Annual Assessment Report to the College 2011-12
College: HUMANITIES
Department: GENDER & WOMEN’S STUDIES
Program:
Note: Please submit report to your department chair or program coordinator, the assessment office
and to the Associate Dean of your College by September 28, 2012. You may submit a separate report for
each program which conducted assessment activities.
Liaison: BRENY MENDOZA
1. Overview of Annual Assessment Project(s) (optional)
1a. Assessment Process Overview: Provide a brief overview of the assessment plan and process this
year.
The Department of GWS made a cross-sectional study of our gateway and capstone courses GWS 100
and GWS 400, and an embedded assessment of students from GWS 400. We had a Faculty Retreat to
review the GWS301 Feminist Theory course and assessed its alignment with our SLO’s. A report on the
experience of teaching feminist theory and the capstones course was written and presented in an
international conference on Teaching Feminist Theory (IPSA, Madrid, Spain).
2. Student Learning Outcome Assessment Project: Answer questions according to the individual SLO
assessed this year. If you assessed an additional SLO, report in the next chart below.
2a. Which Student Learning Outcome was measured this year?
We assessed all four SLOs.
1. Students investigate the gender dimension of social, economic, cultural,
historical and political processes on women and men in U.S. and global
contexts.
2. Students will have a level of proficiency in the discipline of Gender and
Women’s Studies, including knowledge of women’s movements, feminist
theories, feminist research methods and women’s contributions to the
production of different knowledges.
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3. Students will demonstrate the ability to critically analyze matrices of
power like gender, race, class and sexuality in ways that lay the groundwork
for constructive social change.
4. Students will develop a sense of agency grounded in the development of
their skills in oral and written communication, critical thinking, media
literacy, information competence and leadership.
2b. Does this learning outcome align with one of the following University Fundamental Learning
Competencies? (check any which apply)
Critical Thinking_______X_____________________________
Oral Communication____X____________________________
Written Communication__X___________________________
Quantitative Literacy________________________________
Information Literacy______X__________________________
Other (which?)___________________________________
2c. What direct and indirect instrument(s) were used to measure this SLO?
For the Gateway-Capstone we designed a questionnaire that was distributed to all sections of GWS 100
and GWS 400 at the beginning of the Spring semester.
The embedded assessment of GWS 400 consisted of students writing their research papers in stages,
receiving feedback, revising, and presenting a final version at a conference that students organized
themselves. Papers were scored using a Critical Thinking rubric that assesses all four SLOs.
GWS 301 syllabi were discussed in a Faculty retreat.
2d. Describe the assessment design methodology: For example, was this SLO assessed longitudinally
(same students at different points) or was a cross-sectional comparison used (comparing freshmen with
seniors)? If so, describe the assessment points used.
1. We did a cross-sectional study comparing GWS 100 and GWS 400. 174 students took the
questionnaire, 159 from GWS 100 and 15 from GWS 400. The objective was to learn how much
students were managing the central concepts of the discipline by the time they took GWS 400.
The questionnaire was thought as an additional instrument to assess student learning in GWS
400. The same questionnaire was applied to both courses. All sections of the courses were
included. The questionnaire consisted of close and open-ended questions that asked specific
questions related to the discipline of Gender & Women’s Studies. For instance, if they could
distinguish between gender and sex, define intersectionality, knew what transnational feminism
is about etc.. We hired a student to process the data.
2. GWS 400. Students write a longer research paper. They write the paper in stages. At each stage
students receive feedback from the instructor and revise and redo each section of the paper.
Once a complete draft is done, students rehearse their presentation in class, and are evaluated
by their peers. Later students present their work in a public conference at CUN. A rubric is used
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to score the students’ work.
3. GWS 301. The department organized a Faculty Retreat to assess the Feminist Theories course.
Syllabi were analyzed and compared. Observations of the application of feminist theories and
methods in other courses were reported by all faculty. The course was assessed by seeing how it
aligned with the curriculum SLOs and the general advancement of the discipline.
2e. Assessment Results & Analysis of this SLO: Provide a summary of how the evidence was analyzed
and highlight important findings from collected evidence.
2f. Use of Assessment Results of this SLO: Were assessment results from previous years or from this
year used to make program changes in this reporting year?
Type of change:
changes to course content/topics covered_________X__________________________
course sequence________________________________________________________
addition/deletion of courses in program_____________________________________
describe other academic programmatic changes___Students will have assignments in GWS 305 that
already asks students to apply feminist methods. Students write literature reviews in GWS 301, and can
begin writing parts of their papers in previous courses. Syllabi and course objectives of GWS 301 redone,
new books ordered, a new faculty member is teaching the course.
student support services__________________________________________________
revisions to program SLOs_________________________________________________
assessment instruments___________________________________________________
describe other assessment plan changes______________________________________
Have any previous changes led to documented improvements in student learning? (describe)
Yes, we use to teach Feminist Theories and Methods in one course. Students did not come well
prepared to write a longer research paper. We separated the two courses and students are doing better.
The introduction of a conference has improved students research, writing, presentation, and research
skills.
Some programs assess multiple SLOs each year. If your program assessed an additional SLO, report the
process for that individual SLO below. If you need additional SLO charts, please cut & paste the empty
chart as many times as needed. If you did NOT assess another SLO, skip this section.
3. How do your assessment activities connect with your program’s strategic plan and/or 5-yr
assessment plan?
WewewwWevv We did not follow the plan strictly because we wanted to take advantage that the new Assessment
Liaison was teaching the capstone course and that she had been teaching the intro GWS 100 recently.
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4. Other information, assessment or reflective activities or processes not captured above.
Faculty retreats are the best way to assess courses and student learning.
5. Has someone in your program completed, submitted or published a manuscript which uses or
describes assessment activities in your program? Please provide citation or discuss.
No. The Assessment Liaison did write a brief analysis of teaching feminist theory and capstone courses
at CSUN in the context of the 2012 International Political Science Association. Information was
exchanged with faculty from Europe, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.
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