UK Core Assessment

About UK Core

The University of Kentucky’s general education program – the UK Core – is foundational to a university education at the University of Kentucky. A university education is more than simply learning a set of skills in a specific area in preparation for a job or career. A university education is designed to broaden the students’ understanding of themselves, of the world we live in, of their role in our global society, and of the ideals and aspirations that have motivated human thought and action throughout the ages. It must help individuals effectively put into action their acquired knowledge, to provide the bases for critical thinking and problem solving, and to develop life-long learning habits. The UK Core is composed of the equivalent of 30 credit hours in 10 course areas that address four broad learning outcomes. Depending on choice of major or courses, some students may take more than 30 credit hours to complete the UK Core.

Please click here to watch a video from Trey Conatser, Assistant Provost from Teaching & Learning and Director of CELT, about the role of UK Core assessment in supporting student learning and the importance of aligning course assignments with UK Core outcomes.

UK Core Overview Video

Watch the video for an overview of UK Core and its role in student learning.

Integrating Kentucky's 10 Essential Skills into UK Core Courses

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) has identified 10 Essential Skills that Kentucky graduates should develop through their college experience, including communication, critical and creative thinking, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, collaboration and teamwork, professionalism, knowledge application, civic engagement, interpersonal relations, and adaptability and leadership.

At the University of Kentucky, these Essential Skills align closely with the goals and learning expectations of the UK Core curriculum. Although the two frameworks were developed for different purposes, they share a common focus on helping students build transferable knowledge, skills, and dispositions that prepare them for success in academic, professional, civic, and personal contexts. Many of the learning experiences, assignments, and assessments already used in UK Core courses naturally support the development of one or more Essential Skills.

As a result, resources developed to support the Essential Skills framework can also serve as valuable tools for UK Core instructors. The materials below, developed by colleagues in the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT), provide practical guidance for making transferable skills more visible to students, intentionally integrating them into course and assignment design, and creating meaningful opportunities for practice, feedback, reflection, and assessment.

teaching-transferable-skills-toolkit-overview.pdf
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teaching-transferable-skills-toolkit.pdf
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Why Do We Assess the Core?

Measure Student Learning: Provide evidence of student achievement of UK Core learning outcomes.

Support Continuous Improvement: Use assessment results to strengthen undergraduate teaching and learning.

Promote Consistency and Coherence: Ensure a shared understanding of learning expectations across UK Core courses and sections.

Demonstrate Accountability: Document student learning and support institutional accreditation expectations.

What It's Not: The purpose is not to evaluate individual courses, sections, or faculty/instructors.

Assessment Cycle