CentralWashingtonUniversity

Assessment of Student Learning

Department and Program Report

Please enter the appropriate information concerning your student learning assessment activities for this year.

Academic Year of Report: _2011_____College: ___COTS______

Department ___Sociology______Program: Sociology, Social Services_

1.What student learning outcomes were assessed this year, and why?

Building on the foundation laid in the previous years, the Department of Sociology assessed writing in our General Education courses, Soc 101 and Soc 107. The General Education Student learning outcome assessed was “Students will achieve fluency in: writing.” We also assessed writing in two upper division courses, Soc 350 and Soc 386.

Basic and Breadth: Students are expected to practice and apply essential skills required to lead enlightened and productive lives. Students will be able to write effectively for a variety of purposes and situations. These outcomes are related to CWU goals 1 & 2 to maintain and strengthen an outstanding academic and student life. The goal is also related to the college goals 1& 2 of providing an outstanding academic and student experience. This goal was selected for assessment because there is a need to understand the extent to which students are able to write effectively early in their college careers.

Writing in the Major: Students are expected to show knowledge in substantive areas within sociology. Outcomes include the ability to summarize existing knowledge, current questions, and important issues in at least one substantive area within sociology and to suggest specific policy implications of research and theory in one area and express their knowledge in written form.This goal is related to CWU goals 1 & 2 to maintain and strengthen an outstanding academic and student life. The goal is also related to the college goals 1& 2 of providing an outstanding academic and student experience. It relates to the department goal of offering a sociology program that emphasizes critical thinking and problem solving skills. This goal was selected for assessment because the department wanted to know student’s level of competence in the substantive areas within sociology andtheir ability to applytheory in analyzing social problems. In addition, we need to know whether communicating in written form is being met by our graduates. This can be complicated because many of our students are transfer students so may have not completed their basic and breadth at CWU.

2.How were they assessed?

1. Writing Assessment in basic and breadth courses were evaluated through the course work in SOC 107 and SOC 101 in Fall,Winter and Spring quarters 2010-2011. The writing rubric was used to assess the extent to which students were able to demonstrate their writing ability. Each element was assessed and reported as pass/no pass.

2. Writing Assessment in the Major was evaluated thorough the coursework in SOC 350 and SOC 389 in Winter 2011 and Spring 2012. The writing rubric was used to assess the extent to which students were able to demonstrate their writing ability. Each element was assessed and reported as pass/no pass.

3.What was learned?

  1. The findings were not unexpected. The sociology department does not expect all students to have an understanding of the Rhetoric of Sociology or to be able to make an effective argument without that rhetoric. It is clear that student’s, for the most part, are able to follow paper directions and some are very good at organization. Some of these students have not taken ENG 101, which may impact the findings.

Rubric Element / Pass / Non-Pass
Content / 24/80% / 6/20%
Reasoning / 15/50% / 15/50%
Organization / 23/76% / 7/23%
Rhetoric of the Discipline / 15/50% / 15/50%
Conventions & Presentation / 23/76% / 7/23%
  1. The findings were not unexpected. By the time students are taking Sociological Theory and Seminar on Racism, they have had substantive courses, which have included several writing assignments and essay exams. In addition, the far majority of them have completed their basic and breadth, where they have had the opportunity to practice their writing skills.

Rubric Element / Pass / Non-Pass
Content / 25/92% / 2/8%
Reasoning / 24/88% / 3/12%
Organization / 24/88% / 3/12%
Rhetoric of the Discipline / 26/96% / 1/ 4%
Conventions & Presentation / 23/85% / 4/15%

4.What will the department or program do as a result of that information?

The department will continue to have students participate in writing in the SOC 101 and Soc 107 courses. The more the student’s write the more proficient they will become. The department advisors will encourage students to take ENG 101, prior to taking any writing courses.

5.What did the department or program do in response to the feedback from last year's assessment report?

The faculty are developing a student exit interview, to be given in the capstone course, for use in the evaluation process. We have used alumni surveys but these surveys have an unacceptable response rate and tend to be very general and difficult to use in assessing the program.

The curriculum committee has been working on rubrics to make the assessment process easier to tie specifically to our program goals to identify the subcategories in which students did not do as well as they did overall. There are many ways to assess the extent to which students meet specific goals and outcomes, and each course uses different mechanisms in the assessment process. The department curriculum committee is developing standard assessment tools for those courses that have multiple sections. Student GPA is linked to our program goals, it is assumed that if students have a GPA that meets or exceeds our standards then that is an indicator that they have met our program goals. Particularly when used with other assessment tools. The GPA alone may not be an effective assessment tool, but as part of a holistic assessment process, it provides some information.

The discussion in faculty meetings, particularly our fall retreat, focused on pedagogy and curricular decisions, many of which are based on the yearly assessment report and on the five year program review. Our program is curricular driven, we use the ASA “Creating an Effective Assessment Plan for the Sociology Major” and “Sociology for the 21st Century” to assess and develop the undergraduate sociology and social services major.

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