Program: Student Services/Advising
Date: Tue Oct 07, 2014 - 2:21:03 pm
1) Below are your program's student outcomes (SOs). Please add or update as needed.
The Asian Studies undergraduate program provides the student with a broad interdisciplinary approach to Asian national and cultures. Upon receiving an area studies degree, the student should have the following skills:
- Students possess basic skills in at least 1 Asian language. Demonstrate college-level fluency in reading, writing, speaking at basic and intermediate levels.
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Students can demonstrate a basic understanding of the interrelationship of economy, politics, literature, religion, the arts, history of Asian countries.
- Demonstrate an understanding of major themes in Asian history and cultural development.
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Be able to explain how
Asian Studies
is constituted in the West. - Be able to explain the ways in which global forces have interacted with the Asian regional context in shaping the character and course of societies in Asia today.
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Students can demonstrate an advanced understanding of two Asian countries or regions (example: Japan(country) Southeast Asia(region)
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Be able to explain
Asian world views
- Be able to explain intra-Asian as well as West vs Asia differences
- Be able to analyze and interpret specific issues in research projects
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Be able to explain
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Students can find and evaluate sources of information about Asia
- Be able to use the library to find appropriate sources of information for a research project
- Be able to evaluate the probable quality sources found on the web
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Students conduct and communicate research findings
- Be able to outline, organize and present a research project
- Be able to design and deliver a presentation that communicates key findings of their research
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Students gain a greater appreciation of the variety of human experience.
- Make students open to different and creative ways of seeing the world.
- Foster a spirit of inquiry so that received mainstream knowledge is never accepted uncritically.
2) Your program's SOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.
Program's Website. URL: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/asianstudies/?page_id=58#learning%20objectives
Student Handbook. URL, if available online: Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure. URL, if available online: Developing new flyers to include SLOs UHM Catalog. Page Number: Other: Other: 3) Provide the program's activity map or other graphic that illustrates how program activities/services align with program student outcomes. Please upload it as a PDF.
- File (10/06/2014)
4) Did your program engage in any program assessment activities between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014? (e.g., establishing/revising outcomes, aligning activities to outcomes, collecting evidence, interpreting evidence, using results, revising the assessment plan, creating surveys, etc.)
Yes
No (skip to question 14)5) For the period between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the student outcomes that were targeted, if applicable.
1. Is the program curriculum meeting student expectations?
2. Does current academic advising model aid students in attaining their academic goals?
6) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #5.
1. Student exit interviews
2. Student evaluations of courses
3. Instructor assessment of student performance in class
7) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
Reviewed 547 student course evaluations in conjunction with the assessment of 12 Asian Studies instructors and 8 area center directors. Matched student evaluations with instructor evaluation of class/student performance.
Conducted exit interviews with 20 graduating Asian Studies majors.
8) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected? Check all that apply.
Program faculty/staff member(s) Faculty/staff committee Ad hoc faculty/staff group Director or department chairperson Persons or organization outside the university Students (graduate or undergraduate) Dean or Associate Dean Advisory Board Other: 9) How did he/she/they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence? Check all that apply.
Compiled survey results Used quantitative methods on student data (e.g., grades, participation rates) or other numeric data Used qualitative methods on interview, focus group, or other open-ended response data Scored exams/tests/quizzes Used a rubric or scoring guide Used professional judgment (no rubric or scoring guide used) External organization/person analyzed data (e.g., Social Science Research Institute) Other: 10) For the assessment questions/goals stated in Question #5, summarize the actual results.
Students indicated that they were initially skeptical about having to select an outside focus, an additional area of study outside of their geographic or discipline focus. Exit interviews showed that a majority of students appreciated the ability to study another area in conjunction with their main focus.
Students were also initially unhappy with our 60 upper division credit requirement. Exit interviews however showed that :
1. students felt that the high requirement for upper division classes prepared them from graduate work
2. allowed students to add either a second major or minor
A review of student class evaluations revealed that a majority of students felt the class had met or surpassed their expectations. Many indicated that they felt the class was useful and would recommend the class to students with similar interests or study focus as their own.
The second question, was if the current academic advising model aid students in attaining their academic goals. Our current graduation rate is 26% for the assessment period. Our students are regularly nominated into Phi Beta Kappa, accepted into the JET program and have successfully entered into MA programs both here and abroad.
All incoming Asian Studies majors are subject to mandatory advising. In addition, due to the nature of our major in which each student builds their own program, students generally check in every semester to confirm their course selections. Students who are struggling academically are asked to come in mid semester to assess progress. Using this model, we have graduated students who were habitually at the bottom end of the class standings with GPA's hovering well below the 2.0
11) What was learned from the results?
Reviewing the results of the student course evaluations and exit interviews, the conclusion is that students are happy with the general Asian Studies curriculum. Reviews by instructors/faculty in the program revealed that we need to present our students with a more cohesive curriculum and course progression.
A review of advising practices revealed that the current model tends to be labor intensive but successful. A review of the STAR reporting system and how to effectively utilize the STAR tools to accommodate the varied course combinations of our students is needed.
Data collection and storage needs to be more streamlined and needs to integrate into the general UHM systems. Advisors in CAA have been discussing a need for a more uniform file storage system.
12) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.
Changes have been made in our course progression. A stricter enforcement of the ASAN 201 and 202 pre-req before taking the upper division courses has been instituted. ASAN 310 and ASAN 312 have been included in major requirements starting Fall 2015. The curriculum committee is currently reviewing ASAN 310 and ASAN 312 curriculum and providing instructors with a theme progression in each course along with updated SLOs.
A review of STAR reports and how to streamline to better reflect Asian Studies majors course assignment is being done to limit the need for manual designations.
13) Reflect on the assessment process. Is there anything related to assessment procedures your program would do differently next time? What went well?
The exit interviews are valuable but would like to add students in their senior year during the assessment period as part of the review process.
The creation of a template for instructors to evaluate their class performance was extremely helpful in providing insights into perceived course success and actual results.