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General Education - Core Assessment

Core Curriculum Assessment

Overview

The Texas Core Curriculum (TCC) is established in the Texas Education Code, Chapter 61, Subchapter S. Coordinating Board rules regarding TCC are in the Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Title 19, Part 1, Chapter 4, Subchapter B. The purpose of the core curriculum is to ensure that Texas undergraduate students enrolled in public institutions of higher education will develop the essential knowledge and skills they need in order to be successful in college, in a career, in their communities, and in life. The core curriculum facilitates the transfer of lower-division course credit among public colleges, universities, and health-related institutions throughout the state.

Core Objectives

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has adopted a set of six core objectives to guide essential learning for college students in the state of Texas.

Critical Thinking Skills (CT) - creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information
Communication Skills (COM) - effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication
Empirical and Quantitative Skills (EQS) - manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions
Teamwork (TW) - ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal
Social Responsibility (SR) - intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities
Personal Responsibility (PR) - ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making

Foundational Component Areas

There are also nine Foundational Component Areas (FCA) with specific core objective requirements.

Communication (10)
Mathematics (20)
Life and Physical Sciences (30)
Language, Philosophy and Culture (40)
Creative Arts (50)
American History (60)
Government/Political Science (70)
Social and Behavioral Sciences (80)
Component Area Option (90)

Based on these mandates, UHCL has adopted the following Core Course Curriculum and will assess objectives based on the nine Foundation Component Areas.

Core Objective Assessment

The UHCL Texas Core Curriculum Committee created institutional assessment that included the use of rubrics that are used to measure student learning in each of the Core Objective areas. These resources are available to UHCL faculty using the sign-on link below.

UHCL Resources for Core Objective Assessment

The UHCL Texas Core Curriculum Committee created resources on the Assessment and have a dashboard (to be released Spring 2027) to assist in the assurance of learning the intended outcomes. Use the below link (login required) to access these resources.

View UHCL Core Curriculum Resources