Departmental Assessment Update - Languages, Linguistics and Literature Report

Department: East Asian Languages and Literatures
Program: MA, PhD (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
Level: Graduate

1. Has your program developed learning outcomes? If yes, please list.

Program SLOs have not beendeveloped.

Program objectives have been established and they may be viewed on the department's web page (www.hawaii.edu/eall/).

 

2. If your program has learning outcomes, where are they published (e.g., department web page)?

(see #1 above.)

3. Do your faculty list course learning outcomes on their syllabi?

Some faculty members provide detailed course SLOs but others do not.

It is understood that SLOs must now be included in all proposals for new and modified courses.

4. Does your program have a curriculum map that links course outcomes to program outcomes? If so, please include.

Curriculum maps have not been developed.

Course requirements for each program are listed on the department website.

5. Does your program benchmark or have goals for student performance? (e.g. 70% students will graduate within 5 years)

Not across the board.

PhD students in Japanese linguistics are expected to produce a research paper of publishable quality as evidence of their having met the expectations of their program.

6. Other than GPA, what data/evidence is used to determine that graduates have achieved stated outcomes for the degree? (i.e. capstone project, class assignment)

All MA and PhD programs culminate in capstone projects (thesis or comprehensive examination for the MA; comprehensive examination and dissertation for the PhD). In addition the graduate programs encourage their students, especially PhD students, to present their work at national and international conferences.

The College of LLL is now developing electronic exit surveys to systematically collect and disseminate student opinion data on learning satisfaction and outcomes. The surveys will have common questions for all departments as well as questions specific to individual departments/ programs. For the 2008-09 academic year, the immediate focus group is majors completing a graduate/undergraduate degree program. In order to create valid, meaningful, useful, feasible, and sustainable exit survey data-collection procedures and feedback loop, the College of LLL is currently eliciting information from departments/ programs. In order to make this assessment activity transparent/open, the LLL dean’s office will periodically post updates of the project on the college’s website.

For more information about this initiative, please contact Kimi Kondo-Brown, the LLL interim Associate Dean (kondo@hawaii.edu, 956-7193).”

7. Who interprets the evidence of student learning?

Within each individual course, the course instructor interprets evdence of student learning.

Within each program, the student's advisor and committee monitor student progress through the program and achievement of its objectives.

Also, the graduate faculty in each program rank orders graduate students annually for tuition waiver eligibility based on their overall level of academic achievement. Applicants for graduate assistantships are evaluaed in a similar way.

8. How are the assessment data/results used to inform decisions concerning the curriculum and administration of the program?

Curriculum committees in each degree program review data such as enrollment figures, results of diagnostic, qualifying, and comprehensive examinations, and student surveys to assess how effectively it meets its objectives. This includes revising curriculum, course requirements, exams, etc.

9. What attempts are made to monitor students’ postgraduate professional activities?

The department's Graduate Student Services Specialist makes use of limited time and resources to monitor postgraduate professdional activities and achievements.  This information is compiled and published each semeser in a newsletter which is distributed to faculty, graduate students, and interested community members as well as to peer programs at other institutions, and posted on the department website.