Program: American Studies: Historic Preservation (Graduate Certificate)
Degree: Certificate, Graduate
Date: Sun Oct 10, 2010 - 6:00:27 pm
1) Below are the program student learning outcomes submitted last year. Please add/delete/modify as needed.
1) An overall knowledge of the field of historic preservation in the U.S. and internationally;
2) Knowledge of procedures, laws and international agreements pertaining to historic preservation practice nationally and internationally;
3) Knowledge of the range and types of historic properties/resources, their characteristics and special conservation requirements;
4) Critical thinking skills relevant to identifying and analyzing historic resources and formulating strategies for their recognition and protection;
5) Competence in scholarly and professional writing and in oral communication;
6) Advanced research skills, including knowledge of primary and secondary sources necessary in the historic preservation field;
7) Basic and advanced documentation skills for identifying, describing and in other ways recording historic and cultural resources.
2) As of last year, your program's SLOs were published as follows. Please update as needed.
Department Website URL: http://www.hawaii.edu/amst/historic.htm Student Handbook. URL, if available online: NA Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online: http://www.historic.edu/amst/blog
UHM Catalog. Page Number: Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: Laulima Other: http://www.hawaii.edu/amst/blog/ Other: 3) Below is the link to your program's curriculum map (if submitted in 2009). If it has changed or if we do not have your program's curriculum map, please upload it as a PDF.
- File (03/16/2020)
4) The percentage of courses in 2009 that had course SLOs explicitly stated on the syllabus, a website, or other publicly available document is indicated below. Please update as needed.
0% 1-50% 51-80% 81-99%
100%5) State the assessment question(s) and/or goals of the assessment activity. Include the SLOs that were targeted, if applicable.
The program content was discussed with members of the community, potential employees, former students and fellow teachers and scholars at UH and other institutions. We are in the process of creating a questionnaire for both current students and graduates to gain a better idea of what students want in their education and how well the program has prepared them (for graduates). This is being done through our existing on-line newsletter and will be incorporated into our new website.
These meetings and discussions have helped lead to a reappraisal of course content and educational needs. This reassessment is reflected in modifications to existing syllabi and the re-naming of four courses to reflect new directions in the field. AmSt 677 Community Preservation is now being retitled as Historic Preservation Planning; AmSt 676 Documentation of Historic Resources will soon be Documentation of Historic and Cultural Resources. AmSt 681 Vernacular Traditions in American Architecture and Material Culture is being retitled Vernacular Architecture and Material Culture. In addition, three existing courses, Anth 645, Historic Preservation; AmSt 679 Elements of Style in American Architecture and Decorative Arts; and AmSt 474 Preservation: Hawai‘i, Asia and the Pacific; and AmSt 676 Documentaon of Historic Resources are being cross-listed with either American Studies or Architecture to encourage more interdisciplinary participation. (We have completed the cross-listing on Anth/Anst 645; the other courses still await approval.)
6) State the type(s) of evidence gathered.
We are still devising an instrument for surveying students and graduates. We hope to complete this before next assessment period.
Several courses have been modified in the last two years to reflect changes in the field as understood through conference participation by the director and through conversations with others in the historic preservation field 9including conversations with students and graduates). For example, issues of “Cultural Landscapes,” and “Intangible Culture,” now form bigger components in the introductory course and in the course readings.
7) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected?
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: 8) How did they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence?
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: 9) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated.
If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
We have tabulated at least 35 conversations and responses.
10) Summarize the actual results.
The results of the reassessment have been manifested in course change applications, now pending. These have been cleared by the Departmental Curriculum Committee and are being forwarded to the university and other departments for approval.
There have also been changes to the syllabi and readings in AmSt 675, AmSt 474, AmSt 681 and AmSt 679.
11) How did your program use the results? --or-- Explain planned use of results.
Please be specific.
Further discussions with National Park Service and State officials will take place in the coming year. NCPE will also be notified of the changes once they have been approved.
12) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries? This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, program aspects and so on.
Additional modifications will await further collection of data through our website. Tentative results include the recognition of the need for greater emphasis on interpretation of sites and the possible increased use of new “visualization” and mapping technologies. The director has been working increasingly with community organizations and is gaining a better sense of what is needed in Hawai‘i.
13) Other important information:
The assessment process has further strengthened interdepartmental discussions, particularly with the graduate programs in Urban and Regional Planning, Anthropology and Architecture. WE have also established stronger contacts with community organizations and government programs in which our graduating students are employed. We foresee increasing levels of contact between and among departments, leading, we hope to the first steps toward creation of a master’s level program. We also believe the modifications to course titles and content will help strengthen student and graduate competencies and better prepare them for careers in the historic preservation field.
The educational objectives (SLO’s) for the field of historic preservation are formally set by the National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE). These are described in the NCPE website (http://www.uvm.edu/histpres/ncpe.html) and are revisited annually.
Rather than specify courses, the NCPE committee has provided wider guidance based on program content in various areas. These include: Knowledge of preservation law, design skills, competency in documentation and recording, knowledge of economics as it applied to historic preservation, conservation science, history of historic preservation, preservation planning and research in history, archaeology, landscapes and architecture. Programs are placed at different levels in the NCPE ranking on the basis of the degree offered rather than on the basis of the program quality. The NCPE does not conduct assessments of individual programs but bases its rankings on individual program reports.
The program requires three core courses and two electives. Because of the differing academic tracks of the students in the program, no specific sequence is required (or possible). The ideal track is:
American Studies 675 (Cross-listed as Architecture 628 and Planning 675), Preservation: Theory and Practice
Anthropology 645, Historic Preservation
American Studies 695, Practicum in Historic Preservation
Electives can be taken at any point in the program. Students are not permitted to enroll in AmSt 695 until the final term of their enrollment in the program.