Rubrics and Example Assignments

Essential Skill Rubrics

Throughout successful completion of the UNM General Education Curriculum, students develop the following five skills. This year (AY2023-2024), UNM is assessing Critical Thinking in all units. Please review the rubrics below when selecting or creating an assignment for the General Education assessment process. 

  1. Communication Rubric
  2. Critical Thinking Rubric
  3. Information & Digital Literacy Rubric
  4. Personal & Social Responsibility Rubric
  5. Quantitative Reasoning Rubric
The figure below situates these essential skills within the UNM Core Curriculum content areas:
A figure showing how general education skills map to content areas.

General Education Example Assignments

This collection of submitted assignments from Fall 2022 is intended to help faculty in adapting and adopting assignments that best fit their content area and affiliated GE skill.

Each assignment in this collection was analyzed and coded as a “highly aligned” artifact with an essential skill and its component skills. Additionally, the student artifacts produced for each of the assignments in these collections were consistently rated in the "high developing" to "proficient" range for their corresponding essential skills, which indicates a clear, detailed, and aligned assignment prompt provided by instructors.

Tips for Integrating Essential Skills into Assignments

  • Build assignments based on the NMHED rubric dimensions. Each skill has multiple dimensions under it, allowing for flexibility in which two dimensions are selected.
  • Include essential skills and their definitions in the assignment description. Students benefit from having an understanding of the skillset being gained and appreciate knowing what they are expected to demonstrate.
  • Communicate to students that GE assessment is taking place. Students can be motivated to do better on assignments (and demonstrate the true extent of their essential skill attainment) when they know that it will represent UNM as a whole.
  • Consider ways to include evidence of the learning process for the essential skill. These can include reflective components, preparatory work, or drafts of a final project. Some assignments, such as quantitative answers, multiple-choice quizzes, and final art products do not show direct evidence of the essential skill.