MidPoint Assessment, Senior Assignment
Senior Assignment: All seniors are required to complete the Senior Assignment that demonstrates breadth commensurate with SIUE‘s general education expectations and proficiency in the academic major. The Senior Assignment represents the culmination of the entire undergraduate experience at SIUE and should integrate the best aspects of each student‘s baccalaureate education. Each academic major has its own Senior Assignment, so the specifics of the requirement vary, but they share a challenge to each SIUE student to achieve individual academic excellence. This is what distinguishes baccalaureate education at SIUE.
Students must satisfy all general education components to obtain a baccalaureate degree from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Senior Assignment
The Senior Assignment represents the culmination of the entire undergraduate experience at SIUE and should integrate the best aspects of each student‘s baccalaureate education. All seniors are required to complete the Senior Assignment that demonstrates breadth commensurate with SIUE‘s general education expectations and proficiency in the academic major. This requirement arises from the University‘s belief that the ability to integrate a general education perspective into one‘s academic discipline is an essential mark of a University-educated person. The Senior Assignment fosters creativity and self-reliance by encouraging each student to complete and reflect upon a meaningful project for the major. As such, the Senior Assignment represents a major commitment by the SIUE faculty to undergraduate learning. Each academic major has its own senior assignment and, therefore, an individual assignment may involve, for example, library inquiry, laboratory experiments, field inquiry, or artistic creativity. Therefore, a given Senior Assignment may culminate in an artistic performance, public speech, written thesis, gallery presentation, or a combination of these with other forms of expression. Individual Senior Assignments differ, but they share a challenge to each SIUE student to achieve individual academic excellence. This is what distinguishes baccalaureate education at SIUE.
Assessment and the Senior Assignment
Assessment
The purpose of assessment of undergraduate education is to help the University determine the extent to which it is fulfilling its mission of educating undergraduate students. Assessment allows the University to improve its program structure, course content, and pedagogy. It also assists in advisement and placement, and provides students with indicators of their performance. Finally, assessment monitors the competence of graduating students, not just in terms of disciplinary expertise, but also with respect to the attainment of a general education. Much of assessment is embedded within the teaching function of the university and, ideally, occurs alongside each student’s regular academic effort.
The Senior Assignment
All seniors are required to complete a capstone experience called Senior Assignment (SRA). SRA demonstrates breadth commensurate with SIUE’s general education expectations and proficiency in the academic major. The SIUE Senior Assignment (SRA) optimizes assessment that recognizes the importance of open-ended, holistic, problem-based assessment that requires critical thinking. This requirement arises from the University’s belief that the ability to integrate a general education perspective into one’s academic discipline is an essential mark of a university-educated person.
The SRA is the hallmark of a baccalaureate education at SIUE. It serves as a demonstrable connection between the student’s major area of study and the general education skills and competencies. Each department or program has ownership over its Senior Assignments, thus the faculty has been given the autonomy to construct the SRA to assess the unique capabilities of their graduates as well as overall program effectiveness and the degree of interdisciplinary competence among graduates. Due to the diversity in programs, Senior Assignment may culminate in an artistic performance, public speech, written thesis, gallery presentation, or a combination of these with other forms of expression. Individual Senior Assignments differ, but they share a challenge to each SIUE student to achieve individual academic excellence. This is what distinguishes baccalaureate education at SIUE.
