Unit: Languages & Literatures of Europe and the Americas
Program: German (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Mon Nov 16, 2015 - 10:04:10 am

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

1. Read and comprehend texts written in German from a variety of genres and contexts (e.g., magazine or internet articles, newspapers, literature).

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field)

2. Analyze and critique texts written in German from a variety of genres and contexts.

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

3. Engage in oral communication in German in various communicative contexts (e.g., everyday conversations, ordering in a restaurant, participating in class discussions, making a short presentation).

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2c. Communicate and report)

4. Engage in writing in German in various contexts and for various audiences (e.g., personal letters, emails, essays, etc.).

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field)

5. Conduct research on German language and/or culture using knowledge and skills learned in the program.

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

6. Demonstrate a familiarity with the current events, traditional and pop culture, and social structures of the society/societies in which German is spoken.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth, 3b. Respect for people and cultures, in particular Hawaiian culture)

7. To learn about the role of German-speaking peoples in the context of Hawai'i and the Pacific region.

(1c. Understand Hawaiian culture and history)

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

Department Website URL: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/llea/?page_id=35
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: http://www.lll.hawaii.edu/eval/resources6_curricmaps.php
Other:

3) Please review, add, replace, or delete the existing curriculum map.

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2015:

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 learning assessment activities between June 1, 2014 and September 30, 2015?

Yes
No (skip to question 16)

6) What best describes the program-level learning assessment activities that took place for the period June 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015? (Check all that apply.)

Create/modify/discuss program learning assessment procedures (e.g., SLOs, curriculum map, mechanism to collect student work, rubric, survey)
Collect/evaluate student work/performance to determine SLO achievement
Collect/analyze student self-reports of SLO achievement via surveys, interviews, or focus groups
Use assessment results to make programmatic decisions (e.g., change course content or pedagogy, design new course, hiring)
Investigate curriculum coherence. This includes investigating how well courses address the SLOs, course sequencing and adequacy, the effect of pre-requisites on learning achievement.
Investigate other pressing issue related to student learning achievement for the program (explain in question 7)
Other: BA Exit survey and OPI interviews

7) Briefly explain the assessment activities that took place in the last 18 months.

A survey was administered to graduating BA students, and results were collected/reported to the German division by the LLL Dean’s office.

In addition, an ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview was offered to the majors who graduated last year.

 

8) What types of evidence did the program use as part of the assessment activities checked in question 6? (Check all that apply.)

Direct evidence of student learning (student work products)


Artistic exhibition/performance
Assignment/exam/paper completed as part of regular coursework and used for program-level assessment
Capstone work product (e.g., written project or non-thesis paper)
Exam created by an external organization (e.g., professional association for licensure)
Exit exam created by the program
IRB approval of research
Oral performance (oral defense, oral presentation, conference presentation)
Portfolio of student work
Publication or grant proposal
Qualifying exam or comprehensive exam for program-level assessment in addition to individual student evaluation (graduate level only)
Supervisor or employer evaluation of student performance outside the classroom (internship, clinical, practicum)
Thesis or dissertation used for program-level assessment in addition to individual student evaluation
Other 1:
Other 2:

Indirect evidence of student learning


Alumni survey that contains self-reports of SLO achievement
Employer meetings/discussions/survey/interview of student SLO achievement
Interviews or focus groups that contain self-reports of SLO achievement
Student reflective writing assignment (essay, journal entry, self-assessment) on their SLO achievement.
Student surveys that contain self-reports of SLO achievement
Other 1:
Other 2:

Program evidence related to learning and assessment
(more applicable when the program focused on the use of results or assessment procedure/tools in this reporting period instead of data collection)


Assessment-related such as assessment plan, SLOs, curriculum map, etc.
Program or course materials (syllabi, assignments, requirements, etc.)
Other 1:
Other 2:

9) State the number of students (or persons) who submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.

Three students completed the BA Exit Survey during this period.

10) 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:

11) 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:

12) Summarize the results of the assessment activities checked in question 6. For example, report the percent of students who achieved each SLO.

Because the number of students who submitted evidence was small, to protect the identity of students, results are being withheld from the department until a larger sample is collected. 

On a positive note, we currently have more majors than we've had in 30 years (23) and expect graduation rates to increase over the coming years.

13) What best describes how the program used the results? (Check all that apply.)

Assessment procedure changes (SLOs, curriculum map, rubrics, evidence collected, sampling, communications with faculty, etc.)
Course changes (course content, pedagogy, courses offered, new course, pre-requisites, requirements)
Personnel or resource allocation changes
Program policy changes (e.g., admissions requirements, student probation policies, common course evaluation form)
Students' out-of-course experience changes (advising, co-curricular experiences, program website, program handbook, brown-bag lunches, workshops)
Celebration of student success!
Results indicated no action needed because students met expectations
Use is pending (typical reasons: insufficient number of students in population, evidence not evaluated or interpreted yet, faculty discussions continue)
Other:

14) Please briefly describe how the program used the results.

As noted in the previous section, we did not receive the results.

15) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries? This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, and great achievements regarding program assessment in this reporting period.

This year, we have continued to actively promote our students for scholarships, and our efforts have paid off. Our students have recieved the following over the past year:

* One major received the prestigious CBYX (Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange) scholarship to study at a German University and complete an internship in Germany. 614 applicants were interviewed for this scholarship, and just 75 were selected.

* Two students received a $2,000 scholarship from the German Benevolent Society to study German at UH Manoa. (Two members of our faculty worked with the organization over the past two years to set up a $200,000 Endowment fund to support the study of German at UH Manoa, and these were the first recipients. Each year, 2-4 students will receive scholarships of $2,000.)

* Seven of our German students received the Doyle travel scholarship ($1,500 each) for study abroad in Berlin, summer 2016.

* A graduate student in Art History/upper-division student of German received the Ah Kin (Buck) Yee Graduate Fellowship and will compare Chinese and German art in her studies.

16) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please explain.