Program: Spanish (MA)
Degree: Master's
Date: Mon Nov 02, 2020 - 3:19:12 pm
1) Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs)
1. Demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking Spanish for professional purposes.
(5. Proficiently communicate and disseminate information in a manner relevant to the field and intended audience., 6. Conduct research or projects as a responsible and ethical professional, including consideration of and respect for other cultural perspectives., 7. Interact professionally with others.)
2. Critically analyze, synthesize, and utilize information related to Hispanic literary, cultural, or linguistic fields.
(2. Demonstrate understanding of research methodology and techniques specific to one’s field of study., 3. Apply research methodology and/or scholarly inquiry techniques specific to one’s field of study., 4. Critically analyze, synthesize, and utilize information and data related to one’s field of study., 5. Proficiently communicate and disseminate information in a manner relevant to the field and intended audience., 6. Conduct research or projects as a responsible and ethical professional, including consideration of and respect for other cultural perspectives.)
3. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of Hispanic literature, and one of the following: linguistics, cultural studies, film, translation, U.S. Latino studies.
(1. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge in one or more general subject areas related to, but not confined to, a specific area of interest., 6. Conduct research or projects as a responsible and ethical professional, including consideration of and respect for other cultural perspectives.)
4. (Teaching Assistants only) Demonstrate knowledge of current L2 teaching methodologies, language learning technologies and practices.
(1. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge in one or more general subject areas related to, but not confined to, a specific area of interest., 2. Demonstrate understanding of research methodology and techniques specific to one’s field of study., 3. Apply research methodology and/or scholarly inquiry techniques specific to one’s field of study., 4. Critically analyze, synthesize, and utilize information and data related to one’s field of study., 5. Proficiently communicate and disseminate information in a manner relevant to the field and intended audience., 6. Conduct research or projects as a responsible and ethical professional, including consideration of and respect for other cultural perspectives.)
2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.
Department Website URL: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/llea/spanish/graduate/ Student Handbook. URL, if available online: Included in Spanish MA Student Guide Book every semester since Spring 2019, print and digital ( SPAN Grad Student Laulima site)
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online: UHM Catalog. Page Number: Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: On all course syllabi Other: Spanish Graduate Student Laulima website3) Please review, add, replace, or delete the existing curriculum map.
- File (10/02/2020)
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) Does the program have learning achievement results for its program SLOs? (Example of achievement results: "80% of students met expectations on SLO 1.")(check one):
No Yes, on some(1-50%) of the program SLOs Yes, on most(51-99%) of the program SLOs Yes, on all(100%) of the program SLOs6) Did your program engage in any program learning assessment activities between November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2020?
Yes No (skip to question 17)7) What best describes the program-level learning assessment activities that took place for the period November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2020? (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 other pressing issue related to student learning achievement for the program (explain in question 8) Other: 8) Briefly explain the assessment activities that took place since November 2018.
Collected all syllabi
Assessed SLOs met in comprehensive exams
Assessed SLOs met in MA thesis and oral defense
Assessed SLOs met in course research projects, pedagogical research projects, critical articles and critical analyses
Evaluated proficiency/diagonistic language skills exams
Used TA observations by faculty to assess SLO4
Discussed graduate exit surveys
In response to the changes in instruction due to the covid19 crisis, we have offered several departmental workshops on teaching and technology during spring, summer and fall 2020 semesters, and one of our faculty tech specialists has initiated a bi-monthly mini-workshop for Fall 2020 on tech tips for the Zoom classroom. Our graduate curriculum includes two courses that focus on Language Teaching and Technology (one being taught in Fall 2020) and we currently have two faculty members who specialize in this area. In this way we have been able to offer our teaching assistants support beyond that provided by our college and the university at large. This is especially relevant for how we assess SLO4, as our TAs have had to adjust to new criteria concerning knowledge of teaching methodologies. These Spanish-program tech workshops, implemented for faculty and graduate students, have also served to guide us in creating online instruments that better serve us for assessment of all our SLOs (1-4).
9) What types of evidence did the program use as part of the assessment activities checked in question 7? (Check all that apply.)
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 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 Assessment-related such as assessment plan, SLOs, curriculum map, etc. Program or course materials (syllabi, assignments, requirements, etc.) Other 1: Other 2: 10) State the number of students (or persons) who submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
15 Spanish Proficiency Diagonostic Exam
11 Graduate Exit Surveys
9 Comprehensive Exams
1 MA Thesis and Oral Defense
15 Course research projects, course critical articles and critical analyses
15 Language teaching methodological research projects, faculty observations of TAs, TA peer observation reports
11) 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: 12) 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: 13) Summarize the results from the evaluation, analysis, interpretation of evidence (checked in question 12). For example, report the percentage of students who achieved each SLO.
SLO1 We used a common rubric to score the Language Proficiency exam and then analyzed written and oral course work and discussed faculty evaluations of all student language usage in course projects and the MA exams. 100% acheived this SLO
SLO2 Based on faculty evaluation of course research projects, the MA Comprehensive Exams, and the MA thesis and oral defense, 100% achieved this SLO
SLO3 Based on faculty evaluation of course research projects, MA Comprehensive Exams, and the MA thesis and oral defense, 100% achieved this SLO
SLO4 We used a common rubric for faculty observations of TAs, and faculty evaluation of the required methodology course final projects, and discussed alumni surveys, 100% of TAs achieved this SLO
14) 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: 15) Please briefly describe how the program used its findings/results.
Based on our assessment of how the SLOs were being met in the MA comprehensive exams taken in the format that we had developed in the previous two-year period, and on feedback from our graduate exit surveys, we have made a slight modification to the format of the comprehensive exams, starting in Fall 2020.
Based on our assessment of how well SLO 1 (Demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking Spanish for professional reasons) was being met in course work (class discussions and presentations, research projects, critical analyses) we decided to provide more support and guidance for our students to ensure that SLO1 could be met by the end of the program. We revised and re-implemented a Spanish proficiency/diagnostic exam to give to all new Spanish graduate students as a baseline assessment of their language skills. Based on the student’s outcome on this exam, according to the rubric we developed to assess writing and speaking levels, we are able to create an individualized program to help each student develop the skills they needed to complete course work, conduct research projects, and write the comprehensive exams at the level that meets the proficiency standard of SLO1.
We are in the process of developing a new format and new rubrics for TA class observations when teaching is done via Zoom, that will beter inform our assessment of SLO4 in the time of covid.
Based on our discussion and analysis of graduate student exit surveys, we worked to improve communication about advising, policies, departmental activities and support networks. For that reason, in Spring 2020, we created a Spanish Graduate Student Laulima site that includes a digital version of our Spanish MA handbook, links to Graduate Division information and forms, advising schedules, departmental announcements, university services, Graduate Division ILOs. In addition, there is a FORUM site for questions.
We were able to continue our celebrations of student success (scholarships, publications, conferences, graduation) via Zoom in Spring 2020, and we will do so for Fall 2020 as well.
16) 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.
We were happy to see that the changes that we had made to the SLOs in the previous assessment period were effective in facilitating our assessment procedures for this period.
We have found that emphasing the SLOs and how course content and requirements address the SLOs has been very helpful to the graduate students, in terms of understanding how our program functions as a whole, and how each course reflects or fits into the bigger plan. It also has facilitated course planing and preparation for the faculty
Communication between faculty and students about the SLOs is key. For that reason, we make sure that at our graduate student orientation at the beginning of every semester we begin with a discussion of the SLOs, we talk about them when introducing each course, and we highlight the SLOs and the Graduate Student Handbook on the Spanish Grad Laulima site. Our graduate exit surveys suggested that more communication about course and program expectations would be helpful and we have tried to do so.
17) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please justify.
NA