Core Curriculum Assessment

The purpose of Core Curriculum assessment is to measure students’ skills and knowledge obtained through Core Curriculum, as required by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), in the following core objective areas:

• Critical Thinking (CT) – critical thinking, innovation, inquiry, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information.
• Communication Skills (CM) [oral and written] – effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral, and visual information.
• Teamwork (TW) – to include the ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal.
• Social Responsibility (SR) – intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.
• Personal responsibility (PR) – ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making.
• Empirical and Quantitative Skills (EQS) – to include the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions.

“These courses must be taken by every student to complete their 42-credit hour core course requirements to graduate from the University of Texas at Dallas. These requirements must be met by every student pursuing a baccalaureate degree at The University of Texas at Dallas, regardless of their major. Specific approved courses must be used to satisfy each Core requirement listed in each category. In accordance with the Texas Education Code, Chapter 61, Subchapter S, a student who successfully completes the entirety of a Core Curriculum at another Texas public institution of higher education before matriculating at UT Dallas may transfer that block of courses to UT Dallas where it will be substituted for the UT Dallas Core Curriculum. If a student does not complete all the Core Curriculum at another Texas public institution of higher education before matriculating at UT Dallas, the student will receive credit for the portion completed and then may be required to complete additional courses from the UT Dallas Core Curriculum. (UT Dallas 2024 undergraduate Catalog, 2024)”

Please see Core Curriculum for more information.

For Fall 2025, courses will be selected to assess core objectives Empirical and Quantitative Skills and Communication Skills using a stratified random sampling method, ensuring balanced distribution across schools and course size. Instructors will be contacted to confirm assignment alignment with the core objectives to be assessed.

Courses are part of the Core curriculum if they have been submitted for approval and subsequently approved. Foundational Component Areas found in the UT Dallas Undergraduate Core Curriculum catalog.

UT Dallas 2024 Undergraduate Core Curriculum

• 010 Communication (6 semester credit hours)
• 020 Mathematics (3 semester credit hours)
• 030 Life and Physical Sciences (6 semester credit hours)
• 040 Language, Philosophy, and Culture (3 semester credit hours)
• 050 Creative Arts (3 semester credit hours)
• 060 American History (6 semester credit hours)
• 070 Government/Political Science (6 semester credit hours)
• 080 Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 semester credit hours)
• 090 Component Area Option (6 semester credit hours)

• Know that all core classes include specific THECB core objectives.
• Submit any required documentation requested from your course during the institutional assessment period.
• It is recommended to use the Core Curriculum syllabus templates approved for core curriculum courses from the Office of the Provost website. Each template includes the description and core objectives for the specific core category the course belongs to.

Core Objectives are assessed during a three-year cycle. See the chart below for the timeline implementation.

Core Assessment Implementation Timeline 2025-2031

• 2025-2026: Communication, Empirical Quantitative Skills
• 2026-2027: Critical Thinking, Social Responsibility
• 2027-2028: Teamwork, Personal Responsibility
• 2028-2029: Communication, Empirical Quantitative Skills
• 2029-2030: Critical Thinking, Social Responsibility
• 2030-2031: Teamwork, Personal Responsibility

If the core class you teach includes one of these core objectives during the assessment period, it may be selected for core assessment. Your core class has more than one core objective.

If chosen, please submit an appropriate student artifact with the directions, writing prompt and answers as needed. This will benefit the raters’ understanding of the concept. You will receive communication about this in the Fall semester.

Student artifacts are course-based assessments, including assignments students are expected to submit for their courses. Artifacts can vary widely depending on the course and instructor’s approach. For Communication Skills and Empirical and Quantitative Skills assessment assignments, submitted student work must be individual assignments.

Assignment recommendations:

• Written composition/essay
• Exams or quizzes (not entirely multiple choice)
• Presentations
• Laboratory reports
• Infographic, charts, graphs
• Recorded speech
• Homework assignments
• Self-reflections
• Discussion boards postings

If you do not have an appropriate artifact, assignment was returned to the student, or the speech/presentation was not recorded, please let us know.

During the assessment period, instructors will share student artifacts that align with the core objectives to be assessed. During the 2025 – 2026 assessment period, artifacts that measure Empirical and Quantitative Skills and Communication Skills will be collected. The student artifacts from selected courses that meet the established criteria for the core objectives will be submitted to the Office of Institutional Success and Decision Support (OISDS). Instructors will have multiple options of artifacts submission (Box, Blackboard, or paper copies we will scan and return).

Student artifacts will be assessed through a scoring committee. The goal is to have 30 faculty members with additional Graduate Assistants, Teaching Assistants, and staff members involved. They will be trained in January in calibrating and rating. The scoring committee will then assess the artifacts individually in February. You can volunteer to help us score student work in January each year, but this is not mandatory. If you are interested, please email core@utdallas.edu. For the upcoming year, the committee will use the following rubrics to evaluate Communication and Empirical and Quantitative Skills.

• Written Communication Skills Rubric
• Oral Communication Skills Rubric
• Visual Communication Skills Rubric
• Empirical and Quantitative Skills Rubric

No, these rubrics are for the OISDS to assess if our students are achieving the THECB core objectives. It is NOT mandatory to use these rubrics. We do not expect you to make any changes to your course section, including grading policies, syllabus content, or course section structure. The rubrics are for UT Dallas to assess the submitted student artifacts.