Degree Program Assessment Reports : View Reports

Unit: Theatre & Dance
Program: Dance (MA)
Degree: Master's
Date: Fri Nov 20, 2020 - 10:57:36 pm

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

1. Culture and Performance Studies: kinesthetic proficiency and conceptual understanding of various kinds of dance from diverse geographic regions, including understanding how dance is embedded in the belief systems of the people who create it, and how dance forms change and why;

(1. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge in one or more general subject areas related to, but not confined to, a specific area of interest.)

2. Culture and Performance Studies: effective oral and communication skills that demonstrate critical thinking ability and understanding of scholarly dance research concepts and related topics;

(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.)

3. Culture and Performance Studies: the ability to critically evaluate sources and clearly differentiate between oneï¿½s ideas and the ideas of others, particularly those of indigenous practitioners and scholars, and to respect divergent perspectives;

(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.)

4. Culture and Performance Studies: knowledge of the history, practices, and concepts of dance ethnology, including related published literature and current developments in the field;

(1. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge in one or more general subject areas related to, but not confined to, a specific area of interest., 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. Culture and Performance Studies: ability to conduct and report on scholarly dance ethnology research in oral, written, and other forms;

6. Culture and Performance Studies: ability to define individual goals and to choose appropriate pathways to achieve these goals.

(7. Interact professionally with others.)

7. Dance Education: kinesthetic proficiency and conceptual understanding of various kinds of dance from diverse geographic regions;

(1. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge in one or more general subject areas related to, but not confined to, a specific area of interest.)

8. Dance Education: comprehensive knowledge of educational theories, best practices, related published literature and current developments in the field;

(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.)

9. Dance Education: effective oral and written communication skills that demonstrate critical thinking ability and understanding of dance education concepts and related topics;

10. Dance Education: ability to critically evaluate sources and clearly differentiate between oneï¿½s ideas and the ideas of others;

11. Dance Education: ability to design curriculum that demonstrates understanding of appropriate sequential development, multiple learning modalities, content organization and effective assessment strategies

12. Dance Education: ability to asses oneï¿½s own teaching and the development of oneï¿½s students as related to Hawaii State and National educational standards;

(4. Critically analyze, synthesize, and utilize information and data related to one’s field of study., 6. Conduct research or projects as a responsible and ethical professional, including consideration of and respect for other cultural perspectives.)

13. Dance Education: ability to define individual goals and choose appropriate pathways to achieve those goals.

(7. Interact professionally with others.)

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

Department Website URL: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/dance/

Student Handbook. URL, if available online: Dance Graduate Student Handbook

Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online:

UHM Catalog. Page Number:

Course Syllabi. URL, if available online:

Other:

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

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2020:

File (11/21/2020)

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.

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):

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 SLOs

6) 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.

The Department of Theatre and Dance held a series of focus groups, class discussions, and public forums for students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members to engage in critical dialog over the historical existence of: systemic racism, colonization, Eurocentrism; lack of faculty diversity, and a lack of centering indigenous knowledge, Hawaiʻi, Asia and the Pacific within the Departments degree programs, procedures, practices and productions. (i.e. course offerings, degree requirements, budget allocations, student opportunities, hiring, leadership, recruitment, season selection, etc.). The focus groups, class discussions and public forums were prompted by a ground swell of critical feedback from students and community members and the departments own desire to make needed changes and publicly address long standing issues.

The dance program conducted a close examination of our MA dance degrees to reveal some misalignment between in house program practices, STAR, The Office of Graduate Education and the UHM Catalog regarding credits and requirements.

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: Forums (Student Faculty Forums, Public Forums/Town Halls, Production Forums), Focus Groups, Class Discussions

Other 2: Degree requirements and curriculum examination

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

There is an estimated 250 plus people (students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members) that participated in one or more of the focus groups, class discussions and or public forums. Focus groups and class discussions were hosed by faculty members. Public forums were held at Kennedy Theatre, Earl Ernst Lab Theatre, The East West Center, and online via zoom. The public forums were recorded or minutes were taken that were shared with students and participants.

The full dance faculty examined the MA degree requirements and credits.

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.

The focus groups, class discussions and public forums centered around specific issues that were raised by students, alumni and or the community. Regardless of the event or context participants echoed the same concerns regarding the Department’s need to decentralize Eurocentrism, address systemic racism, increase social justice activism and center Hawaiʻi, Asia and the Pacific across all Department programs, funding and activities. Students also wanted to be brought into decision making processes regarding curriculum and production season selection.

An examination of the MA degree requirements revealed a need to reduce the required credits and streamline the course requirements.

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.

The MA degrees were changed from 36 credits to 30 credits. Additionaly requirements within the MA degree were changed as listed below. The program sheet and catalog description were revised to reflect the changes to the degree.

MA in Dance (30 credits)

Core (6 credit hours) for Plan A and Plan B

DNCE 651, Seminar in Dance Research (3 credit hours)

DNCE 652, Seminar: Theory and Criticism (3 credit hours)

MA Dance Plan A

The MA in Dance Plan A focuses on research related to culture and performance studies in dance. Research conducted as part of the Plan A is completed in the form of a Thesis.

Required Courses: Core plus (15 credit hours)

Dance Technique courses (3 credit hours)

3 or more credit hours from:

DNCE 301/401 Asian Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 302/402 Chinese Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 303/403 Japanese Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 304 Indonesian Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 305/405 Korean Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 306/406 Okinawan Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 307/407 Philippine Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 311/411 Oceanic Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 312/412 Hula/Chant Ensemble (2 credit hours)

DNCE 321, Intermediate Ballet (3 credit hours)

DNCE 421, Advanced Ballet (3 credit hours)

DNCE 331, Intermediate Modern Dance Technique

(3 credit hours)

DNCE 431, Advanced Modern Dance Technique

(3 credit hours)

DNCE 617 Seminar in Performance Studies (3 credits)

DNCE 654 or 655: Dance and Performance Theory: Asia/Oceania (3 credits)

DNCE 673 Advanced Dance Technology and Live Performance (3 credit hours)

DNCE 699 Directed Reading and Research (3 credit hours)

Related area elective (3 credit hours)

The 600-level elective must relate to thesis research in approved area concentration. These elective credits may or may not be DNCE.

Language courses may be required if necessary for the student’s thesis research.

DNCE 700 Thesis Research (6 credit hours)

MA in Dance (30 credits)

Core (6 credit hours) for Plan A and Plan B

DNCE 651, Seminar in Dance Research (3 credit hours)

DNCE 652, Seminar: Theory and Criticism (3 credit hours)

MA Dance Plan B

The MA in Dance Plan B focuses on dance education and is the applied version of this degree.

Required Coursework: Core plus (24 credit hours)

Dance Technique (9 credits) at the 300-400 level

3 credit hours from:

DNCE 301/401 Asian Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 302/402 Chinese Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 303/403 Japanese Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 304 Indonesian Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 305/405 Korean Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 306/406 Okinawan Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 307/407 Philippine Dance (1 credit hour)

6 credit hours from:

DNCE 311/411 Oceanic Dance (1 credit hour)

DNCE 312/412 Hula/Chant Ensemble (2 credit hours)

DNCE 321 Intermediate Ballet (3 credit hours)

DNCE 421 Advanced Ballet (3 credit hours)

DNCE 331 Intermediate Modern Dance Technique (3 credit hours)

DNCE 431 Advanced Modern Dance Technique (3 credit hours)

Coursework (12 credits)

DNCE 460 Teaching Dance Technique or 490 Creative Dance (3 credit hours each)

DNCE 691, Seminar in Teaching Dance/Theatre (3 credits)

DNCE 659 Adv. Topics: Dance/Directed Readings (Capstone Project) (3 credit hours)

DNCE 699 Directed Reading and Research or approved area concentration course at the 600-level OR an approved graduate course in the College of Education (EDCS, EDUC, EDEF or EDEP at the 600 level or higher) (3 credit hours)

Internship (3 credit hours)

DNCE 693, Internship: Youth Theatre/Dance (3 credit hours)

lecture-based course with an internship component

Final Exams

Written comprehensive exam and oral defense of comprehensive exam

All of the following activities are also a result of our assessment findings.

1. Commitment from all department faculty and staff to organize and participate in professional development activities to increase our collective understanding of systemic racism, Hawaiian history and social justice education.

Example Workshops:

Safe Zone Training - LGBTQ+ Safety and Inclusion; Presenter: Camaron Miyamoto

Systemic Racism, Hawaiian History, and Cultural Sensitivity; Presenter: Dr. Kauai

2. Full Department commitment to including land acknowledgement statement on all course syllabi and production programs.

He ʻĀina, He Kanaka, He Hawai‘i Maoli: Land Acknowledgement

As we embark on this course, let us take the time to acknowledge Hawaiʻi as an indigenous space where the descendants of the original people are today identified as Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian). We recognize that it was through coercion, force, and the breaking of formal treatises that this land was illegally seized. Her majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani temporarily yielded the Hawaiian Kingdom and these territories under duress and protest to the United States to avoid the bloodshed of her people. Let us further recognize and express gratitude for the generations of Aboriginal Hawaiians and their knowledge systems that have shaped and continue to shape Hawaiʻi in a sustainable way that allows us to learn here today.

The ʻāina (land) on which the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa sits is located in the ahupuaʻa (land division from mountain to sea) of Waikīkī, in the moku (district) of Kona, on the mokupuni (island) of Oʻahu, in the Pae ʻĀina o Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian archipelago). The particular ʻili ʻāina (land division) that Kennedy Theatre is situated on is at the triangulation of Kaualaʻa, Wailele and Waʻahila. Ma kai (seaward) of the theatre is Kapaʻakea and to the west is Puahia and Pilipili. Ma uka (inland) of our campus are the uplands of Kahoʻiwai, the water that is the source for our major stream of Kānewai. Acknowledging these traditional wahi pana (place names) honors the ‘āina and the historic relationship that Kānaka Maoli have with this place.

3. Hiring of a new tenure track dance faculty member who brings needed discipline expertise to areas where the program has a lack of representation.

Dr. Lorenzo Perillo is a new Assistant Professor of Dance (Fall 2020) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His research interests include dance and performance studies; race and racialization; Filipinx and transnational Asian American identities; Pacific Islander socialization; popular culture and postcolonialism; (im)migration, gender, and sexuality; queer of color and feminist theories and methodologies; environmental justice; diasporic identity and higher education; and global Hip-hop.

4. Development of new grad dance courses:

Social Action in Theatre and Dance

Critical Race Theory in Theatre and Dance

5. Course modifications and degree requirement changes

Increased credit of Asia dance classes from 1 to 3 to make these courses more equitable with the existing 3 credit ballet and modern dance courses.

Dance techniques requirements were changed to stop the privileging of modern and ballet over other dance forms.

6. Decision to involve students, faculty and staff in production season selection to engage more voices and perspectives and more proactively address concerns regarding racism, representation, appropriateness and relevance.

7. Commitment to continue and develop more online options for graduate students to increase equity and access to the MA degree.

8. Further our partnership with the College of Education to develop a MA Dance with Teaching Licensure option for graduate students.

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.

Assessment is most effective when everyone is involved. Involvement is easy when the assessment goals are relevant and critical to everyone. Willingness to receive critical feedback and make changes is a strength of our program during this assessment cycle.

17) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please justify.

N/A