Program: Anthropology (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Tue Sep 29, 2009 - 2:37:15 pm
1) List your program's student learning outcomes (SLOs).
1. Learn to think anthropologically, specifically to include cross-cultural perspectives, especially in regard to issues of diversity and commonality in understanding human societies.
2. Gain a basic understanding of the origin and development of humanity.
3. Develop the ability to think critically about cultural assumptions and use active learning modes in assessing their effects on social processes.
4. Acquire a holistic understanding of how biological evolution and cultural histories interact.
5. Understand how populations adapt to social and environmental change, especially in terms of human empowerment.
6. Become culturally literate with regard to the physical and cultural dimensions of the Pacific and Asian regions, including historical movements and connections among diverse populations.
7. Learn various methods employed by anthropologists from a variety of sub-disciplines and specializations.
2) Where are your program's SLOs published?
Department Website URL: http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/index.html
Student Handbook. URL, if available online: Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online: http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/Programs/Degrees/Bachelor%20of%20Arts/Majoring_Flyer.pdf UHM Catalog. Page Number: Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: http://socialsciences.people.hawaii.edu/esyllabi/index.cfm Other: Other: 3) Upload your program's current curriculum map(s) as a PDF.
- File (03/16/2020)
4) What percentage of courses have the course SLOs explicitly stated on the course syllabus, department website, or other publicly available document? (Check one)
0% 1-50% 51-80%
81-99% 100%5) State the SLO(s) that was Assessed, Targeted, or Studied
# 7: “Learn various methods employed by anthropologists from a variety of sub disciplines and specializations.”
Anthropology is four field discipline that encompasses historical, humanistic, biological, linguistic, and psychological approaches to a holistic study of humankind. Quite distinct methods are used in each of the subfields, and assessment must be targeted to the specific courses in which particular methods are emphasized and mastered. During this review period a pilot assessment activity focused on one of the most important methodological approaches in cultural anthropology (one of the four fields) was deployed to help determine effective techniques that might apply to assessments of the other major methods categories.
6) State the Assessment Question(s) and/or Goal(s) of Assessment Activity
a) have students learned the basic ideas of structural linguistics that are the basis for the structural analysis of relationship systems in social anthropology?
b) What methods of assessment are efficient in producing a department level evaluation that transcends the instructor- and class-specific evaluation represented in grade assignment.
7) State the Type(s) of Evidence Gathered
Students in a course targeted for emphasis, mastery, and assessment in SLO #7 were given an in-class assignment, labeled as a non-test, non-graded assessment of knowledge. The assignment was given toward the end of the semester and did not represent class content that had been recently covered or that was the object of review for an imminent exam. The questions included some that were quite specific about well defined key concepts and others that required reflection on the larger, historically situated intellectual contexts involved.
8) State How the Evidence was Interpreted, Evaluated, or Analyzed
Faculty specialists in anthropological linguistics read the results and assessed the degree of demonstrated competence in terms of three levels: “novice”, “advanced beginner”, and “mastery at undergraduate level.” A score of "no competence" was also possible. Numerically, each answer received a score of 0, 1, 2, or 3. Half points were also allowed.
9) State How Many Pieces of Evidence Were Collected
14 from a class of 17 students were asked 7 questions.
10) Summarize the Actual Results
The high score, a total of all points on a particular paper, was 18. The low score was 2. The average score was 10.32. A perfect score would have been 21, rated as mastery at the undergraduate level. A score of 14 would have been rated an advanced beginner, while 7 would represent a rank novice.
11) Briefly Describe the Distribution and Discussion of Results
Results were directed to the faculty concerned with linguistic anthropological methods. The results were emailed. Discussion is also planned for a meeting of the "cultural caucus", the subgroup of cultural anthropologists (contrasted with archaeologists and biological anthropologists) concerned with the cultural segment of the curriculum. Ultimately, the results will be used in a discussion of preparing incoming graduate students who do not have a background in linguistic anthropology for our linguistic core course, Anth 602.
12) Describe Conclusions and Discoveries
This pilot assessment activity is an attempt to explore the possibilities for assessment in the other aspects of SLO 7 as well as the other SLOs. Faculty generally consider that assessment is adequately dealt with by exams and term papers. This experiment was intended to create an evaluation that transcends the particular class or intstructor.
13) Use of Results/Program Modifications: State How the Program Used the Results --or-- Explain Planned Use of Results
As mentioned above, ultimately, the results will be used in a discussion of preparing incoming graduate students who do not have a background in linguistic anthropology for our linguistic core course, Anth 602.
14) Reflect on the Assessment Process
More specific rubrics for evaluating the student responses would improve inter-coder reliability