Linfield Assessment Plan / 1

Linfield College

2001-02 Assessment Program

ART DEPARTMENT

Mission Statement

The faculty members of the Department of Art seek to provide technical, historical, and philosophical instruction in the visual arts. Linfield students may elect to major in studio art, or to minor in studio art or art history. In addition, art history courses and lower-division studio courses will introduce various aspects of the visual arts to students seeking to fulfill the requirements of the Linfield Curriculum. We are committed to instilling visual and conceptual literacy, and to providing the technical and intellectual skills necessary as a foundation for a wide variety of careers in the fine and applied arts. A major goal of the faculty, as practicing artists and scholars, is to impart an understanding of the life-long vitality of artisitic development and practice.

Goals for the Major/Minor

Students who successfully complete a major or a minor in studio art will:

Have a working understanding of the fundamentals of two- and three-dimensional design and basic drawing and the related nomenclature common throughout the field, along with the basic technical skills necessary to carry out projects in these areas;
Be competent in at least one medium beyond basic design and drawing;
Be able to present the conceptual basis of their work in both oral and written form, and to critique the work of others;
Be familiar with major trends in the development of Western art, and with various methodological approaches to the study of art history;
Be able to research topics in art and art history, using both print and electronic resources.

In addition to the above, students who successfully complete a major in studio art will:

Be familiar with the significant developments and key figures of 20th-century art;
Demonstrate an advanced level of competence in at least one medium beyond basic design or drawing, or acquire competence in a second medium;
Produce a coherent, cohesive body of work and an artist’s statement, presented in an appropriately professional manner;
Have a sufficient understanding of the discipline to allow them to prepare for graduate studies or entry-level professional opportunities.

Students who successfully complete a minor in art history will

Be able to describe and analyze works of art and architecture, using appropriate technical vocabulary;
Be familiar with major trends in the development of Western art, and with various methodological approaches to the study of art history;
Be able to research topics in art and art history, using both print and electronic resources.
Be able to demonstrate a more detailed understanding of the artistic developments and major monuments of at least two historical periods of art history (e.g., Renaissance, modern, etc.) and at least one specialized topic (e.g. Islamic art, women artists, etc.).

Means of Assessing Achievement of Goals.

To assess the achievement of these goals, the department requires majors to:

Achieve a grade of C or better in all required studio courses and in Art 200 (Art History and Visual Culture);
Produce a satisfactory paper demonstrating their ability to research, analyze, and describe a work of art, and to apply various methodologies to its interpretation;
Complete Art 390, Studio Practices. This new course is intended to be an integrative experience, and will include readings, gallery practice, and creative development.
Produce a coherent, cohesive body of work, accompanied by an artist’s statement. Students’ ability to produce such a body of work will give clear evidence of the development and improvement of their skills, both technical and intellectual, as a result of their departmental coursework.

To assess the achievement of these goals, the department requires studio art minors to:

Achieve a grade of C or better in all required studio courses and in Art 200 (Art History and Visual Culture);
Produce a satisfactory paper demonstrating their ability to research, analyze, and describe a work of art, and to apply various methodologies to its interpretation;

To assess the achievement of these goals, the department requires art history minors to:

Complete a minimum of 20 credits in art history, including Art 200, with a grade of C or better;
Produce a satisfactory paper on a topic of moderate complexity, demonstrating their ability to research, analyze, and describe a work of art, and to apply various methodologies to its interpretation.

BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT

Mission Statement.

The faculty and staff in the Biology Department are committed to helping each student achieve his or her potential. To this end we strive to prepare students for graduate programs and careers in Biology through fostering an atmosphere of intellectual stimulation, critical thinking, scholarly activity, and exposure to the latest information in all major areas of Biology.

Goals for the Major.

All biology majors must demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles and concepts of biology.
All biology majors must demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of three areas of biology: 1) Cell and molecular biology; 2) Organismal biology; and 3) Ecology/Evolution biology.
All biology majors must demonstrate the ability to critically think and synthesize information from a variety of different sources.
All biology majors must demonstrate the ability to write in the discipline.

Means of Assessing Achievement of Goals.

Every biology major must complete a one year introductory course team taught by each member of the faculty and covering the breadth of biology.
Every biology major must complete a sequence of at least one course in the cell and molecular area, one course in organismal biology area, and one course in the ecology/evolution area as well as additional elective courses in their area of interest.
During their four years at Linfield, every biology major will take a majors course designated as "intensive writing" in which they must demonstrate their ability to write in the discipline.
Every biology major must successfully complete Biol. 486 (Senior Oral Comprehensive Examination). This is administered by the faculty in the department. Students are questioned for an hour over the breadth and depth of knowledge they have obtained in biology and its related fields, as well as their ability to think and reason under a pressure situation.

Use of Assessment in Planning.

One of the challenges of providing a quality program for students is to identify what types of knowledge and skills will be important for them after they graduate from Linfield. Recognizing that all outcomes are not knowable in advance, we make an effort to track our majors to determine what employment they find, what types of graduate and professional programs they enter, and what specific skills have been most useful to them.
Doing science has always been an important part of science education, whether that meant engaging in laboratory or field exercises. In recent years, providing undergraduate students with research experiences has become an increasingly important prerequisite for admission to graduate and professional schools and for achieving gainful employment. This year a research paper was submitted for publication in a peer review journal with a Linfield student as co-author. A number of other research papers have been presented at conferences by Linfield students as previously mentioned.
Several years ago, biology faculty recognized that the best way to capture student interest in the whole of biology is to allow faculty to teach to their areas of interest and expertise. Accordingly, we made the decision to organize our first-year introductory course as a team-taught course. Each year, we evaluate the textbook and the organization of the course to address student comments and to reflect our changing biology program.

The department presently requires minors to take the one year introductory course plus three additional courses in the department; however, we have no specific goals or means of assessing a minor in biology.

BUSINESS DEPARTMENT

ACCOUNTING MAJOR

Goals For the Major. In successfully completing a major in Accounting, a student will be able to:

explain the basic concepts of financial and managerial accounting.
demonstrate basic procedures of financial and managerial accounting.
use fundamental techniques in the analysis of financial statements and other corporate disclosures.
demonstrate an introductory-level understanding of the fundamental concepts of microeconomic and macroeconomic theory and the ability to apply these concepts to analyze a wide variety of economic problems.
analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the impact of relevant environmental influences on marketing activities and to formulate effective marketing strategies in a competitive environment.
apply core management functions of decision-making, planning, organizing, leading and controlling to realistic organizational situations.
analyze complex factual and legal situations, identifying, defining, and explaining applicable legal principles and their impact on the involved parties.
appraise the analytical techniques in the valuation of financial assets and investments.
explain the function and operation of financial markets.
appraise a firm’s capital structure and dividend policy and their relevance to the firm’s value.
work in teams for project development/completion and presentation.
professionally communicate ideas, research, and analysis in both oral and written formats.
demonstrate an in-depth understanding of cost accounting systems and procedures, the use of managerial accounting information for short run decision making and the use of accounting data for planning and controlling in an organization.
perform an audit of a sample company, including risk assessment, evaluation of internal control risk, development and execution of substantive audit programs.
develop and produce audit opinions appropriate to circumstances involved in an audit.
resolve reporting issues which apply to unique and nonrecurring economic events.
properly account for and report an organization’s assets, liabilities, equity, and income.

explain the basic concepts of federal income tax theory.

Means of Assessing Achievement of Goals. To assess the achievement of these goals, the department will require students majoring in Accounting to:

complete a series of writing exercises designed to demonstrate understanding and rationale of basic accounting concepts.
complete and present a series of mini-cases to demonstrate the ability to process routine accounting data.
complete a comprehensive analysis of corporate financial information at the end of ECB 261 Managerial Accounting.
complete an objective exam covering theoretical and applied topics at the beginning of both ECB271 Introductory Microeconomics and ECB 272 Introductory Macroeconomics and retake the same exams at the start of ECB 301 Management Process.
complete a written New Product/Service Marketing Plan providing a situation analysis, synthesis of market forces, evaluation of information and the application of concepts learned throughout ECB 321 Principles of Marketing; complete a professional oral presentation of the plan.
complete a written analysis of one or more realistic business administration cases, to include presentations of sound programs of action based on the application of core management functions as learned in ECB 301 Management Process.
complete a final essay exam involving legal case analysis which calls for the identification, definition, and application of legal principles learned in ECB 340 Business Law I.
complete midterm and final exams which assess numerical and discursive skills related to the analysis of financial assets and investments, the function and operation of financial markets in wealth creation, and a firm’s capital structure and dividend policy as learned in ECB 341 Financial Management.
complete a budget case and examinations which apply principles of cost accounting for product costs, use of accounting information for decision making, and the use of data for planning and control.
complete an audit case study and examinations which demonstrate mastery of overall audit risk assessment, evaluation of internal control risk, satisfactory performance of substantive audit procedures, and the writing of audit opinions.
demonstrate application of specific accounting principles by preparing and presenting mini-cases.
satisfactorily pass examinations that are made up largely from past questions of the Uniform Certified Public Accountant’s examination.
complete a comprehensive tax compliance and planning project.

BUSINESS MAJOR

Goals For the Major. In successfully completing a major in Business, a student will be able to:

explain the basic concepts of financial and managerial accounting.
demonstrate basic procedures of financial and managerial accounting.
use fundamental techniques in the analysis of financial statements and other corporate disclosures.
demonstrate an introductory-level understanding of the fundamental concepts of microeconomic and macroeconomic theory and the ability to apply these concepts to analyze a wide variety of economic problems.
analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the impact of relevant environmental influences on marketing activities and to formulate effective marketing strategies in a competitive environment.
apply core management functions of decision-making, planning, organizing, leading and controlling to realistic organizational situations.
analyze complex factual and legal situations, identifying, defining, and explaining applicable legal principles and their impact on the involved parties.
appraise the analytical techniques in the valuation of financial assets and investments.
explain the function and operation of financial markets.
appraise a firm’s capital structure and dividend policy and their relevance to the firm’s value.
strategically analyze a firm and determine appropriate responses to issues given the industry and competitive conditions coupled with the condition/s of the firm itself.
work in teams for project development/completion and presentation.
professionally communicate ideas, research, and analysis in both oral and written formats.

Means of Assessing Achievement of Goals. To assess the achievement of these goals, the department will require students majoring in Business to:

complete a series of writing exercises designed to demonstrate understanding and rationale of basic accounting concepts.
complete and present a series of mini-cases to demonstrate the ability to process routine accounting data.
complete a comprehensive analysis of corporate financial information at the end of ECB 261 Managerial Accounting.
complete an objective exam covering theoretical and applied topics at the beginning of both ECB271 Introductory Microeconomics and ECB 272 Introductory Macroeconomics and retake the same exams at the start of ECB 301 Management Process.
complete a written New Product/Service Marketing Plan providing a situation analysis, synthesis of market forces, evaluation of information and the application of concepts learned throughout ECB 321 Principles of Marketing; complete a professional oral presentation of the plan.
complete a written analysis of one or more realistic business administration cases, to include presentations of sound programs of action based on the application of core management functions as learned in ECB 301 Management Process.
complete a final essay exam involving legal case analysis which calls for the identification, definition, and application of legal principles learned in ECB 340 Business Law I.
complete midterm and final exams which assess numerical and discursive skills related to the analysis of financial assets and investments, the function and operation of financial markets in wealth creation, and a firm’s capital structure and dividend policy as learned in ECB 341 Financial Management.
complete an international business computer simulation calling for the integration of knowledge of production, marketing, finance, human resources, accounting, and economics, and the application of the tools of strategic analysis; complete Five-Year Strategic Plans and subsequent Five-Year (Actual) Performance Reports in ECB 489 Business Policy.
complete two written case analyses demonstrating the ability to perform industry, competitive and internal firm analysis resulting in issue identification and resolution; complete one professional oral presentation supporting a strategic recommendation resulting from the foregoing analysis in ECB 489 Business Policy.

NOTE: Students majoring in Business must take twelve business elective hours (four courses) beyond what is called the “core”. Because the composition of this “core” is highly variable, it is not prudent to attempt to define goals and means of assessment for all possible combinations of electives. However, research papers/projects/exams representative of individual elective course goal accomplishment will be maintained in the student portfolios in addition to the representations of goal accomplishment for the “core” courses. These student portfolios are further discussed in Section D.

BUSINESS MINOR

Goals For the Minor. In successfully completing a minor in Business, a student will be able to:

explain the basic concepts of financial and managerial accounting.
demonstrate basic procedures of financial and managerial accounting.
use fundamental techniques in the analysis of financial statements and other corporate disclosures.
demonstrate an introductory-level understanding of the fundamental concepts of microeconomic and macroeconomic theory and the ability to apply these concepts to analyze a wide variety of economic problems.
analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the impact of relevant environmental influences on marketing activities and to formulate effective marketing strategies in a competitive environment.
apply core management functions of decision-making, planning, organizing, leading and controlling to realistic organizational situations.
analyze complex factual and legal situations, identifying, defining, and explaining applicable legal principles and their impact on the involved parties.
appraise the analytical techniques in the valuation of financial assets and investments.
explain the function and operation of financial markets.
appraise a firm’s capital structure and dividend policy and their relevance to the firm’s value.
strategically analyze a firm and determine appropriate responses to issues given the industry and competitive conditions coupled with the condition/s of the firm itself.
work in teams for project development/completion and presentation.
professionally communicate ideas, research, and analysis in both oral and written formats.

Means of Assessing Achievement of Goals. To assess the achievement of these goals, the department will require students minoring in Business to:

complete a series of writing exercises designed to demonstrate understanding and rationale of basic accounting concepts.
complete and present a series of mini-cases to demonstrate the ability to process routine accounting data.
complete a comprehensive analysis of corporate financial information at the end of ECB 261 Managerial Accounting.
complete an objective exam covering theoretical and applied topics at the beginning of both ECB271 Introductory Microeconomics and ECB 272 Introductory Macroeconomics and retake the same exams at the start of ECB 301 Management Process.
complete a written New Product/Service Marketing Plan providing a situation analysis, synthesis of market forces, evaluation of information and the application of concepts learned throughout ECB 321 Principles of Marketing; complete a professional oral presentation of the plan.
complete a written analysis of one or more realistic business administration cases, to include presentations of sound programs of action based on the application of core management functions as learned in ECB 301 Management Process.
complete a final essay exam involving legal case analysis which calls for the identification, definition, and application of legal principles learned in ECB 340 Business Law I.
complete midterm and final exams which assess numerical and discursive skills related to the analysis of financial assets and investments, the function and operation of financial markets in wealth creation, and a firm’s capital structure and dividend policy as learned in ECB 341 Financial Management.
complete an international business computer simulation calling for the integration of knowledge of production, marketing, finance, human resources, accounting, and economics, and the application of the tools of strategic analysis; complete Five-Year Strategic Plans and subsequent Five-Year (Actual) Performance Reports in ECB 489 Business Policy.
complete two written case analyses demonstrating the ability to perform industry, competitive and internal firm analysis resulting in issue identification and resolution; complete one professional oral presentation supporting a strategic recommendation resulting from the foregoing analysis in ECB 489 Business Policy.

FINANCE MAJOR