Dearborn Discovery Core History and Development

DDC Evaluation Period (2018-2021)

In Fall 2018, the DDC subcommittee began the evaluation process, intended to assess how the DDC program was operating and whether any needed changes should be made. Nine committees for each DDC category began their evaluation work with the goal of submitting a report to the DDC Subcommittee in February 2019. The DDC category committees consisted of four faculty members and one non-voting student. 

Some of the information used to evaluate the DDC included the DDC assessment reports, general education best-practice research, DDC survey data from students and faculty, and other relevant general education research (For Upper-Level Writing and Capstone categories, examples of student work exemplifying benchmarks will be included). 

Once the DDC category committees finalized their reports, the DDC Subcommittee submitted a summary report which synthesized the findings and recommendations from each committee. The overall summary report was submitted to Faculty Senate in Fall 2019. The changes endorsed from the report’s recommendations will be implemented for incoming freshmen in Fall 2021 and transfer students in Fall 2023.

DDC 2.0 (2021 - current)

Faculty Senate reviewed and voted on several proposed changes to DDC in Winter 2020. The proposed changes and the Faculty Senate decisions can be found below: 

  • Modify the policy to allow a course to count for up to 2 Dearborn Discovery Core categories (instead of 3) plus a major/minor requirement (see page 6 of DDC Report). The proposal was endorsed. 
  • Provide a “Guiding Statement” for the Intersections category (see pages 9-10 of DDC Report). The proposal was endorsed.
  • Require students to take a maximum of two out of three courses from the same discipline in the Social & Behavioral Analysis category (see page 11 of DDC Report). The proposal was endorsed.
  • Revise the Social & Behavioral Analysis category’s learning outcomes (see pages 11-12 of DDC Report).  The proposal was endorsed. 
  • Set the expectation that students should revise their writing based on formative feedback in the Upper-Level Writing Intensive category along with revising the learning outcomes (see page 13 of DDC Report). The proposal was endorsed.
  • Recommend a course enrollment cap of 25 for upper level writing courses. The proposal was endorsed.
  • Recommend enhanced supports for faculty professional development in upper level writing. The proposal was endorsed.
  • Revise the Capstone Experience category’s third learning outcome to include “reflection” (see page 15 of the DDC Report). The proposal was endorsed.
  • Revise the Capstone Experience category’s guidelines provided for faculty to allow capstone experiences outside of a student’s major/discipline (see pages 15-16 of DDC Report).The proposal was endorsed.
  • Revise the Natural Sciences category’s learning outcomes to require only lab courses and courses with substantial lab content to assess the 5th learning outcome (see page 17 of the DDC Report). The proposal was endorsed.
  • Add a category description statement and revise the learning outcomes for the Humanities and the Arts category (see page 19 of the DDC Report). The proposal was endorsed.
  • Change the category title of Written and Oral Communication to Writing & Communication (see page 20 of the DDC Report). The proposal was endorsed.
  • Revise the Written and Oral Communication category’s learning outcomes, eliminating outcome #4 (see pages 20-21 of DDC Report). The proposal was endorsed.
  • Revise the Quantitative Thinking & Problem Solving category’s 4th learning outcome (see page 22 of the DDC Report). The proposal was endorsed.

The Dearborn Discovery Core will continue to be assessed and evaluated to ensure students are mastering the outcomes articulated by Faculty. See the DDC Assessment page for details and timeline.