Program: Pacific Islands Studies (MA)
Degree: Master's
Date: Wed Nov 10, 2010 - 4:03:07 pm
1) Below are the program student learning outcomes submitted last year. Please add/delete/modify as needed.
Graduate student learning outcomes
A. MA in Pacific Islands Studies
1.1 Students can discuss Pacific Studies as an organized, interdisciplinary field of study that includes indigenous epistemologies and perspectives.
1.2 Students can demonstrate a wide range of historical, geographic, and cultural knowledge about Oceania
1.3 Students can analyze contemporary conceptual, political, cultural, and ethical issues confronting students of Oceanic societies.
1.4 Students can analyze a specialized aspect of the history, culture, politics, or international relations of one or more of the island societies of Oceania.
1.5 Students can engage in culturally sensitive research and collaboration with Pacific Islander communities.
B. Certificate in Pacific Islands Studies
1.1 Students can demonstrate a wide range of historical, geographic, and cultural knowledge about Oceania
1.2 Students can demonstrate expertise in a Pacific-related specialty area relevant to the student’s research focus in another graduate program.
1.3 Students can analyze contemporary conceptual, political, cultural, and ethical issues confronting students of Oceanic societies.
2) As of last year, your program's SLOs were published as follows. Please update as needed.
Department Website URL: www.hawaii.edu/cpis to be updated Student Handbook. URL, if available online: NA
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online: UHM Catalog. Page Number: Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: http://www.hawaii.edu/cpis/psi/index.html (some, not all courses) Other: 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.
Are all required courses introducing or reinforcing SLO #1, “Students can discuss Pacific Islands Studies as an interdisciplinary field of study including indigenous epistemologies and perspectives?”
How effective is our teaching toward SLO #2? “Students can demonstrate a wide range of historical, geographic, and cultural knowledge about Oceania.”
6) State the type(s) of evidence gathered.
Comprehensive exams, students’ theses, graduate exit surveys, and embedded questions in class assignments.
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.
Comprehensive exams, 2 randomly selected from 6 taken in fall 2009.
Theses and portfolios: 100% (11 in spring and summer 2010)
Exit survey: 9 of 11, or 81% of graduates
Embedded assignments: 5 of 25 in PACS 601.
10) Summarize the actual results.
Students are well aware of PI Studies and the significance of indigenous epistemologies and perspectives in all required courses, but there are few opportunities for students to articulate and explain the interdisciplinary nature of the field. This aspect of SLO1 is not emphasized consistently throughout the MA curriculum.
Students demonstrate knowledge of significant issues and themes in various localized and regional contexts, but it is hard to determine the level of comprehensive knowledge about the entire region. Geographic knowledge is easiest to assess, but historical and specific cultural knowledge is difficult to determine at a regional level given the tremendous variety of cultures. Looking at the center’s most recent graduates, the range of topics and the high quality of their theses/portfolios demonstrate a wide range of general knowledge about the region, and a deep cultural and historical knowledge of a particular geographic area.
11) How did your program use the results? --or-- Explain planned use of results.
Please be specific.
We are revising course SLOs to insure that SLO#1, regarding the interdisciplinary nature of the field is addressed and assessed in some way in every required course.
We are revising SLO2 to be more specific in describing the types of knowledge students can demonstrate that indicates a “wide knowledge” of the region.
We have revised our curriculum map to only include courses that are taught consistently, and will be taught through 2013, given our faculty’s expertise and commitments.
We have instituted a new policy of scanning students assignments for improved sampling in future assessment activities.
New rubrics that may be shared with other faculty and students will be created for in-class presentations, embedded assignments, for assessment purposes.
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.
We are a small faculty (currently 4 teaching faculty) and it has not been a regular practice to keep copies of student assignments for assessment. We tend to know our students well and have relied on professional judgments to assess program outcomes for our graduates.
Neither has it been standard practice to retain copies of students’ comprehensive exams. (Theses have always been kept in an archive.) Given the convenience of batch scanning student assignments into a single PDF file, and also the convenience of receiving students’ submissions electronically, we have as a faculty decided to collect evidence of student work electronically and to archive it on our private faculty-only Laulima site.
We also realized that not all of our courses address all the SLOs, and that is ok. We only need to make that clear, particularly in our curriculum map.
We have not publicized our SLOs very well, though individuals have posted syllabi to our Pacific Studies initiative syllabus website. As a Center we see a need to add a page to our program link on our homepage to include the program SLOs for the MA, and Certificate, programs (and future BA program), as well as our MA and BA curriculum maps and course syllabi.