Unit: Social Work
Program: Social Work (MSW)
Degree: Master's
Date: Fri Oct 10, 2014 - 6:27:01 pm

1) Below are your program's student learning outcomes (SLOs). Please update as needed.

Since our last report, the student learning outcomes (SLOs) for the MSW Program remain the same.  Currently, SLOs (based on core competences) are addressed in all MSW foundation and concentration year courses and are being incorporated into master syllabi, as well as syllabi for all courses. Each course within the MSW curriculum addresses core competencies within the context of its substantive content. This provides a strong internal cohesiveness to the curriculum and is consistent with guidelines from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) for Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS, 2008).

The Ten (10) Core Competencies as outlined in the CSWE EPAS are:

  1. Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly.
  2. Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice.
  3. Apply critical thinking to inform & communicate professional judgments.
  4. Engage diversity and difference in practice.
  5. Advance human rights and social and economic justice.
  6. Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research.
  7. Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment.
  8. Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services.
  9. Respond to contexts that shape practice.
  10. Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.

Department Website URL: http://www.hawaii.edu/sswork/msw-assessment.html
Student Handbook. URL, if available online: http://www.hawaii.edu/sswork/Students/MSW_Handbook.pdf
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online: http://www.hawaii.edu/sswork/bulletin.html
UHM Catalog. Page Number:
Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: NA
Other: New Student Orientation Materials
Other:

3) Select one option:

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2014:

4) For your program, the percentage of courses that have course SLOs explicitly stated on the syllabus, a website, or other publicly available document is as follows. Please update as needed.

0%
1-50%
51-80%
81-99%
100%

5) Did your program engage in any program assessment activities between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014? (e.g., establishing/revising outcomes, aligning the curriculum to outcomes, collecting evidence, interpreting evidence, using results, revising the assessment plan, creating surveys or tests, etc.)

Yes
No (skip to question 14)

6) For the period between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the SLOs that were targeted, if applicable.

Our assessment goal is to measure the degree to which our ten Program Learning Outcomes have been met throughout the curriculum over the course of the academic year. We use both direct evidence (instrcutor evaluation of student products such as reports, presentations, and classroom activities) and indirect evidence (student self evaluation). The Ten Program SLOs are: 1. Identify as professional social workers and conduct themselves accordingly. 2. Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice. 3. Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments. 4. Engage diversity and difference in practice. 5. Advance human rights and social and economic justice. 6. Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research. 7. Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment. 8. Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services. 9. Respond to contexts that shape practice. 10. Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

7) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #6.

Direct Evidence: Instructor evaluation of student performance independent of grading. Students are assessed relative to their acquisition of the aforementioned Ten Core Competencies (Program SLOs) and course grades are not used as a proxy. Instructors are provided an assessment/evaluation tool to assess competency. This information is aggregated and reported in our CSWE Assessment Reporting Form (see link). Indirect Evidence: Student self assessment. At the end of every semester students are required to self assess the degree to which they have progressed toward mastery of the Ten Core Competencies (Program SLOs).

8) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.

Indirect evidence:  41 of 68 (60%) foundation year stduents completed the self assessment survey, and 78 of 98 (80%) of the   specialization/ concentration year students.

Direct evidence: Eight instructor's teaching the specialization year coures completed evaluation of each student in their respective courses rating student's demonstration of the SLOs/ competencies.

9) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected? (Check all that apply.)

Course instructor(s)
Faculty committee
Ad hoc faculty group
Department chairperson
Persons or organization outside the university
Faculty advisor
Advisors (in student support services)
Students (graduate or undergraduate)
Dean/Director
Other: Chair of assessment committee

10) How did they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence? (Check all that apply.)

Used a rubric or scoring guide
Scored exams/tests/quizzes
Used professional judgment (no rubric or scoring guide used)
Compiled survey results
Used qualitative methods on interview, focus group, open-ended response data
External organization/person analyzed data (e.g., external organization administered and scored the nursing licensing exam)
Other:

11) For the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goal(s) stated in Question #6:
Summarize the actual results.

Indirect evidence:  Self assessment by students in the foundation year showed all SLOs to be above 4 with the exception of SLOs 6. 8. & 9.  The specialization/ concentration year showed a consistent pattern of below 4 average for SLO 2, 8, & 10 among the different concentrations with the Behavioral Mental Health concentration having the highest number of SLOs that were below 4.

Direct evidence: On a scale from 1 to 5 with a rating of 4 or more being the benchmark of demonstrating mastery of the topic or content matter, all SLOs fell in the range of 4.313 to 4.814.  A closer examination of  the data shows our child and family concentration to have SLO ratings lower than a 4 for 6 out of the 8 SLOs.  While an initial reaction would be of concern, the ratings that fell below 4 were actually approaching 4 (3.8 & 3.9).  This is something that needs to be taken into consideration before any curricular change is made.

12) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.

Current and future plans

Based on the result of our assessment, the discrepancy between the Instructors evaluation (direct evidence) and student's self asessment (indirect evidence) is of concern. This is an issue that needs to be discussed and addressed in our curriculum committee.  While instructors' evaluation are higher with regard to students' demonstration of the SLOs, students are rating themselves lower in their ability to demonstrate certain SLOs (#6, 8, & 9).  Additionally, based on students' self assessment the Behavioral Mental Health concentration courses are not meeting the benchmark for 6 out of the 10 SLOs.  This warrants further examination of indicators of each SLO with regard to clarity and relevance.

Results of the assessment will be utilized to enhance classroom content and clarity of assignments and activities relevant to SLOs/ competencies.  In addition, results will also assist the program in identifying areas for training and support for instructors to increase consistence in delivery of course content to meet SLOs/ competencies.

Past use of results

Results were used to address SLO #6 which fell below 4.  Changes were made in which SLO #6 is now a requirement for our research courses which aligned appropriately with content of the research sequence.  In addition, all current syllabi for required and elective courses have clear SLOs with measurable indicators.

13) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries?
This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, program aspects and so on.

"Teachering" sessions were held last year to help internal and adjunct faculty connect course content, assignments, and activities to SLOs and how to evaluate students' progress in meeting the SLOs.  

14) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please explain.
Or, if the program did engage in assessment activities, please add any other important information here.

N/A