Program: German (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Tue Oct 01, 2013 - 3:12:29 pm
1) Below are your program's student learning outcomes (SLOs). Please update as needed.
1. Read and comprehend texts written in German from a variety of genres and contexts (e.g., magazine or internet articles, newspapers, literature).
2. Analyze and critique texts written in German from a variety of genres and contexts.
3. Engage in oral communication in German in various communicative contexts (e.g., everyday conversations, ordering in a restaurant, participating in class discussions, making a short presentation).
4. Engage in writing in German in various contexts and for various audiences (e.g., personal letters, emails, essays, etc.).
5. Conduct research on German language and/or culture using knowledge and skills learned in the program.
6. Demonstrate a familiarity with the current events, traditional and pop culture, and social structures of the society/societies in which German is spoken.
2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.
Department Website URL: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/llea/?page_id=35
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: http://www.lll.hawaii.edu/eval/resources6_curricmaps.php Other: 3) Select one option:
- File (03/16/2020)
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) Did your program engage in any program assessment activities between June 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013? (e.g., establishing/revising outcomes, aligning the curriculum to outcomes, collecting evidence, interpreting evidence, using results, revising the assessment plan, creating surveys or tests, etc.)
Yes No (skip to question 14)6) For the period June 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the SLOs that were targeted, if applicable.
All program SLOs were assessed in the annual BA Alumni Survey.
Oral proficiency was also assessed via ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interviews.
7) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #6.
A survey was administered to graduating BA students, and results were collected/reported to the German division by the LLL Dean’s office.
In addition, an ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview was offered to the major who graduated last Spring.
8) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
Four students were invited to complete the BA survey between Fall 2011 and Spring 2013. Four completed the survey, representing a 100% response rate.
One of two students were invited to take the OPI accepted the offer in Fall 2012- Spring 2013, representing a 50% participation rate.
9) 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: Dean's office10) 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: 11) For the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goal(s) stated in Question #6:
Summarize the actual results.
The BA survey indicated that students were “somewhat satisfied” or “very satisfied” with most aspects of the program, e.g.: availability of program informaiton, academic standards, relevance of the program to academic and professional goals, the quality of instruction, faculty mentoring and advising, the faculty’s ability to keep pace with the field, the appropriateness of degree requirements, and student morale.
In response to questions about courses in the program: Students were "somewhat satisfied" or "very satisfied" with class sizes, overall quality of instruction, course sequencing, and variety of courses. One of the four respondents was "somewhat dissatisfied" with course availability and frequency of offerings. One of the four respondents indicated (s)he was “somewhat dissatisfied” with academic standards. While one rated extra-curricular activities as "neutral", two of the others were "very satisfied".
The individual who participated in the German OPI placed at the Advanced-Low level, indicating (s)he is able to handle a variety of communicative tasks, participate in most informal and some formal conversations, and contribute to conversation with sufficient accuracy, clarity and precision to convey their intended message without misrepresentation or confusion. Though the sample is very small, this is an encouraging result.
12) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.
It should be noted that the responses in this assessment survey span two years, and that some changes have been implemented in the meantime:
In 2011, the German program hired a new assistant professor with a specialization in Modern German Film, Literature and Culture. In addition to designing and teaching new courses, our new professor is already helping to improve the variety and number of extra-curricular activities we offer.
The chair of the German program has been working with our new professor to revitalize and restructure the curriculum and to offer an even broader range of courses. Since enrollments and the number of majors have been increasing, we are able to offer four to five 300- and 400- level courses which count toward the major each semester. This will help students graduate in a timely manner.
We will continue to expand and develop extra-curricular activities and respond to the feedback we receive from students, both informally, and in these more formal surveys.
13) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries?
This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, program aspects and so on.
In direct response to student feedback, the German faculty has made a big effort over the past two years to increase our program's extra-curricular offerings. These offerings (Club activities, film screenings, exhibits, etc.) have increased exponentially, and we've also been networking with the community (e.g., with the German Consul, who now regularly attends German program functions).
We've also been actively supporting students to apply for scholarships. Two of our students won the coveted year-long CBYX scholarship in 2012-2013 to study at a German University (the prestigious Universities of Leipzig and Heidelberg) and complete an internship in Germany. One of these students is now working at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig. A third student won a DAAD scholarship to study German in Dresden, Germany, in summer 2013.
One thing we've discovered is that the large increase in our extra-curricular offerings and our active engagement in community outreach is creating a strain on the small number of faculty we have available to oversee and manage such events/efforts. Much of this work has fallen on our sole instructor and our new assistant professor. Our program would benefit tremendously from an additional instructor to help with the increased service demands. (We only have one instructorship in our program, whereas most others in our department have two.) We are also concerned about the German program's heavy reliance on lecturer funds (70%) to cover our basic language classes, as it threatens the quality of instruction and leaves our basic language program disproportionately vulnerable to budget cuts.
14) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please explain.
Or, if the program did engage in assessment activities, please add any other important information here.
N/A