Program: Philosophy (PhD)
Degree: Doctorate
Date: Thu Oct 10, 2013 - 4:14:37 pm
1) Below are your program's student learning outcomes (SLOs). Please update as needed.
1. Philosophical reading competence in a philosophically significant language other than English.
2. Reading and research competence in English.
3. Knowledge and understanding of the Western philosophical tradition and where applicable a non-Western tradition.
4. Ability to participate in a field of contemporary philosophical endeavor.
5. Ability to conduct and write up publishable research.
6. Mastery of a specific topic.
7. Ability to express and defend their views in oral presentations.
2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.
Department Website URL: www.hawaii.edu/phil
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: syllabi Other: Other: 3) Select one option:
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.
This year we have been focusing on the question of preparing our new Ph.Ds for university-level teaching positions. We have started to offer informal workshops highlighting various pedagogic techniques for college-level instruction. We continue to discuss how best to provide TAs with relevant classroom experience.
We also continue to discuss what would be the best way to expose our doctoral students (through the contemporary area exam process) to "cutting edge" arguments in philosophy. Unfortunately, what we all recognize would be the ideal method for this is unworkable, given our now significantly reduced faculty numbers.
We also closely monitor our placement of doctoral grads in the academic market. (For the past ten years of so, we have placed roughly 80% of our PhDs in academic positions.) As well, we provide fairly frequent workshops on how to get one's scholarly work published.
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.
We keep track of our doctoral students' publications and job placements. We regularly assess their written and oral communication. And each February we do a comprehensive evaluation of all students in our graduate program.
8) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
We keep an eye on everyone!
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: Other institutions who have hired our graduates. And the referees of the journals in which their work was published.10) 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: Peer review for publications, and hiring committees.11) For the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goal(s) stated in Question #6:
Summarize the actual results.
Already given in answering question six.
12) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.
The one weakness we continue to identify is that we are short-staffed, and we will continue to agitate for future hires.
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.
We recently discovered that our placement record is superior to that of Harvard's philosophy department. (Source: Chronicle of Higher Education)