Unit: American Studies
Program: American Studies (PhD)
Degree: Doctorate
Date: Thu Dec 09, 2010 - 2:18:57 pm

1) Below are the program student learning outcomes submitted last year. Please add/delete/modify as needed.

  1. ·        Broad knowledge of U.S. history, society, and culture.
  2. ·        Understanding of several key disciplinary methods to U.S. history, society, and culture.
  3. ·        Critical analysis and advanced writing skills.
  4. ·        Mastery of two fields of the student’s specialization, plus broad knowledge of the history of American Studies as a field.
  5. ·        Pedagogical skills and experience for college-level teaching.
  6. ·        Advanced research skills necessary to complete a book-length project of original scholarship.

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/grad.htm
Student Handbook. URL, if available online:
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online:
UHM Catalog. Page Number:
Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: NA
Other: Annual assessment reports, departmental reviews.
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.

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2010:

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.

How efficiently are students progressing through the program, what bottlenecks exist?

How well are we teaching students to write various types of scholarship (e.g., book reviews, literature reviews, articles, dissertation)?

How well are preparing students to take their qualifying exams?

How well are we doing on student advising and mentoring through all stages of the program?

How well are we preparing students to apply for fellowships and succeed on the academic job market?

6) State the type(s) of evidence gathered.

PhD dissertations

Dissertation proposals

Written answers and field book lists for qualifying exams

Annual student progress reports

CAFE evaluations

Exit interviews

Online survey of graduate student needs

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.

Approximately thirty students responded to survey asking them what skills they needed help with (Department is organizing a series of workshops on specific challenges, e.g. job market prep, qualifying exam prep, etc.)

All faculty members submitted graduate syllabi for review

Exit interviews with approximately five students

Intake advisor sessions with all incoming students (10)

10) Summarize the actual results.

Students seem to need more help conducting original research, so we are working to incorporate more primary research into required courses. AMST 640 to be offered yearly, resources permitting. 

Students requested more guidance on preparing for their qualifying exams and comprehensive exams, so we're organizing workshops in both areas. 

11) How did your program use the results? --or-- Explain planned use of results.
Please be specific.

Organizing workshops for students preparing for the qualifying and comprehensive exams

Assigning faculty advisors to all incoming students and requiring first-semester report

Continuation of changes noted in 2009 report. 

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.

Easier system this year

Assessment valuable for students and faculty

13) Other important information:

Please note more comprehensive information included in 2009 report.