Division of Academic Affairs
Annual Assessment Report
For Undergraduate & Graduate Degree Programs
AY 2007-08
nnual
Name of Program: LTWR
College:
Arts and Sciences
Prepared by: Yuan Yuan, Grad Coordinator
Date: 5-22-2008
Department Chair/Program Coordinator
Email Address:
[email protected]
Extension: 4081
PART A (Required by May 22, 2008 – last day of Spring semester)
1)
Please describe the student learning outcomes you focused on for assessment this year,
the assessment activities you used to measure student learning in these areas, and the
results of your assessments. Please also comment on the significance of your results.
LTWR Graduate Studies Assessment Committee (Dr, Formo, Dr. Stoddard-Holmes,
Dr. Moukhlis, and Dr. Yuan) has accomplished the following activities this year:
1. In coordination with the LTWR undergraduate Student Learning Outcomes, the
committee completed the graduate Student Learning Outcomes Document (pending
approval from Dept)
2. Using the graduate SLO, developed the assessment instrument to measure students’
term papers.
3. Using the developed assessment instrument, the committee assessed the term papers for
two required classes: LTWR 600 (first semester entry level required course) and
LTWR 601 (second semester required course)
4. During the entire assessment process, we adopted a dialogic model: we kept developing
and revising our SLO and assessment instrument based upon discoveries during the
assessment to test the validities of our SLO and assessment instrument.
5. Based upon the results of the assessment of the students’ term paper, proposed the next
Year’s SLO activities.
This is the first time the LTWR department has assessed the graduate program since its
establishment in 1995; this assessment provided important data for future curriculum
and program revision for our graduate program. This assessment is part of the LTWR
graduate program review (PEP).
2)
How did your program utilize any resources provided for assessment this year? Please
attach a budget with specifics.
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5/24/08
Annual Report on Assessment of Degree Programs, AY 2007-08
Upon advice from the PAC chair, we requested SLO funding together with our budget request
for the graduate PEP. We were given $2000 specifically for SLO development only,
and we received no official notification about support for our Program Review. Since SLO
development is a part of our PEP, we worked on the SLOs as a step toward the PEP. The each
committee member was paid a stipend of $500 for all the above assessment activities.
Our LTWR Graduate Program Review Committee met May 16 and 17 to accomplish the
following tasks:
1. Draft LTWR Graduate Student Learning Outcomes
2. Develop a rubric for assessing graduate student essays
3. Assess the final papers students submitted for LTWR 600 and LTWR 601
4. Discuss student strengths and weaknesses as writers and emerging scholars based
on the assessment from #3
5. Discuss the implications for curriculum revision that emerge from this assessment.
3)
As a result of your assessment findings, what changes at either the course- or programlevel are being made and/or proposed in order to improve student learning? Please
articulate how your assessment findings suggest the need for any proposed changes.
Based upon the assessment results of student learning outcomes, the committee proposed to
work on the following areas:
1. Revise the entry level required course LTWR 600 to improve and increase students’
practice of engaging theory in a developmentally appropriate way and reduce the
section on thesis development and thesis writing; the assessment shows that students
are aware of issues of theory and the negotiation process, but, interface between
theoretical context and the subject matter in the context of a graduate-level research
paper is a recurrent site of difficulty. Further, they cannot absorb much information
beyond an introduction to the thesis process during their first course as a graduate
student.
2. Propose to add a 1-2 unit capstone thesis prep course that would bring together a small
group of students at the same stage of their graduate careers and ready to focus on
specific thesis-related issues.
3. Revise the structure of the curriculum by reducing the number of independent study
courses and 400 level courses that could be accounted toward degree; the assessment
results showed that students have difficulty of transition from writing 10 papers to
20-25 page papers, so they need the additional instruction in writing graduate-level
papers they will receive in graded courses.
4. Revise the required road maps to the M.A. degree due to the fact that most graduate
students teach GEW courses, and sometimes, multiple sections.
5. Discuss the issues of thesis requirements and open more options for students; this is a
continuation of our conversation about different models of thesis project.
Academic Programs/DB
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Annual Report on Assessment of Degree Programs, AY 2007-08
PART B
Planning for Assessment in 2008-009
(Required by Friday, September 19, 2008;
May be submitted earlier for Expedited Funding Decision)
4)
Please identify one or two student learning outcomes that your program will focus on for
assessment next year.
1. We plan to focus on learning outcomes of masters’ thesis. LTWR department is in the
process of developing and revising different options of thesis writing: creative, critical
or “hybrid.”
5)
What specific assessment activities will you conduct next year in order to measure
program student learning in these areas
We will research and develop different models of assessment instruments to evaluate the
diverse formats and different options of thesis writing. Considering the amount of work
involved, we
plan to work together and do all the above activities during winter/summer 2008-2009.
6)
What new or additional resources/support might your program need in order to
conduct these assessment activities next year? (Please provide specific information
regarding your needs and related costs)
LTWR graduate studies committee (Dr. Moukhlis, Dr, Stoddard-Holmes, and Dr. Yuan) will
work during the winter/summer and request $3000 as stipend ($1000 each faculty).
Academic Programs/DB
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