Unit: East Asian Languages & Literatures
Program: Japanese (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Fri Oct 14, 2011 - 8:26:55 am

1) Below are your program student learning outcomes (SLOs). Please update as needed.

[SLO1: ORAL]  Engage in oral communication in Japanese in various social contexts, in linguistically and culturally appropriate ways.
[SLO2: READING]  Read and comprehend texts written in Japanese from a variety of genres and contexts (e.g., newspapers, essay collections, novels).
[SLO3: WRITING]  Apply critical thinking and rhetorical skills to produce coherent written works and presentations in both English and Japanese.
[SLO4: RESEARCH]  Use a variety of Japanese reference works and sources, including dictionaries and encyclopedias both in book form and on the internet.
[SLO5: RESEARCH]  Conduct independent research on topics in Japanese literature and/or linguistics, and effectively communicate the results.
[SLO6: LINGUISTICS] Demonstrate an understanding of phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics through analysis of words, phrases, and clauses from authentic Japanese samples.
[SLO7: LITERATURE] Identify and describe major authors, works, features, forms, and styles of Japanese literature, both premodern and modern.
[SLO8: LITERATURE]  Analyze and interpret works of Japanese poetry, prose, and drama, read both in translation and in the original Japanese, using terms appropriate to each genre.
 [SLO9: LITERATURE] Situate and evaluate Japanese literature in its social, historical, intellectual, and religious contexts.

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

Department Website URL: http://www.hawaii.edu/eall/jpn/undergrad.html
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: http://www.hawaii.edu/eall/jpn/courses.html; all syllabi include course SLOs
Other:
Other:

3) Below is the link(s) to your program's curriculum map(s). If we do not have your curriculum map, please upload it as a PDF.

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2011:

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.

0%
1-50%
51-80%
81-99%
100%

5) For the period June 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the SLOs that were targeted, if applicable.

Q1:  To what extent do students understand the overall goals embodied in the SLOs for the major?

Q2:   To what degree do students graduating from the Japanese program feel they can perform the SLOs?  (Indirect assessment involving all SLOs)

Q3:   What are the strengths and weaknesses of the program and how can we help students to better achieve the SLOs?

Q4:   At what level do graduates from the Japanese BA program speak Japanese?  (Direct assessment of speaking skills—SLO1)

All SLOs were targeted.

6) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #5.

1.  Student self-ratings and opinions (Collected as part of the College of LLL Online Student Exit Survey)

2. OPI test results from graduating seniors.

7) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.

1. 38 of 62 graduating seniors  (62%) responded to the Exit Survey. 

2. 25 of 45 invited majors (54%) took the OPI exam.

8) 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:

9) 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:

10) For the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goal(s) stated in Question #5:
Summarize the actual results.

1. Exit Survey.

The 2010-11 Exit Survey reflected overall student satisfaction with the major.  For example, in response to Question 5  (“To what degree do you feel you were able to attain your goals?”) 30 out of 38 students marked either “Mostly attained” or “Fully Attained.”  On Question 15 (Self-assessment  of learning outcomes) the majority of students replied that they had achieved the SLOs “Adequately” or better.

Within this context of positive responses, however, there were some items, mostly mentioned in the comments, that require attention.  A few students viewed the major as a language-skills program and took issue with the need to take courses in linguistics and literature.  Some respondents also felt that the requirement for electives was too restrictive.  And others expressed a wish either for more classes in oral Japanese or for more upper-level courses.  We also saw complaints about the availability of courses.

2. OPI Exam

Of the 25 students who took the OPI Exam 16 students (64%) were in either the Intermediate High category or the Intermediate Mid category.  The remaining 9 students were distributed evenly on either side of these two categories.  We feel these are good and consistent results for students who have been required to take four years of Japanese.  

11) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.

  1. We intend to rewrite the description of our major to indicate that ours is not solely a language skills program, but one that also requires the analysis of culture through the study of linguistics and literature.  A clearer statement of this direction—which is already present in our SLOs—should help to foster more accurate expectations regarding the content of our major.  We will display this description prominently on our Department website.
  2. We will review the list of electives for our major with an eye toward increased flexibility.  These changes should both allow students to pursue specific interests and help mitigate problems of course availability.
  3. We are investigating additions to our upper-level language courses that will serve the needs of advanced students and those wishing more challenging classes in spoken Japanese.   We hope that these additions will not only answer student demand for more courses in oral and advanced Japanese but also raise overall performance on the OPI exam.

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.

  1. We continue to think of ways to improve the participation rate in both the Exit Survey and the OPI Test.  Is LLL in a position to make the survey and the test mandatory?
  2. While we continue to consider the issue of a dedicated capstone course, our Japanese 401 and 402 courses now incorporate a concluding project requiring students to do research in Japanese and to orally present their findings.  These projects should help students consolidate capabilities gained in the major, and they should yield subjective data on the performance of students both in language and in analytical skills.  

13) Other important information.
Please note: If the program did not engage in assessment, please explain. If the program created an assessment plan for next year, please give an overview.