Departmental Assessment Update - Arts and Humanities Report

Department: Religion (Asian)
Program: BA
Level: Undergraduate

1. List in detail your undergraduate Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for each degree/certificate offered.

1. Student Learning Outcomes for BA, Major in Religion·      Students acquire basic knowledge and understanding of the history, scriptures, doctrines, rituals and other practices of the major world religious traditions.·      Students become acquainted with major themes in the study of religion.·      Students read and analyze primary source material, including scriptures, faith statements, etc.·      Students read and analyze scholarly articles and monographs in the field.·      Students begin the process of learning to write scholarly materials in genres appropriate to the field of Religious Studies, including research papers, exegetical essays, etc.

2. Where are these SLOs published (e.g., department web page)?

2. These are published on our website, at:  http://www.hawaii.edu/religion/BA-DOC.HTM.

3. Explain how your SLOs map onto your curriculum, i.e., how does your curriculum produce the specific SLOs in your students?

3. How SLOs map to the curriculum ·      Students acquire basic knowledge and understanding of the history, scriptures, doctrines, rituals and other practices of the major world religious traditions.This material is covered in the 200-level survey courses dealing with the various religious traditions: REL 202 Understanding Indian Religions, REL 203 Understanding Chinese Religions, REL 204 Understanding Japanese Religions, REL 205 Understanding Hawaiian Religions, REL 207 Understanding Buddhism, REL 208 Understanding Judaism, and 210 Understanding Christianity.  In addition, basic knowledge of world religious traditions is provided in REL 150 Introduction to the World’s Major Religions, which does not count toward the major, but serves as a Foundations class in the General Education curriculum and as a prerequisite for all upper division classes. ·      Students become acquainted with major themes in the study of religion.Major themes are introduced in the 300-level thematic classes, especially REL 300 The Study of Religion. (Based on review of syllabi.) ·      Students read and analyze primary source material, including scriptures, faith statements, etc.Textual criticism is introduced in the 200-level scripture classes (REL 200 Understanding the Old Testament and REL 201 Understanding the New Testament) as well as in the 200-level survey courses listed above.  Textual analysis continues in several of the upper division classes including: REL 303 Creation and Evolution, REL 308 Zen Buddhist Masters, REL 356 Women and Religion, REL 390 Hawaiian Gods: Pele, Kamapua`a, REL 409 Life and Teachings of Jesus, etc. (Based on review of syllabi.)·      Students read and analyze scholarly articles and monographs in the field.A review of syllabi show that 100% of classes at the 400-level and 89% of classes at the 300-level assign scholarly articles and/or monographs as required reading.·      Students begin the process of learning to write scholarly materials in genres appropriate to the field of Religious Studies, including research papers, exegetical essays, etc.A review of syllabi indicate the following types of writing:Research papers are assigned in 100% of 400-level classes, 44% of 300-level classes, and 17% of 200-level classes.Exegetical essays are assigned in 22% of 300-level classes, 50% of 200-level classes.Other essay styles are assigned in 20 % of 400-level, 56% of 300-level, and 33% of 200-level classes.

4. What specific methodologies were used to collect data? In developing your response, consider the following questions:

4. Two different instruments were used for assessment during 2005-2006:·      Portfolio Evaluation: Papers and exams written by senior level Religion majors were collected in the Fall semester and were evaluated by a faculty committee. We sampled the work of 8 senior majors, which represents 44% of the senior majors and approximately 30% of our total number of majors.  Two faculty members evaluated papers and exams using an established rubric. (Performance indicators of skills and content.)·      Syllabus Evaluation: Syllabi for all undergraduate courses that count toward the major were collected and discussed by the faculty at a Department meeting.  The focus of the discussion was the place of REL 300 in the major and minor.  As a result of these discussions, the Department now limits the class to majors and minors.·      Student Exit Evaluations: The Department discontinued the use of exit evaluations in 2005-2006 due to low return rates (11%) in the previous year.  We plan to build the survey into REL 300 in 2006-2007.At this time, our assessment efforts focus exclusively on majors; in 2006-2007 we will extend our assessment to include minors. 

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

5. Until now, it has been too early in the process of collecting and analyzing data for the Department to use the results for altering our curriculum.  We began discussions at the first faculty meeting in August 2006 on possible ways to strengthen the major; the Undergraduate Chair will be preparing a proposal to be considered later in Fall 2006.