College Administration

Effectiveness & Innovation

Eagle Essential Competencies

Wake Tech assesses its General Education Eagle Essential Competencies of writing, oral communication, quantitative literacy and problem solving through direct, internal assessment of specific cornerstone courses.

A cornerstone course is a program requirement that students take before they complete their degree that addresses the institutional learning outcomes of an Eagle Essential Competency. Wake Tech's cornerstone courses were selected based on three criteria:

  • The learning outcomes include opportunities for faculty to teach and assess a general education level of proficiency for each competency.
  • The courses fulfill the general education requirements of the maximum number of degree programs.
  • Assessment can occur across general education courses in both the arts and sciences.

The Eagle Essential competencies and their institutional learning outcomes are defined below. Each outcome begins with a code using the following format: Eagle Essential abbreviation – Institutional Learning Outcome number. The list of cornerstone courses where data is collected is included for each.

Eagle Essential Competency
Cornerstone courses
Institutional Learning Outcomes
Writing
The ability to compose a text that conveys information and ideas in a clear, well-organized manner to explain or persuade in academic, professional and community settings
ENG-110
ENG-111
  • W-ILO1: Students appropriately and effectively address the context, audience and purpose of the prompt or assigned writing task.
  • W-ILO2: Students locate and incorporate specific details and examples from sources, providing attribution as required.
  • W-ILO3: Students use relevant content and appropriate structure to clearly convey their message as writers.
  • W-ILO4: Students convey meaning in writing with clarity and fluency, using language that is free of major errors that interfere with understanding.
Oral communication
The ability to use interpersonal or presentation skills to responsibly convey ideas, engage meaningfully with others and construct purposeful messages in varying contexts. (Students must demonstrate proficiency in all outcomes of either interpersonal skills or presentation skills to show overall proficiency in the competency.)
COM-110
COM-120
COM-231

Interpersonal skills

  • OC-ILO1: Listening and feedback – Students apply appropriate listening techniques to demonstrate presence and respond with understanding and empathy.
  • OC-ILO2: Message adaptation – Students properly tailor messages to increase understanding and trust between people with different backgrounds and experiences.
  • OC-ILO3: Relationship development and maintenance – Students effectively initiate and support personal and/or professional relationships with appropriate dialogue.
     

Presentation skills

  • OC-ILO4: Content – Students create main ideas and choose evidence such as examples, statistics and testimonies relevant for an intended audience.
  • OC-ILO5: Organization – Students clearly arrange ideas using appropriate outlining patterns for coherence and cohesiveness.
  • OC-ILO6: Delivery – Students demonstrate Effective vocal elements such as volume, rate and pitch to create vocal variety and nonverbal elements such as facial expressions, body language and eye contact to deliver the presentation clearly.
Quantitative literacy
A habit of mind that demonstrates the ability to calculate, interpret, analyze and apply information and use the results to make accurate and meaningful conclusions
MAT-110
MAT-121
MAT-143
MAT-152
MAT-171
  • QL-ILO1: Calculate – Students correctly perform mathematical computations to solve problems or find meaning.
  • QL-ILO2: Interpret – Students accurately explain information presented in various mathematical forms, which may include data points, equations, graphs, diagrams, tables or surveys.
  • QL-ILO3: Analyze – Students use mathematical concepts to accurately explain the world around them, which may include identifying when there are misleading findings, unrepresentative data, incorrect deductions and/or biased interpretations.
  • QL-ILO4: Apply – Students utilize outcomes to hypothesize, theorize and derive, drawing from their ability to calculate, interpret or analyze.
Problem solving
The cognitive process of addressing challenges or obstacles by systematically and sequentially analyzing, evaluating and implementing strategies to achieve desired outcomes considering relevant contextual factors and diverse perspectives
AST-151
BIO-110
BIO-111
CHM-151
GEL-111
HUM-110
HUM-115
PHI-240
PHY-110
PHY-151
PHY-251
PSY-118
PSY-150
  • PS-ILO1: Define the problem – Students precisely define the problem after making observations, understanding the context of the problem and identifying its key components.
  • PS-ILO2: Research and investigate – Students investigate the problem using credible sources in a manner that considers multiple root causes, background and history of the problem and how the problem is distinguished from its symptoms.
  • PS-ILO3: Identify pathways to solve the problem – Students identify conventional and/or innovative pathways to a solution.
  • PS-ILO4: Select a solution to solve the problem – Students evaluate pathways based on feasibility, effectiveness, impact and contextual factors to select a solution to solve the problem.
  • PS-ILO5: Implement a solution – Students apply the solution in a manner that is well-suited to the circumstances inherent to the problem.
  • PS-ILO6: Evaluate the solution – Students evaluate the solution by considering its effectiveness, real-world impact, outcomes and/or performance of the solution.
  • PS-ILO7: Revise – Students make deliberate revisions to the solution after synthesizing observations and conclusions from the evaluation.
  • PS-ILO8: Justify the solution – Students explain and justify the implemented solution using sound arguments, data, credible sources and/or effective practices that demonstrate why it is the most suitable approach.

NOTE: Data is collected only for PS-ILO 1, 4, 5 and 8.