Georgia State University
Annual Student Learning Outcomes
Assessment Report
Due to the A&S Dean’s Office Aug. 19, 2005
Unit Name: Women’s Studies Institute
Prepared by: Susan Talburt,
Date: August 19, 2005
Academic Year: 2004-2005
|
III. Changes to Procedures
or Curriculum Based on Assessment |
|
|
II. Achievement
of Departmental Objectives for Students A. Undergraduate--
|
In accordance with the Women’s Studies Institute’s Learning Outcomes Assessment Plan (approved in 2004), the WSI assessed its learning outcomes in three areas:
A. WSt 2010: Introduction to Women’s Studies. WSt is both the introductory course for majors and minors and a course that fulfills the General Education Requirement in Area E of the Arts and Sciences core curriculum at Georgia State. Learning outcomes are:
Communication
1. Students will effectively use appropriate writing conventions and formats.
2. Students will effectively use appropriate oral or signed conventions and formats.
Collaboration
3. Students will engage effectively in team or group projects.
4. Students will practice effective intergroup communication skills in the classroom.
5. Students will practice feminist social problem solving methods in the classroom.
Critical Thinking
6. Students will read critically and carefully, as well as interpret and challenge interdisciplinary work.
7. Students will build upon what they have read, heard, or viewed to formulate new research questions.
8. Students will connect what they learn with lived experiences.
Contemporary Issues
9. 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.
10. Students will analyze various meanings of terms like oppression, discrimination, and violence as they pertain to women and other groups.
11. 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.
12. Students will evaluate uses of feminism as a contemporary critical analytic frame.
13. Students will distinguish among past and present variations in feminist theories and viewpoints.
14. 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
15. Students will analyze, interpret, and critique statistical information pertaining to women, gender, and sexism.
Technology
16. Students will utilize the Internet to obtain information about women, gender, and feminism.
17. Students will utilize multimedia resources pertaining to women, gender, and feminism.
18. Students will utilize technology in the preparation of their assignments.
For these general education outcomes, two sections of WSt 2010 were sampled. The sample included 59 students (of a total of 166 students in 5 sections during the 2004-2005 academic year). Data collected included the instructor’s grade sheet, with evaluation of students broken down by assignment, as well as a small subsample (7) of student papers. The seven papers were deemed inappropriate for analysis that would offer substantive data or allow for meaningful conclusions. The grade sheets, however, allowed us to collect data pertaining to three general education outcomes: 1. Students will effectively use appropriate writing conventions and formats; 2. Students will effectively use appropriate oral or signed conventions and formats; and 3. Students will engage effectively in team or group projects. Analysis entailed converting instructor grades (on a traditional 100-point scale) for paper and group presentation assignments to a scale of 1-5 (1 = poor; 2 = fair; 3 = good; 4 = very good; 5 = excellent). From this, mean scores and a descriptive count of students achieving scores of “very good” or “excellent” were derived for each of the three outcomes.
B. Learning Outcomes for students completing the B.A. or minor in Women’s Studies.
The learning outcomes are:
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
4. Students will engage effectively in peer review of writing or group learning activities.
5. Students will develop their ideas in oral formats.
6. Students will effectively use appropriate writing conventions and formats.
Acquisition of Knowledge
7. Students will evaluate the diverse and interdisciplinary composition of the field of women’s studies.
8. Students will evaluate a variety of theoretical ways to understand systems of oppression.
9. 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
10. Students will develop the ability to identify, analyze, and suggest solutions to pressing social problems.
11. Students will apply women’s studies knowledge and skills in real world settings.
For these outcomes, we reviewed the final paper for all five students registered in WSt 4950: Internship (3 students) and WSt 4920: Senior Research (two students). Data analysis entailed review of each paper for nine of the eleven outcomes (#4 and #5, peer review and development of ideas in oral formats could not be evaluated through this assessment). For each outcome, scores of 1-5 were assigned (1 = poor; 2 = fair; 3 = good; 4 = very good; 5 = excellent). In some cases, a score of Not Applicable (N/A) was assigned to a particular outcome on a particular paper if that outcome was not reflected in the nature and/or purpose of the paper. Scores of N/A are noted in the section that reports student achievement of learning outcomes, with mean scores and descriptive accounts of student achievement.
C. Learning Outcomes for M.A. students in Women’s Studies
The learning outcomes are:
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
4. Students will engage effectively in peer review of writing or group learning activities.
5. Students will develop their ideas in oral formats.
6. Students will effectively use appropriate writing conventions and formats.
Acquisition of Knowledge
7. Students will evaluate the diverse and interdisciplinary composition of the field of women’s studies.
8. Students will evaluate a variety of theoretical ways to understand systems of oppression.
9. 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
10. Students will develop the ability to identify, analyze, and suggest solutions to pressing social problems.
11. Students will apply women’s studies knowledge and skills in real world settings.
To assess these outcomes, we evaluated all seven of the comprehensive exam portfolios that were submitted during the academic year 2004-2005. These portfolios contain two elements, a critical or analytical paper and a preliminary master’s thesis proposal. The portfolios, as well as the Director of Graduate Studies’ summative letter of commentary to students (which synthesizes independent readers’ evaluations) were reviewed to derive scores of 1-5 (1 = poor; 2 = fair; 3 = good; 4 = very good; 5 = excellent) for nine of the eleven outcomes for each student’s portfolio (#4 and #5, peer review and development of ideas in oral formats could not be evaluated through this assessment).
(1) In our general education course, WSt 2010, our data collection procedure allowed us to assess three learning outcomes.
These results are suggestive of a need for ongoing attention to writing skills at the introductory level. They are also suggestive of a high level of achievement in oral communication and collaboration.
(2) For the B.A. in Women’s Studies, our data collection procedure allowed initial assessment of all but two of our learning outcomes (pertaining to peer review and oral communication).
While it is difficult to draw substantive conclusions on the basis of five students’ achievement, the results for outcome 1 suggest that our instruction and guided assignments might benefit students by focusing more than it does at present on close reading of interdisciplinary texts. However, outcome 7 suggests offers contradictory data suggesting that students are capable of evaluating a body of interdisciplinary work. Overall, these students’ achievement suggests that students are meeting central goals of women’s studies: conducting analyses of forms of oppression, making “real-world” and personal connections to the academic, and demonstrating the ability to develop research questions and approaches to addressing them.
For the M.A. in Women’s Studies, our data collection procedure allowed initial assessment of all but two of our learning outcomes (pertaining to peer review and oral communication).
Across learning outcomes, this assessment is reflective of a wide variation in students’ skills and performance. However, it is important to note that in all cases, the students’ level of knowledge and performance has indeed improved. Three of the students were admitted to the M.A. program more than three years ago; only two of them were admitted in the 2003-2004 or 2004-2005 cohorts of master’s students. We believe this variation is affected by past admissions standards into the M.A. program, an issue which the WSI has begun to address and is continuing to change (as discussed below).
Based on the learning outcomes assessment, we have not made formal changes to our assessment procedures or curriculum. However, independently of this process (and as a result of personnel changes and Academic Program Review, as discussed below), we have implemented some initial curricular and programmatic changes at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
The Women’s Studies Institute is in a period of significant transition. During the past year the following changes have occurred: (1) a new director was appointed in Summer 2004, (2) in academic year 2004-2005, of two core faculty, one resigned mid-year to take a chair position at another university and the other was on a semester leave, (3) faculty searches during academic year 2004-2005 have resulted in the hiring of a new lecturer and an assistant professor effective August 2005, (4) a search is planned this year for another assistant professor to begin August 2006, (5) the WSI completed Academic Program Review last year, with a new Action Plan that centers globalization and social change as core areas of focus and that allowed the restructuring of our core/affiliate faculty structure and governance, and (6) structures have been put in place to begin comprehensive curricular review of our undergraduate and graduate programs this academic year.
Given the significant personnel and programmatic changes underway, as well as the need to consult with faculty beyond the cycle of this report (which had to be prepared in Summer 2005), meaningful consultation with and deliberation among faculty have not been possible. Nonetheless, even without substantial discussion, it is clear that a number of modifications are in order. First, the WSI’s learning outcomes are in need of revision. For example, eighteen learning outcomes for one course (WSt 2010) is unwieldy and places an undue amount of pressure on a single course. Second, our learning outcomes for the B.A. and M.A. are identical and do not explicitly reflect the more advanced level of achievement that should occur at the graduate level.
Overall, the curricular reviews we are conducting at the graduate and undergraduate levels should be informed by and inform a rethinking of our learning outcomes, particularly for the B.A. and M.A. As a unit, we must make these important curricular decisions (including the target or cutoff scores for each learning outcome that are requested as an element of this report) with significant faculty deliberation to begin this academic year.