Unit: Languages & Literatures of Europe and the Americas
Program: French (MA)
Degree: Master's
Date: Fri Oct 14, 2011 - 8:14:04 am

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

1. Understand theoretical issues and research methods discussed in the current literature in French literature, philosophy, film, cultural studies, art, and the history of the French language.

2. Critically evaluate theoretical issues and research methods discussed in the current literature in French literature, philosophy, film, cultural studies, art, and the history of the French language.

3. Communicate effectively in speaking about the theoretical issues and research methods in French literature, philosophy, film, cultural studies, art, and the history of the French language.

4. Communicate effectively in writing about the theoretical issues and research methods in French literature, philosophy, film, cultural studies, art, and the history of the French language.

5. Conduct research or engage in systematic investigation in your area of expertise by applying certain theoretical frameworks and methodological knowledge and techniques specific to the field.

6. Teach first-year French language courses under supervision.

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

Department Website URL:
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:
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.

The Division of French and Italian has begun a vigorous process of assessment, targeting multiple aspects of the French M.A. program. The assessment areas and questions have included, since Sept. 2009;

  • Strategic planning for the next decade. The short and long term goals of the program at all levels have been discussed and analyzed by faculty, M.A. students,  B.A. students, language students, with contributions from faculty from other departments and units.
  • Understanding student expectations and responding to their perceived needs.
  • Better communicating to all students in our program about possibilities for use of the field of study in careers, study abroad, teaching abroad, etc.
  • Increasing feedback from students at all program levels
  • How to revise existing courses and/or prepare new courses that respond to student interests, that take advantage of research opportunities unique to U.H. and/or the Pacific, or that will enrich the learning experience
  • Seeking to establish better and deeper connections to other departments, units, and faculty with overlapping interests/fields of study.

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.

The division has gathered evidence in the following ways and forms:

A. Graduate faculty meetings and general faculty meetings to discuss assessment questions and goals listed in 5 above.

B. Regular meetings with faculty from other divisions and units both in the college and in other colleges (Pacific Area Studies, Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures, Center for Southeast Asian Studies) on shared interests and plans for developing a focus on the French-speaking sections of Oceania/Asia. Those meetings developed into a formal Initiative  on French-speaking Oceania and Asia and a Steering Committee was formed and is chaired by Dr. Kathryn Hoffmann of the French Division.

C. Data collected by the Division Chair. The Division chair maintains data on enrollment that includes numbers of enrolled students, students continuing to the next level, attrition, courses that have the heaviest enrollment, student/instructor ratios within the division and in comparison to other divisions, growth patterns over the past ten years, etc.. Tables and charts are presented to the teaching staff every semester.

D. New series of meetings with students to assess program.  A meeting for French graduate students, majors and all students taking French was called on September 10, 2010. That meeting involved an informational PowerPoint, oral feedback, and a written assessment activity.  The chair presented information on graduate school, study abroad, scholarships, the French-speaking Oceania/Asia Initiative, the French floor in the residence halls.

E. At the beginning of Fall 2010, the Division chair visited the majority of the first and second-year classes to invite feedback directly to the Division chair on all aspects of the new first-year book and teaching methodology that were introduced in Fall 2010 in classes taught primarily by Graduate Assistants.

F. Exit surveys. M.A. exit surveys were read and distributed to the graduate faculty.

G. Student course evaluations.

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

Six out of seven full-time faculty; one lecturer, all graduate students (15); the outside members of the French-Oceania and Asia Steering Committee and other interested faculty (7); exit surveys by 6 M.A. graduates (a 67% return rate).  Narravite course evaluations; all students.  

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.

Actual results included:

A. Interest in developing a French-speaking Pacific/Asia focus was high among all groups (Divisional faculty, students, faculty in related disciplines/units).

B. More (and better quality) information on student needs and wishes was gathered than previously and the data were analyzed. A Sept. 10, 2010 written assessment activity was completed by 15 graduate students (100% response rate) and revealed particular student interest in the following areas: study/research abroad (14); Brussels exchange (8); Tahiti exchange (11); Oceania graduate certificate (9); more/other courses (13); pedagogy course for Graduate Assistants (12); French Cultural Services internships (10); courses taught jointly by specialists in different universities, incorporating distance teaching (10), wish list (diverse responses)

C. On the exit survey all respondents felt that they had achieved M.A. student learning outcomes very well, well, or adequately.  80% believed their job prospects were enhanced and would maybe or definitely recommend the program.

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

A.  In response to interest in French-speaking Oceania, a cross-department/unit cluster was formed among the departments/units of  LLEA, IPLL, Pacific Area Studies, The Center for Southeast Asian Studies, with the support of the Hamilton Library Pacific collection. The French-speaking Oceania and Asia Initiative has been given formal recognition by the Dean of LLL.  The Steering Committee has outlined plans for shared curricular and faculty development, new/enhanced exchanges and shared endeavors with the universities of the French-speaking Pacific, and collaborative plans in Spring 2010. Regarding the two staffing requests for positions in  IPLL (Tahitian) and LLEA (French-speaking Oceania and Asia) that would advance the goals of the initiative (approval pending):  a position was approved, a search was conducted, candidates were invited to visit U.H., and Dr. Titaua Porcher was chosen to fill the position.  Dr. Porcher will be bringing two speakers from Tahiti in the Spring of 2012, and will be teaching LLEA 671 (Western Literature and Cultures in the Pacific) in Fall 2012.  Further plans are ongoing.

B. Following assessment of student interest, discussions began in earnest in Fall 2010 with the Institut Supérieur de Traducteurs et Interprètes in Brussels, Belgium, about a student exchange.  Two graduate students from our program attended the program in Brussels during the Spring 2011 semester.

C. As interest in teaching assistantships in France was expressed at all levels, the division chair now diffuses more information about study, work, and teaching assistant opportunities in France to graduate students directly.

D. In response to student wishes for more/other courses at graduate level, the Division added another 600-level course in Spring 2011.

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.

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.