Core Curriculum

Given the rapid evolution of necessary knowledge and skills the core curriculum ensures students will develop the essential knowledge and skills needed to be successful in college, in a career, in their communities, and in life. Through the assessment of the core curriculum Texas A&M University is able to collect information about students’ ability to demonstrate this knowledge and skills and use that information to continuously improve the core curriculum learning experience.

Assessment & Recertification Cycle

Core Curriculum Recertification is the process by which the Faculty Senate's Core Curriculum Council reviews core courses for inclusion in the core based on a variety of characteristics including: appropriateness of the course for the Foundational Component Area, enrollment, and explanations of how students are informed of the core objectives, how the course fosters student development of the core objectives, and how each mandatory core objective is evaluated in the context of the course.

Recertification is a two year process, with all core courses rotating through as members of four cohorts. During the first year of recertification, courses collect evidence of student learning demonstrating the required core learning objectives and submit to OIEE for assessment using the Core Curriculum Assessment rubrics. During the second year of recertification, courses complete the curricular review requirements defined by the Core Curriculum Council of the Faculty Senate.

The Core Curriculum Objectives are assessed on a three-year assessment schedule rotation according to the following schedule.

Rotation 1 (AYs 19-20, 22-23, 25-26)	Rotation 2 (AYs 20-21, 23-24, 26-27)	Rotation 3 (AYs 21-22, 24-25, 27-28)
Visual Communication Oral Communication Teamwork	Critical Thinking Social Responsibility	Written Communication Personal Responsibility Empirical & Quantitative Skills

Cycle	Academic Year	Core Objectives Assessed for Recertification Cohort
A1	2019-2020 Course List	Visual Communication
B2	2020-2021 Course List	Critical Thinking Social Responsibility RESULTS REPORT
C3	2021-2022 Course List	Written Communication Personal Responsibility Empirical & Quantitative Skills RESULTS REPORT
D1	2022-2023 Course List	Oral Communication Visual Communication Teamwork ARTIFACT SUBMISSION DEADLINES: Fall 2022: Monday, December 19 Spring 2023: Monday, May 15
A2	2023-2024	Critical Thinking Social Responsibility

Core Objectives by FCA

Core Curriculum Assessment

Each Component Area has a set of identified core objectives (indicated in maroon in the table below). Each core objective has a specified rubric which will be used for assessment purposes.

Definitions of Component Areas and core objectives can be found either in the Undergraduate Catalog or in the Texas Administrative Code.

Core Objectives by Foundational Component Area (FCA)

Common scoring rubrics are linked to each core objective below.

Foundational Component Area	Critical Thinking	Communication: Written Oral Visual - (Interpretation or Creation)	Empirical and Quantitative Skills (Computational or Other)	Teamwork	Social Responsibility	Personal Responsibility
Communication
Mathematics
Life and Physical Sciences
Language, Philosophy, & Culture
Creative Arts
American History
Government/ Political Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences

Core Courses by Foundational Component Area (FCA)

Texas A&M University Catalog

Resources

For more information about Core Curriculum at Texas A&M, visit https://us.tamu.edu/core.