The phrase “General Education” refers to the educational foundation of skills, knowledge, habits of mind, and values that prepare students for success in their majors and in their personal and professional lives upon transferring or graduating. At Northwestern Michigan College, the faculty have chosen to focus on four General Education Outcomes (GEOs). These are Communication (COM), Critical Thinking (CT), Quantitative Reasoning (QR), and Social Responsibility (SR). Learn more about NMC Staff Policy D-101.01 regarding GEOs.
To assure that our students are progressing in these areas, and to also determine where our students may need more support, we assess each of these outcomes every semester. Faculty members whose classes support a general education requirement are asked to score at least one assignment with the general education rubric for that outcome. This page a guide to assist faculty in these endeavors.
Step 1: Discover which GEO your course support.
Current course outlines (available in the Academic Catalog) indicate the GEOs are supported by each course. The Curriculum Committee and Assessment Teams encourage courses to only support one GEO at a time. Work with your Academic Area Chair if your course outline is in need of updates. Updates can be made by accessing course outlines in the Curriculum Information Management (CIM) platform.
Step 2: Review the GEO rubrics.
Once you determine which GEO(s) your course supports, review the rubric for that GEO. Each rubric includes a set of criteria and student performance levels. You’ll use these criteria to rate your students on one of your assessments. The TER-N “measures all the core reasoning skills needed for reflective decision-making and provides valid and reliable data on the critical thinking skills of individuals and of groups” (Insight Assessment, 2025).
Step 3: Consider the TER-N Assessment (for CT and/or QR GEOs).
The Test of Everyday Reasoning (TER-N) is a standardized test and an option for courses supporting the Critical Thinking (CT) and Quantitative Reasoning (QR) GEOs. This assessment is facilitated outside of Canvas. Faculty who opt into using the TER-N assessment do not have to score GEOs in Canvas. Any faculty member interested in having a course participate in the TER-N assessment to fulfill CT and QR assessment responsibilities are encouraged to contact the Assessment Team (a-team-customgroup@nmc.edu).
Step 4: Add and assess the GEOs in Canvas.
All GEOs can also be assessed in Canvas. Additionally, Canvas includes a powerful Learning Mastery Gradebook that can be used to view overall details about the outcomes avaialble in your course and the way students are performing on those outcomes. Watch the video below to learn more.
Step 5: Access and analyze GEO Results.
Use the Learning Mastery Gradebook to access GEO results in Canvas.
The Gen Ed Power BI Report is a great way to look at GEO scoring results at an institutional level. It also enables users to drill down into results by academic area or program level and filter results using various student demographics. Please note: a VPN is required to access the Power BI Dashboards. Watch the video below to learn more about the Gen Ed Power BI Report.