RIT's General Education Assignment Library
The General Education Assignment Library contains samples of assignments created by RIT faculty to assess General Education Student Learning Outcomes. Assignments are collected and shared by the Office of Educational Effectiveness Assessment to support the teaching of General Education courses.
Thank you to the RIT faculty who gave permission to share their assignments and contribute to the General Education community of practice. As assignment design is an iterative process, many of the assignments posted will be revised and improved by faculty or replaced with newer assignments. Assignment authors are encouraged to submit revised materials.
Featured Assignments
Click here to view our featured assignments and read vignettes about how RIT faculty members developed relevant and engaging assignments that support student achievement of course objectives, including the General Education Student Learning Outcomes. The faculty share the reasons why they like these particular assignments and some of the lessons learned as they’ve modified and improved the assignments over time.
Browse the Library
This library allows RIT faculty to:
- Browse assignments by outcome, discipline, or method
- Review pedagogical and assessment guidelines by outcome
- View assignments that can be used to assess multiple outcomes
In this project students assess the uses and limits of the position they take regarding some aspect or issue related to writing, discourse, and identity.
Assignment File: Download Assignment
Outcome: Revise and improve written products, Express oneself effectively in common college-level written forms using standard American English, Use relevant evidence gathered through accepted scholarly methods and properly acknowledge sources of information
RIT Educational Goal: Critical Thinking, Integrative Literacies- Communication Literacy
Discipline: Humanities
Course: UWRT 150 First Year Writing
Author(s): Professor Paulette Swartzfager
Method: Project
Students are asked to choose a writing-related issue focused on any of the articles discussed in class that they want to continue to work with. Students develop a research question that they feel personally invested in and curious about, and that they want to attempt to answer.
Assignment File: Download Assignment
Outcome: Revise and improve written products, Express oneself effectively in common college-level written forms using standard American English, Use relevant evidence gathered through accepted scholarly methods and properly acknowledge sources of information
RIT Educational Goal: Critical Thinking, Integrative Literacies- Communication Literacy
Discipline: Humanities
Course: UWRT 150 First Year Writing
Author(s): Professor Andy Perry
Method: Project
In this multi-step assignment, students select a topic and write an informative research paper about an approved topic of significance to their audience (peers comprised of business majors and software engineering majors). Phases of the project include: a formal topic proposal, an annotated bibliography, a progress report, and the research paper.
Assignment File: Download Assignment
Outcome: Revise and improve written products, Use relevant evidence gathered through accepted scholarly methods and properly acknowledge sources of information
RIT Educational Goal: Critical Thinking, Integrative Literacies- Communication Literacy
Discipline: Humanities
Course: COMM 253 Communication
Author(s): Dr. Kari Cameron
Method: Research Proposal and Paper
The purpose of this assignment is to think more deeply about the conflicting values and worldviews that underlay controversies pertaining to ecosystem management, and to examine possibilities for bringing together opposing sides through a focus on shared values.
Assignment File: Download Assignment
Outcome: Analyze and construct arguments considering their premises, assumptions, contexts, and conclusions, and anticipating counterarguments, Identify contemporary ethical questions and relevant positions
RIT Educational Goal: Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, Integrative Literacies- Communication Literacy
Discipline: Social Sciences
Course: STSO 140 Science, Technology, and Values
Author(s): Dr. Christine Keiner
Method: Essay
In an introductory sociology course, students learn that economic globalization creates differing experiences of people both within and between nations. This assignment focuses on the uneven benefits resulting from globalization that shape migration decisions.
Assignment File: Download Assignment
Outcome: Analyze similarities and differences in human social experiences and evaluate the consequences
RIT Educational Goal: Global Interconnectedness
Discipline: Social Sciences
Course: SOCI 102 Introduction to Sociology
Author(s): Dr. Vincent Serrravallo
Method: Exam Question
In this lab report students assess the impact of landscape alteration on area hydrology, water quality, and soil erosion.
Assignment File: Download Assignment
Outcome: Reach sound conclusions based on logical analysis of evidence
RIT Educational Goal: Critical Thinking, Integrative Literacies (Scientific Literacy)
Discipline: Natural Sciences
Course: ENVS 111, Soil Erosion
Author(s): Dr. Karl Korfmacher
Method: Lab Report
Is the social responsibility of business to increase its profits? Students analyze a text by Milton Friedman (“The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits”, The New York Times Magazine, 13 September 1970) and answer this question in an in-class debate. Students are divided into smaller groups consisting of affirmative team, opposing team, and those judging the arguments presented by both sides in the debate.
Assignment File: Download Assignment
Outcome: Analyze and construct arguments considering their premises, assumptions, contexts, and conclusions, and anticipating counterarguments
RIT Educational Goal: Critical Thinking
Discipline: Social Sciences
Course: ANTH 210, Culture and Globalization
Author(s): Dr. Vanda Bazdan
Method: Debate
Assignment File: Download Assignment
Outcome: Analyze similarities and differences in human social experiences and evaluate the consequences
RIT Educational Goal: Critical Thinking
Discipline: Social Sciences
Course: PUBL 101, Foundations of Public Policy
Author(s): Professor Lyndsey McGrath
Method: Exam Question
Assignment File: Download Assignment
Outcome: Interpret and evaluate artistic expression considering the cultural context in which it was created
RIT Educational Goal: Integrative Literacies- Aesthetic Literacy, Integrative Literacies- Communication Literacy
Discipline: Humanities
Course: ARTH 135/136, Survey of Western Art and Architecture
Author(s): Dr. Sarah Thompson
Method: Essay
Workbook problems engage one in the practice of philosophy and allow one to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the products of philosophy.
Assignment File: Download Assignment
Outcome: Identify contemporary ethical questions and relevant positions
RIT Educational Goal: Ethical Reasoning
Discipline: Humanities
Course: PHIL 102, Introduction to Moral Issues
Author(s): Dr. Colin Mathers
Method: Workbook Problems
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Contribute to the Library
We are always looking for exceptional General Education assignments! Contact the Office of EEA to:
- Submit an assignment used to assess a General Education Student Learning Outcome
- Request feedback or assistance on an assignment used to assess a General Education Student Learning Outcome
- Send a revised assignment to update the Assignment Library
New assignments are added to the library so regularly so check back soon. If you are looking for more assignment samples, the National Institute of Learning Outcomes Assessment maintains a robust Assignment Library.