Unit: American Studies
Program: American Studies (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Sun Oct 16, 2011 - 8:05:38 pm

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

·      Upon completion of an AMST BA, all students should have acquired:

o   Substantial knowledge of American history, society, and culture, as well as a basic appreciation of different scholarly approaches to American Studies

o   Critical thinking skills necessary to analyze a variety of cultural artifacts (literature, primary documents, film, music, etc.), as well as historical and present-day sociopolitical issues.

o   Competence in scholarly writing and oral communication

o   Basic research skills, including advanced research skills in one area of specialization (majors only).

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

Department Website URL: http://www.hawaii.edu/amst
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:
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.

  • How well is the department designing student learning to help build student skills toward the senior capstone project? (continued study from 2010 assessment)
    • Has the implementation of the new AMST 480 methods course improved the quality of student capstones and the rate of successful completions of student capstones?
  • How well is the department preparing students for careers and schooling past the BA? (continued study from 2009 and 2010 assessments)

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.

  • Senior capstone projects (every graduating student in AMST 481 works intensively with the instructor and one outside advisor in crafting their capstone projects. This course concentrates all of our SLOs (save content mastery covered by previous courses), and thus allows us to carefully evaluate the writing, research, and critical thinking abilities of each student as she or he exits the program)—100% sample pool for Spring 2011
  • Student interviews during advising appointments with Undergraduate Chair (anecdotal, but often recorded on STAR advisor notes)
  • The undergraduate chair also conducts entry and exit interviews with every student, in which the department’s expectations and offerings, as well as the student’s experiences, are discussed.
  • Anecdotal data based on alumni communication from class of 2009 and 2010.

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

1 (in the last two years, the instructor for AMST 480 and 481 and the Undergraduate chair have been the same person in our department).

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.

  • How well is the department designing student learning to help build student skills toward the senior capstone project? (continued study from 2010 assessment)
    • Has the implementation of the new AMST 480 methods course improved the quality of student capstones and the rate of successful completions of student capstones?

The two-year old AMST 480 methods course has been an unqualified success. Our student success rate has gone up to approximately 90-95% per year (from 60-70% in 2008-2009). Students have produced quality senior capstone projects that showcase their research and their educational development. Students have consistently done well in the course, and a senior thesis prize has been implemented in the department to recognize the quality of student work.

  • How well is the department preparing students for careers and schooling past the BA? (continued study from 2009 and 2010 assessments)

This could use more data, but from the anecdotal evidence of participating alumni who have responded to my emails, students graduating with an AMST BA degree have tended to go into law and education as their major fields (either directly into law or educational degree programs, or into entry-level professions such as legal assistants or emergency-certified teachers). The other 30-40% have entered entry-level positions in industry such as green consulting and public relations.

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

We need to more systematically collect data on our undergraduate alumni, and find a way to keep them networked with our department. 

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.

Due to a busier than usual 2010-2011 AY, the assessment plan for this past year was relatively modest (we had 2 searches in our small department last fall, and an ongoing search this year). The assessment committee will work with the curriculum committee and undergraduate chair in the next year or two to review our undergraduate curriculum program. 

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.