAC), which summarizes our most recent and on-going assessments.
- GEAC Report (PDF)
Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say. "