Unit: Languages & Literatures of Europe and the Americas
Program: Spanish (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Mon Oct 20, 2014 - 1:00:48 pm

1) Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs) and Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

1. SLO 1a. Analyze, evaluate and critique the literature of Spain and Latin America.

(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research)

2. SLO 1b. Write research papers using appropriate MLA citation guidelines.

(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report)

3. SLO 2a. Analyze, evaluate and critique cultural issues of Spain and Latin America.

(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 3d. Civic participation)

4. SLO 2b. Describe and explain Latin American and Iberian roles within sociohistorical movements (e.g., conquest, modernity, nation building).

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 3d. Civic participation)

5. SLO 2c. Evaluate notions of indigenism, multiculturalism and immigration.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research)

6. SLO 3. Use writing and research in Spanish to meet students goals.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

7. SLO 4. Use oral skills in Spanish to meet students goals.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

8. SLO 5. Distinguish between major dialect features of the Spanish of Spain and Latin America.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively)

9. SLO 6. Read and comprehend texts in Spanish from a variety of genres and contexts.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

10. SLO 7. Read, write and use oral skills for specific professional purposes.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report, 3d. Civic participation)

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

Department Website URL: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/llea/spanish/undergraduate-studies/
Student Handbook. URL, if available online:
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online:
UHM Catalog. Page Number:
Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: NA
Other:
Other:

3) Select one option:

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2013:

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.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the program?

What is the student language level at graduation?

Is our placement test working properly?

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.

Oral proficiency interview (OPI) testing. All OPIs are double-rated by professionals, officially certified by ACTFL OPI and administered by the College of LLL.

Students’ course and faculty evaluations

Anonymous exit survey for graduating seniors

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

About 100 SPAN 101 and 102 language students took the Spanish placement test to see wheather they were placed at the correct level.

We give about 500 placement exams (per year) with personal advising to students to ensure they sign up for the right language class.

All students- Students’ course and faculty evaluations.

All students-  End of semester reserach projects and exams.

16 graduating students- Oral Proficiency Interviews.

Heritage/Native speakers submit writing samples to guide our placement decisions.

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:

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.

The placement exam showed that more than 14 students had not registered for the correct level and therefore needed to be accommodated in a different course.

Writing samples from heritage/native speakers allow us to place them into the appropriate level.

End of semester projects and exams demonstrated students' progress at different rates.

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

We have incorporated our SLOs to our Website to make the more salient for students and faculty.

Given that several students have enrolled in courses that were not appropriate for their level, the department will continue administering the placement exam on multiple days before and during the enrollment period and at the beginning of each semester.

Based on the students' performance in the Oral Proficiency Interviews as well as their course evaluations suggesting that we provide more opportunities for study abroad programs, we continued summer study abroad program in Salamanca Spain. Last summer 17 students took language and content courses at the University of Salamanca and given the level of satisfaction of students and success of the program, we plan to offer it again in the summer of 2015. In addition, our faculty are planning to propose other study abroad programs in Mexico and Costa Rica. We expect to see these proposals in Spring of 2015 for implementation the following year.

 We now have in place two Spanish for the Professions courses (Commercial Spanish and Medical Spanish) as well as SPAN 308: Introduction to Spanish Interpretation, taught in spring 2014, which was a great success. Through her work as Director of the Center for Interpretation and Translation Studies (CITS), Dr. Lucía Aranda has proposed interpreting classes in legal and medical interpretation aimed at the coimmunity at large through Outreach College. These courses will be implemented in falll 2015.

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.

We continue to address the problem of students registering for the basic Spanish classes (101-202) without placement exams and are seeing progress in redressing inaccurate placement. This continues to require extra resources and personnel but is beginning to show results.

This semester we successfully placed more than a dozen native or heritage speakers in appropriate upper division courses and have encouraged and seen success in fast-tracking them into the major or certificate programs through the use of credit-by-exam for Span 301 Grammar and Composition and 303 Conversation. The credit-by-exam process has been standardized and scheduled more efficiently to avoid random testing dates.

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.