Learning
Outcomes Assessment Plan
Women’s
Studies Institute
I.
Mission Statement of the Women’s Studies Institute
The Women’s Studies Institute was developed to provide a location for interdisciplinary studies that interrogate social structures, identities, institutions, ideologies, and relationships. Additionally, from its beginning, the department has aimed to be an intellectual location for the study and research of gender as it intersects with race, class, national difference, as well as other significant categories. Its courses together have been intended to provide students with a historical understanding of the history of women, feminism and gender, as well as a rich understanding of theories relevant to women’s studies as a discipline. Finally, the WSI in its development was ahead of the national curve by building into its initial aim of the department the commitment to understanding gender in a global or internal context, rather than as a phenomenon only relevant to the West.
The B.A. in Women's Studies is offered through the College of Arts and Sciences and is structured to provide a sound grounding in liberal education and an intensive involvement in an area of concentration. In addition, the program focuses on the intersections of race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, and culture. Since Women's Studies is inherently interdisciplinary, most of these courses are taught by faculty from other departments and colleges such as African-American Studies, Anthropology and Geography, Communication, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology.
The B.A. in Women's Studies also includes an activist component in that a student may elect to take 3 hours of Internship for course credit. A student intern will work 10 hours a week at a site that serves and assists women such as a battered women's shelter, a family planning clinic, a rape crisis center, or an educational outreach program.
The WSI's M.A. program has a global emphasis, with core courses emphasizing intersections of race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and culture. This focus on global feminisms, post-colonial, third world, and postmodern theory has attracted a number of international students to the WSI.
In short, the Women's Studies Institute at Georgia State University provides an interdisciplinary, critical, and global approach to the study of gender, race, sexuality, class, and the construction of knowledge and to the operations of cultural, political, and social institutions.
Faculty involvement in women’s studies at Georgia State University began with the Women’s Studies Interest Group, which began meeting in 1974 and sponsored lectures, presentations, and discussions on women’s studies and feminist issues. Individual faculty members in the group developed women’s studies courses through their various departments. Interest in women’s studies at Georgia State University continued to grow, and the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (B.I.S.) with a Concentration in Women’s Studies was approved in 1984. The Women's Studies Institute was approved by the Georgia Board of Regents on July 14, 1994, and the Master of Arts degree in Women's Studies was approved on March 8, 1995. The first cohort entered in 1995, and the first MA graduates received their degrees in 1998. The WSI has awarded 17 Master of Arts in Women's Studies as of Fall 2003. The BA in women’s studies was approved in 2003. In 2003, the faculty also approved the Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies.
The first Director of the Women's Studies Institute was Diane Fowlkes, who served from 1994 to 1998. She was succeeded by the WSI's present Director, Linda A. Bell, who is also Professor of Philosophy. Two Assistant Professors of Women's Studies have been hired: Dr. Allaine Cerwonka and Dr. Layli Phillips, Dr. Cerwonka in 1999 as Assistant Professor of Women's Studies and member of the Department of Political Science, Dr. Phillips in 2000. Dr. Phillips also teaches in the Departments of African-American Studies and Psychology. Dr. Charlene Ball, Academic Professional in Women's Studies, serves as student advisor and office coordinator and teaches women's studies.
Two fellowships are sponsored by the WSI. The
Martha Wren Gaines Research Fellowship is co-sponsored by the Special
Collections Department of the University Library and goes to a student involved
with archival research related to the Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women’s Movement
Archives and/or the Lucy Hargrett Draper U.S. Equal Rights Amendment Research
Collection. The Ethel Woodruff Draper Research Fellowship in the Development of
Young Women is a research award endowed by the J.W. and Ethel I. Woodruff
Foundation. This award is granted to a graduate student engaged in research
related to the development of young women in a variety of environments,
including learning, health and nutrition, and family.
Diane Fowlkes was the Institute’s first
director. The WSI has been under the direction of Linda A. Bell, Professor of
Philosophy, since 1998. It now has two additional tenure-track faculty whose
tenure line is in the Women’s Studies Institute. Allaine Cerwonka, who holds a
joint appointment with the Department of Political Science, was hired in 1999
and currently serves as the WSI’s Director of Graduate Studies. Layli Phillips
was hired in 2000 and also teaches in the African American Studies and
Psychology Departments. Julie Kubala began teaching in the Institute in 2001 as
a part-time instructor. Charlene Ball serves as the WSI’s Academic Professional
and in addition to teaching women’s studies, serves as undergraduate advisor and
office coordinator. The faculty of the WSI is implementing plans to extend the
scope of graduate studies, developing a specialization in “Social Change
Leadership” within the M.A. program. This track will require a thesis, like the
existing MA concentration, however it will have a special focus of
providing training to students who plan to work in the
grassroots and nonprofit sectors.
II. Learning Outcomes
A. General Education Outcomes for core curriculum course – WST 2010
WST 2010 (Introduction to Women’s Studies) is the entry-level women’s studies course at Georgia State University and can be used to fulfill the General Education Requirement in Section E of the Arts and Sciences core curriculum at Georgia State University. Students who take this course may proceed with a Women’s Studies major or minor or they may proceed with other disciplinary courses of study with enhanced knowledge of women, gender, and feminism. WST 2010 is a 3-hour course. Learning outcomes and assessment modalities for this course are described below.
Communication
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Students will effectively use appropriate writing conventions and formats.
<!--[if
!supportLists]-->2.
<!--[endif]-->Students will effectively use appropriate oral
or signed conventions and formats.
Collaboration
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Students will engage effectively in team or group projects.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->Students will practice effective intergroup communication skills in the classroom.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->Students will practice feminist social problem solving methods in the classroom.
Critical Thinking
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Students will read critically and carefully, as well as to interpret and challenge interdisciplinary work.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->Students will build upon what they have read, heard, or viewed to formulate new research questions.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->Students will connect what they learn with lived experiences.
Contemporary Issues
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Students will evaluate the historical exclusion of women from traditional fields of study and human endeavor as well as efforts to recover women’s contributions and restore women’s participation.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->Students will analyze various meanings of terms like oppression, discrimination, and violence as they pertain to women and other groups.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->Students will identify ways in which sex and gender have been constructed differently across time and place in human societies, as well as how the various constructs of sex and gender have influenced sex roles and women’s political and economic statuses in different societies at various points in history, including the present.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4. <!--[endif]-->Students will evaluate uses of feminism as a contemporary critical analytical frame.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->5. <!--[endif]-->Students will distinguish among past and present variations in feminist theories and viewpoints.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->6. <!--[endif]-->Students will analyze intersectionality of race, class, gender, sexuality, nation, religion, ability status, age, and other vectors of difference as they pertain to the shaping of women’s lives and status in a global context.
Quantitative Skills
<!--[if
!supportLists]-->1.
<!--[endif]-->Students will analyze, interpret, and critique
statistical information pertaining to women, gender, and
sexism.
Technology
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Students will utilize the Internet to obtain information about women, gender, and feminism.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->Students will utilize multimedia resources pertaining to women, gender, and feminism.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->Students will utilize technology in the preparation of their assignments.
To assess the degree to which these learning outcomes have been achieved, instructors who teach WST 2010 will use the following methods:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Course-embedded assessment, including, but not limited to, homework assignments, individual and group projects (written, oral, visual, creative, or technology-based), and service-learning activities.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->Tests, quizzes, and other examinations.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->Portfolio evaluation (such as scrapbooks or research portfolios).
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4. <!--[endif]-->Students’ self-assessment of learning in the course.
B.
Learning Outcomes for B.A. and Minor in Women’s
Studies
The Women’s Studies Institute has developed desired
learning outcomes for students who graduate from our program with a B.A. or a
minor in women’s studies. These desired learning outcomes,
developed in 2002 as part of the mandated program review the WSI is conducting,
are as follows:
Critical Thinking/ Analytical
Skills
Students will read critically and
carefully, interpret, and challenge, interdisciplinary
work.
Students will build upon what they
have read to formulate new research questions.
Students will connect what they learn
with lived experiences.
Communication
Skills
Students will engage effectively in
peer review of writing or group learning activities.
Students will develop their ideas in
oral formats.
Students will effectively use
appropriate writing conventions and formats.
Acquisition of
Knowledge
Students will evaluate the diverse and
interdisciplinary composition of the field of women’s
studies.
Students will evaluate a variety of
theoretical ways to understand systems of oppression.
Students will analyze the ways in
which various forms of oppression (based on gender, race, class, sexual
identity, age, etc.) intersect with each other across
cultures.
Application of Skills
Students will develop the ability to
identify, analyze, and suggest solutions to pressing social
problems.
Students will apply women’s studies
knowledge and skills in real world settings.
Students majoring and minoring in women’s studies must take WST 2010, Introduction to Women’s Studies (which is also part of the general education requirement in Section E of the Arts and Sciences core); WST 3010, Feminisms, 21 hours of WST prefixed courses (of which no fewer than 2 outside a single area); and either WST 4950, Internship, or WST 4920, Senior Research. The general education requirement is discussed in another section of this document.
The WSI’s desired learning outcomes are measured at present through the student's successful completion of either WST 4950, Internship, or WST 4920, Senior Research. These 2 courses serve as a capstone experience for women’s studies students. These will be discussed below with regard as to how they are designed to produce the WSI’s desired learning outcomes.
WST 4950,
Internship.
Students majoring in women’s studies at GSU frequently elect to take WST 4950, Internship. WST 4950 provides opportunities to combine academic study with practical experience in an organizational setting specializing in attention to women’s or gender-related issues. Student interns work a minimum of 10 hours a week during a regular semester and 21-22 hours a week during the 7-week summer session at an internship site, which may be a state or government agency or a private or nonprofit organization. The site must provide intern assignments that are varied and meaningful, and that carry a fair amount of responsibility. A WSI representative makes this clear to the intern’s supervisor and determines the duties that will be required of the intern. Interns find their own intern sites and make arrangements for the internship. A frequently updated list of organizations that accept women’s studies interns is kept in the WSI office.
The grade in WST 4950 is based upon
A research paper written by the intern
on a topic related to the organization's work. The paper must
follow the conventions of an accepted academic style (APA, MLA, or Chicago) and
must have a list of works cited. This list must include
academic sources such as books and recognized journals, and it also may include
interviews with onsite personnel and/ or publications by the organization.
The paper should be informative, yet evaluative and
critical. It is not intended to be simply a
report.
A journal kept by the
intern. The journal should record the daily work done by the
intern and also the intern’s reflections on her or his onsite
experiences. The journal might evaluate the intern’s
experience in terms of his or her personal and academic/ professional
goals.
An evaluation of the intern’s
performance by her or his immediate supervisor onsite. This
is ordinarily obtained by a telephone interview with the WSI intern
advisor.
A written evaluation of the intern’s
performance by the intern's onsite supervisor.
The paper and journal are graded by the WSI intern advisor, who interviews the intern's supervisor at least twice B once around the middle of the semester and again when the semester is over. The intern advisor assigns the grade for the course.
This internship requires the student to demonstrate all of the WSI’s desired learning outcomes, primarily critical thinking and analytical skills; communication skills, both written and oral; acquisition of knowledge; and application of skills.
First, the student learns to use and apply the critical thinking and analytical skills learned in other WS courses in a real world setting. He or she learns to evaluate the effectiveness of the internship site and propose new solutions to the problems faced by that organization. Often the student is placed to work on community projects in which she or he must evaluate the projects and propose changes and solutions. In doing so, the student learns to connect what he or she has learned in classroom situations to the lived experiences encountered at the internship site.
Second, the student must use and increase her or his communication skills, both written and oral. The required research paper ensures that the student can do research, using both library and data-gathering methodology, and organize and present findings in clear and readable written form. The papers are graded not only for content but also for logical, clear organization, critical and analytical thinking, correct documentation of sources, and readable writing style. The student also may be (depending upon the internship site) responsible for creating materials such as brochures, websites, and other written materials for the organization.
In addition to
written skills, the student usually learns to communicate with a variety of
persons, including supervisors, peers, and those served by the
organization. The student may have to work with persons of
different ages. For example, a student might attend a support
group of adults or supervise a play group of children of varying
ages. The WSI intern advisor's telephone interview with the onsite
supervisor and the supervisor's written evaluation of the intern's performance
include evaluation of the student's ability to use appropriate oral or signed
communication skills effectively.
The student acquires new knowledge at the internship site that supplements and rounds out what he or she has learned in the classroom. A student interning at a battered women’s shelter will learn firsthand about the effects of domestic violence and about the justice system’s response to it. A student working for a women’s health clinic will learn about the health issues of the women using the clinic, and also about the politics of women’s reproductive health. The students will augment their theoretical knowledge with real-life examples, and learn to apply different theoretical approaches to different situations. Finally, students will learn how oppression works firsthand. The student at the battered women’s shelter will see for her- or himself how gender, race, class, sexuality, etc., intersect in individual lives.
Finally, the student intern, as a result of experience onsite, will develop the ability to identify, analyze, and suggest solutions to the social problems that he or she has seen and worked with at the internship site. The internship will, optimally, bring the student to an understanding of how women’s studies course work can be applied to real world settings.
To assess the student’s achievement of the WSI’s learning outcomes, each spring a panel composed of WS faculty will review selected internship research papers. These assessments will be recorded, and the past two years’ assessments will be considered along with those of the year at hand in order to discover progress and deficiencies. These papers should give a good indication of the student’s mastery of critical thinking/analytical skills, communication skills, acquisition of knowledge in women’s studies, and ability to use and to apply women’s studies knowledge and skills to problems.
2.WST 4920, Senior
Research.
Students majoring in women’s studies at GSU may elect to take WST 4920, Senior Research. The student usually elects this course as a result of having become interested in a topic while taking a course and wishing to pursue this topic further. The student is responsible for asking a professor to supervise the research project. If the professor agrees, the student and the professor together decide on the project the student will pursue. This is ordinarily a research paper on the topic of interest. The professor is responsible for supervising and assigning a grade to the research project.
The senior research project should show how the student has achieved many of the WSI’s desired learning outcomes. The student learns to use and apply critical thinking and analytical skills learned in other WS courses to a research problem. The student must investigate a research question, using both library and data-gathering methodology, and organize and present findings in clear and readable written form. The student must select the most appropriate methodology from those learned in WS courses. He or she demonstrates mastery of written communication skills. The paper demonstrates the student’s grasp of WS concepts and methodologies and also her or his ability to write a logical, clear, well organized, correctly documented paper.
To assess the student’s achievement of the WSI’s learning outcomes, the WSI will provide copies of our desired learning outcomes to our affiliate faculty in other departments who direct senior research papers. Each spring a panel composed of WS faculty will review selected senior research papers. These assessments will be recorded, and the past two years’ assessments will be considered along with those of the year at hand in order to discover progress and deficiencies. These papers should give a good indication of the student’s mastery of critical thinking/ analytical skills, communication skills, acquisition of knowledge in women’s studies, and ability to use and to apply women’s studies knowledge and skills to problems.
C. Learning Outcomes for M.A. Program in Women’s Studies
The Master of Arts (M.A.) degree prepares students either for doctoral work in women's studies or in a related discipline or enhances careers in which students address issues related to the conditions of women's lives.
Women's studies is an interdisciplinary field of study that coheres around feminism as a critical perspective that can be applied to many areas of thought and action. The program of studies is designed to reflect that as well as to introduce a global focus. Ideally, each entering student will move together through four core courses: WST 8001, History and Theory of European and U.S. Feminisms; WST 8002, Globalization and Gender; WST 8003, New Directions in Feminism; and WST 8004, Feminist Methodologies. The remainder of their 30 hours of class work will be taken from other Women's Studies as well as from cross-listed courses offered in other departments. The student's progress is monitored by the Graduate Director. For this course work, the following are thought to be reasonable learning outcomes:
Critical Thinking/Analytical Skills
1. Students will read critically and carefully, interpret, and challenge interdisciplinary work.
2. Students will build upon what they have read to formulate new research questions.
3. Students will connect what they learn with lived experiences.
Communication Skills
1. Students will engage effectively in peer review of writing or group learning activities.
2. Students will develop their ideas in oral formats.
3. Students will use appropriate writing conventions and formats.
Acquisition of Knowledge
1. Students will evaluate the diverse and interdisciplinary composition of the field of women's studies.
2. Students will evaluate a variety of theoretical ways to understand systems of oppression.
3. Students will analyze the ways in which various forms of oppression (based on gender, race, class, sexual identity, age, etc.) intersect with each other across cultures.
Application of Skills
1. Students will develop the ability to identify, analyze, and suggest solutions to pressing social problems.
2. Students will apply women's studies knowledge and skills in real world settings.
To assess the degree to which these learning outcomes have been achieved, a committee of the Institute will consider several student portfolios each year, chosen randomly. These portfolios, which constitute the written comprehensive examination, consist of two papers, one a preliminary thesis proposal and the other a critical or analytical paper. They are submitted to the graduate faculty after the student has completed 30 hours of course work and before he/she writes the thesis.
These assessments will be recorded, and the past two years= assessments will be considered along with those of the year at hand in order to discover progress and deficiencies. Together the two papers should give a good indication of the student's mastery of critical thinking/analytical skills, communication skills, acquisition of knowledge in women's studies, and ability to use and to apply women's studies knowledge and skills to problems.