From 2008 to 2010 UConn undertook a series of ambitious writing assessment projects. This work in outcomes-based assessment emerged from collaborations among the General Education Oversight Committee of the University Senate, the University Writing Center, and seven academic departments (Art History, Human Development and Family Studies, Political Science, Nursing, Freshman English, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering). Our approach and our findings are detailed in the reports below, which you can download as PDFs. What we have learned through this assessment has already helped the participating departments enrich the way they teach writing in the disciplines.

2008 Writing Assessment Report on Student Writing in Art History, Human Development and Family Studies and Political Science
This initial report articulates the methods and guiding assumptions of our studies; it also reports on findings from Art History, Human Development and Family Studies and Political Science.

2009 Writing Assessment Report on Student Writing in Nursing

2009 Report on Writing Assessment in Freshman English

2010 Report on Writing Assessment in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering

Summary Report on Assessment of Student Writing at the University of Connecticut, 2008-2010

1 Credit W Assessment Report, 2014

Tom Deans Handout from  IWACC 2016

For questions about these studies, please contact Tom Deans at Tom.Deans@uconn.edu

For more information on UConn’s general education assessment projects, please see the website of the General Education Oversight Committee: http://geoc.uconn.edu