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State Level Assessment

The College of Southern Idaho adheres to and believes in the statewide general education philosophy articulated by the Idaho State Board of Education wherein they affirm:  

“In our rapidly changing world, students need to understand how knowledge is generated and created. They need to adapt to new opportunities as they arise as well as effectively communicate and collaborate with increasingly diverse communities and ways of knowing. In combination with major coursework, general education curriculum prepares students to use multiple strategies in an integrative manner to explore, critically analyze, and creatively address real-world issues and challenges. General education coursework provides students with an understanding of self, the physical world, and human society – its cultural and artistic endeavors as well as an understanding of the methodologies, value systems, and thought processes employed in human inquiries. General education helps instill students with the personal and civic responsibilities of good citizenship, and prepares them to be adaptive, life-long learners.” 

The Statewide General Education III.N Policy establishes the six statewide GEM competency areas, commonly called "Ways of Knowing", and a seventh institutionally Designated area, comprised of CSI’s GNED and Wellness courses.  

Statewide General Education III.N Policy

College of Southern Idaho transfer students complete coursework in each Way of Knowing for degree completion and seamless transfer to other State of Idaho institutions.

CourseTransfer.idaho.gov

Way of Knowing assessments are completed each year during the College-supported Assessment Week in November where faculty work with each other in Way of Knowing categories to review assignments, assessments, and rubrics for Way of Knowing courses.

Written Communication

Upon completion of a course in this category, students are able to demonstrate the following competencies: 

  1. Use flexible writing process strategies to generate, develop, revise, proofread and edit texts. 
  2. Adopt strategies and genre-appropriate to the rhetorical situation. 
  3. Use inquiry-based strategies to conduct research that explores multiple and diverse ideas and perspectives, appropriate to the rhetorical context. 
  4. Use rhetorically appropriate strategies to evaluate, represent, and respond to the ideas and research of others. 
  5. Address readers’ biases and assumptions with well-developed evidence-based reasoning. 
  6. Use appropriate conventions for integrating, citing, and documenting source material.
  7. Read, interpret, and communicate key concepts in writing and rhetoric.

Idaho State Board of Education

Oral Communication

Upon completion of a course in this category, students are able to demonstrate the following competencies: 

  1. Research, discover, and develop information resources and structure spoken messages to increase knowledge and understanding. 
  2. Research, discover, and develop evidence-based reasoning and persuasive appeals for ethically influencing attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors. 
  3. Adapt spoken messages to the diverse personal, ideological, and emotional needs of individuals, groups, or contexts. 
  4. Employ effective spoken and nonverbal behaviors that support communication goals and illustrate self-efficacy. 
  5. Listen in order to effectively and critically evaluate the reasoning, evidence, and communication strategies of self and others. 
  6. Demonstrate knowledge of key theories, perspectives, principles, and concepts in the Communication discipline, as applied to oral communication. 

Idaho State Board of Education

Mathematical Ways of Knowing

Upon completion of a course in this category, a student is able to demonstrate the following competencies: 

  1. Interpret mathematical concepts. 
  2. Represent information/data.                                                                             
  3. Use appropriate strategies/procedures when solving mathematical problems. 
  4. Draw reasonable conclusions based on quantitative information. 
Idaho State Board of Education
Scientific Ways of Knowing

Upon completion of a non-lab course in this category, a student is able to demonstrate competencies 1-4. Upon completion of a lab course, a student is able to demonstrate all five competencies 1-5. 

  1. Apply foundational knowledge and models of a discipline in the physical or natural sciences to analyze and/or predict phenomena. 
  2. Apply scientific reasoning to critically evaluate assertions. 
  3. Interpret and communicate scientific information via written, spoken, and/or visual representations. 
  4. Describe the relevance of specific scientific principles to the human experience. 
  5. Test a hypothesis in the laboratory or field using discipline-specific tools and techniques for observation, data collection, and analysis to form a defensible conclusion.

Idaho State Board of Education

Humanistic and Artistic Ways of knowing

Upon completion of a course in this category, students are able to demonstrate at least five (5) of the following competencies: 

  1. Recognize and describe humanistic, historical, or artistic works within problems and patterns of the human experience. 
  2. Distinguish and apply methodologies, approaches, or traditions specific to the discipline. 
  3. Differentiate formal, conceptual, and technical elements specific to the discipline. 
  4. Analyze, evaluate, and interpret texts, objects, events, or ideas in their cultural, intellectual, or historical contexts. 
  5. Interpret artistic or humanistic works through the creation of art, language, or performance. 
  6. Develop critical perspectives or arguments about the subject matter, grounded in evidence-based analysis. 
  7. Demonstrate self-reflection, widened perspective, and respect for diverse viewpoints.  
 

Idaho State Board of Education

Social and Behavioral Ways of Knowing
  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of a particular Social Science discipline. 
  2. Describe self and the world by examining the dynamic interaction of individuals, groups, and societies as they shape and are shaped by history, culture, institutions, and ideas. 
  3. Utilize Social Science approaches, such as research methods, inquiry, or problem-solving, to examine the variety of perspectives about human experiences. 
  4. Evaluate how reasoning, history, or culture informs and guides individual, civic, or global decisions. 
  5. Identify the impact of similarities and differences among and between individuals, cultures, or societies across space and time. 

Idaho State Board of Education