Adam Luedtke (Social Sciences) - Assessment Institute - Fall 2013
Assessment Report - PLSC 101 (American Gov. & Politics) – December 20, 2013
Student Learning Outcomes & Related Gen. Ed. Objectives

Student Learning Outcomes ("SLO"s):
SLO A: By the mid-term point, and again at the end of the course, students will be able to explain how &
why two (2) foundational political science concepts affect contemporary US government & politics.

SLO B: By the mid-term point, and again at the end of the course, students will be able to identify an
example of the impact of constitutional design (versus extra-constitutional forces) on American politics.

SLO C: By the mid-term point, and again at the semester’s end, students will be able to demonstrate how
one contemporary political issue/controversy is affected by the concept of separation of powers.

Gen Ed Objectives
1 ("Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking")
o SLOs A and C

2 ("Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems & evaluate evidence in order to make informed
decisions")
o A, B and C

5 ("Integrate knowledge and skills in their program of study")
o A, B and C

6 ("Differentiate & make informed decisions about issues based on multiple value systems")
o A only

8 ("Use historical or social sciences perspectives to examine formation of ideas, human behavior, social
institutions or social processes")
o A, B and C
Discussion of Assignments Students Completed
SLO A: See Appendix A for the relevant W.I. materials (SLO A is primarily assessed in Section E4, my W.I. section,
and the data are their papers, with the rough and final drafts serving as pre- and post-test). I have also added a
measure of SLO A as an essay question to the Mid-Term and Final Exams for Section E5 (standard 35 student course).
Both exams were blue-book essay exams, and here was the question I used for SLO A (one of three questions on
the exam, each hitting one of my SLOs):
Mid-Term and Final Exams – PLSC 101 – Section E5 (35 students) – (one of 3 essay
questions): “Give a detailed example of how liberty and equality conflict with each other in
the American system. You must use at least one real-world issue to help you contrast these
values (and their role in US politics), in explaining how equality and liberty differ.”
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SLO B: One essay question on constitutional design in Section E5 (standard section), to be graded using the same
rubric I'm using for Section E4's papers (see Appendix A). On the exams in section E5, this question was:
Mid-Term and Final Exams – PLSC 101 – Section E5 (35 students) – (one of 3 essay questions:
“Explain how our Constitution‘s design (its written clauses and their interpretation) affected
the recent government shutdown. You can argue that the crisis was caused by our
Constitution’s blueprint for government and/or you can explain some specific ways the crisis
was affected by constitutional factors. You are welcome to discuss non-constitutional causes
too, but you should focus mainly on the constitutional issues.”
SLO C: This student learning outcome is assessed in both Section E5, as a question on the Mid-Term and Final
Essay exams (like the questions for SLO A and B, above), as well as being assessed in section H2, my large class of
90 students. In section E5, the question (again, one of three on the Mid-Term and Final) was:
Mid-Term and Final Exams – PLSC 101 – Section E5 (35 students) – (one of 3 essay
questions): “Explain how (as specifically as possible) the separation of powers in our political
system has affected one or more current political issues or controversies."
In section H2, I assessed SLO C in two different ways. First, the same question as the one above (for section E5)
was asked as an extra-credit essay question on the Mid-Term and Final Exams (which were otherwise multiple
choice). Also, I assessed SLO C through 4 groups of multiple choice questions on both the Mid-Term and Final.
Group A - Foundation (philosophical comprehension – ONE QUESTION):
3. When the founders established ________ in the new government, they drew upon the ideas of Baron de Montesquieu, who had
argued that when legislative, executive, and judicial power are not exercised by the same institution, power cannot be so easily abused.
a. federalism
b. enumerated powers
c. checks and balances
d. separation of powers
Group B – Application (Separation of Powers applied to real issues – SEVEN QUESTIONS):
5. If Arizona passes an immigration law in conflicts with federal
law, the federal law overrides any conflicting provisions due to:
a. the privileges and immunities clause.
b. the supremacy clause.
c. the doctrine of preemption.
d. concurrent powers.
9. Who makes the determination that a particular action or law
is in violation of the free exercise clause of the 1st Amendment?
a. state legislatures
b. Congress
c. the president
d. the U.S. Supreme Court
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31. Which of these is NOT a federal power in the Constitution?
a. To lay and collect taxes
b. To raise and support armies and navies
c. To declare war
d. To coin money
e. To provide for the health, safety, and welfare of
citizens
32. The power to establish bankruptcy laws is an example of:
a. An enumerated power.
b. A reserved power.
c. A concurrent power.
d. A dictated power.
33. The power to conduct elections is an example of:
a. An enumerated power.
b. A reserved power.
c. A concurrent power.
d. A dictated power.
e. A revealed power.
34. The power to coin money is an example of a(n)
a. enumerated power.
b. reserved power.
c. concurrent power.
d. dictated power.
e. revealed power.
35. Powers explicitly delegated to Congress under Article I of
the U.S. Constitution are referred to as
a. enumerated powers.
b. reserved powers.
c. concurrent powers.
d. federal powers.
e. constituent powers.
Group C: National (Separation of Powers in the elected federal branches – FOUR QUESTIONS):
13. When a judge, president, or executive official is impeached,
that person is
a. charged with an offense.
b. assigned to a lower position.
c. removed from office.
d. sent to federal prison.
16. Which of the following is NOT one of the constitutionally
expressed powers of the president?
a. power to grant reprieves or pardons
b. commander in chief of the armed forces
c. power to make certain appointments
d. power to approve treaties
15. According to the Constitution, while the vice president is
first in line to succeed the president in the event of death or
incapacitation, if the vice president is unable to serve then
succession falls to
a. the Speaker of the House.
b. a cabinet-level official.
c. the minority whip.
d. Congress.
48. In the U.S. House of Representatives, membership from
each state is based upon
a. political party strength.
b. appointment by the governor.
c. equal representation from each state.
d. population of the state.
e. amount of funding allotted by the previous Congress.
Group D: Federal (Separation of Powers between states and federal government – FOUR QUESTIONS):
4. The Constitution spelled out the powers of the new federal
government in detail, and it was assumed that the
government's authority did not extend beyond those powers
known as the ________ of the federal government.
a. loose construction
b. separation of powers
c. checks and balances
d. enumerated powers
6. When the U.S. Supreme Court makes a ruling concerning the
interpretation of the Constitution:
a. the supremacy clause does not apply to that ruling
b. any state legislature or state court must also abide by the
interpretation of the Constitution made in the ruling
c. that ruling may be overridden by a state's supreme court.
d. that ruling has no bearing on state governments.
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8. The ________ Amendment applied the Bill of Rights to the
states when it declared that no state could "deprive any person
of life, liberty or property without due process of law."
a. Eleventh
b. Fourteenth
c. Sixteenth
d. Twentieth
30. Powers shared by federal & state governments are called:
a.
enumerated powers.
b.
reserved powers.
c.
concurrent powers.
d.
Moderate powers.
Evidence of How Well Students Achieved Outcomes (Tools Used, etc.)
I created these SLOs to achieve maximum possible variation on several key dimensions. This was facilitated by the
fact that I taught 3 sections of PLSC 101 (American Government and Politics) this semester, each quite distinct:
 Section E4 was my writing-intensive class (25 students), so in addition to the standard 101 curriculum,
they learned how to write, and worked on their original essays throughout the semester.
 Section E5 was a section of 35. For (in-class) mid-term and final exams, they answered 3 essay questions.
 Section H2 was an "amphitheater" section of 90, so other than the extra-credit essay question that was
assessing SLO C, their exams were multiple-choice.
As explained above, I primarily assessed SLO A in my W.I. section, while my section of 90 students assessed SLO C
in two different ways (essay and multiple-choice). SLO B was only assessed in section E5, which was my normal
section of 35 students. This section assessed SLO A and C as well, so I was quite happy that the students in
Section E5 could help me assess all three learning outcomes, since both exams featured three essay questions).
By using such varied measures across varied sections, I think that I got good variation on which educational objectives matched which
SLOs, as well as getting good variation on the likely compatibility of my SLOs with other sections/instructors (or even other fields in
social science if we wanted to use these on a department level). In fact, during the semester I joined my department's assessment
committee, and I helped push a task-based assessment tool that was in part based on the instruments and data gathered here. In
future semesters, I'd like to not only get good data for the purposes of assessment, but also use the gathered assessment numbers for
further analysis on the learning effectiveness of W.I. courses relative to standard courses (as well as any effects from class size). I was
able to get some preliminary data on the results of SLO A when compared between E4 (writing-intensive) and E5 (non-writing intensive).
Although the validity of the comparison is in question, since the W.I. class was doing take-home essays while the standard class was
doing in-class essays, I think that the results are interesting (see next section). Despite this comparison, though, I mostly stuck with the
working assumption that all three SLOs can be assessed with equal accuracy by essay and non-essay instruments, which was ultimately a
factor in me helping my department decide upon multiple-choice instruments in our task-based assessment. In summary, I am excited
about the range of variables and concepts measured (at least preliminarily) in my 3 SLO/3 Section design, including:



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
essays vs. multiple-choice (with possibilities for other instruments)
class sizes ranging from 25 to 90
High-Impact versus non-W.I. courses
five different Gen. Ed. objectives
pre- and post-test comparability
Flexible instruments that can be used by other sections, courses, instructors, and even other fields.
Analysis and Summary of Assessment Results Obtained
SLO A:
 W.I. (section E4) - On the first two rows of the rubric in Appendix A, the average total score on the rough
drafts was 17.8, while on the Final Papers it went up to 18.2
 Non-W.I. (Section E5) - On the Mid-Term Exam, the average score on the essay question dealing with SLO
A was 14.7, and this did not substantially improve on the Final Exam (the average score was 15.0).
This offers some preliminary evidence that Writing-Intensive classes (and perhaps high-impact classes in
general) do in fact produce better learning (since the papers showed about an 18 average score while the
essay exams showed about a 15). However, the small "bounce" between "pre" and "post" tests (rough/final
drafts in the W.I. class versus Mid-Term/Final exams in Section E5) was rather disappointing from a
pedagogical point of view, though this could have been due to me having higher grading standards the second
time around!
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SLO B:
 Non-W.I. (Section E5) - On the Mid-Term Exam, the average score on the essay question dealing with SLO
B was 13.4, and this went up to 14.8 on the Final Exam.
SLO C:
 Section E5 - On the Mid-Term Exam, the average score on the essay question dealing with SLO C was 12.6,
and this went up to 14.5 on the Final Exam.
 Section H2 - SLO C was the only learning outcome being assessed in my large section of 90 (H2), but it was
being assessed in two different ways: through an extra credit essay question, as well as through the 16
multiple choice questions listed above. Here were the results.
o Extra credit Essay Questions (10 possible points)
 Mid-Term - out of 81 students who took the Exam, only 34 attempted the extra credit essay
question (assessing SLO C). Of those 34 students, scores ranged from 1 extra credit point to
8 points. The average score was 3.7.
 Final - out of 79 students who took the Exam, only 38 attempted the extra credit essay
question (assessing SLO C). Of those 38, scores ranged from 1 extra credit point to 10
points. The average score was 4.9.
o Multiple Choice Questions

Mid-Term Exam

Group A - Foundation
(philosophical comprehension –
1 question):
#3: 64% of students answered correctly.
 Group B – Application
(Separation of Powers applied
to real issues – 7 questions):
#5. 69% of students answered correctly.
#9. 75% answered correctly.
#31. 62% correct.
#32. 29% correct.
#33. 52% correct.
#34. 49% correct.
#35. 54% correct.
 Group C - National (Separation
of Powers in elected federal
branches – 4 questions):
#13. 61% of students answered correctly.
#15. 27% answered correctly.
#16. 73% correct.
#48. 67% correct.
 Group D – Federal (Separation
of Powers between states &
feds – 4 questions):
#4. 71% of students answered correctly.
#6. 83% answered correctly.
#8. 83% correct.
#30. 78% correct
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Final Exam

Group A - Foundation
(philosophical comprehension –
1 question):
#3. 76% (only 64% correct on Mid-Term).
 Group B – Application
(Separation of Powers applied
to real issues – 7 questions):
#5. 76% (only 69% correct on Mid-Term).
#9. 83% (only 75% correct on Mid-Term).
#31. 63% (62% correct on Mid-Term).
#32. 43% (29% correct on Mid-Term).
#33. 52% correct (52% also on Mid-Term).
#34. 50% correct (49% on Mid-Term).
#35. 64% correct (54% on Mid-Term).
 Group C - National (Separation
of Powers in elected federal
branches – 4 questions):
#13. 100% of students answered correctly
(only 61% correct on Mid-Term).
#15. 93% answered correctly (only 27%
gave correct answers on Mid-Term).
#16. 74% correct (73% on Mid-Term).
#48. 69% correct (67% on Mid-Term).
 Group D – Federal (Separation
of Powers between states &
feds – 4 questions):
#4. 79% (only 71% correct on Mid-Term).
#6. 86% (83% correct on Mid-Term).
#8. 86% (83% correct on Mid-Term).
#30. 79% (78% correct on Mid-Term).
A description of how assessment results affected student learning outcomes
(including plans to address improvement)

SLO A: By the mid-term point, and again at the end of the course, students will be able to explain how &
why two (2) foundational political science concepts affect contemporary US government & politics.
My two assessments of this SLO both involved essays, with my W.I. class (E4) doing rough and final drafts, and my
standard class (E5) doing an essay question that tackled the same topic (the relationship between liberty and
equality in American politics) on both rough and final drafts. Thus, both assessments were scored on the two
relevant 10-point rubric scales, leading to a combined possible maximum score of 20. I was quite pleased that
the W.I. class scored higher (18.2 average on Final Draft, 17.8 average on Rough Draft) than the standard class did
(15.0 on Final, 14.7 on Mid-Term). While it’s possible that the disparity between the two sections was due to the
fact that W.I. students had all term to write an essay at home, I believe that this disparity was corrected for in my
grading, as mentioned above. Thus, these results are encouraging to me. Not only did W.I. students score
higher, but they also improved more in the final assessment (a gain of .4 points, versus a gain of .3). All in all, I
would say that improvement could be most shown in the standard section, by helping these students reach the
same level of essay expression on this important student learning outcome, whether it’s an in-class or take-home
assignment!

SLO B: By the mid-term point, and again at the end of the course, students will be able to identify an
example of the impact of constitutional design (versus extra-constitutional forces) on American politics.
In my non-W.I. section (E5), the average score on the Mid-Term essay question dealing with this learning
outcome was 13.4, and this went up to 14.8 on the Final Exam. Like the 15.0 on the question assessing SLO A, my
standard section of 35 disappointed me with their low (15/20) score on the combined rubric instrument. This
seems to be where I need to push the most improvement, is in a standard section using blue-book essay
questions.

SLO C: By the mid-term point, and again at the semester’s end, students will be able to demonstrate how
one contemporary political issue/controversy is affected by the concept of separation of powers.
This was one area where my standard section (E5) showed positive results on their blue-book essay exams in
class, though not necessarily in the (still too low) Final Exam average score of 14.5, which was actually the lowest
of the three essay questions. Instead, here is where they showed the most improvement between pre- and posttest (from 12.6 to 14.5), meaning that I apparently did the best job teaching the skills necessary to attain this
learning outcome, despite the lower Final Exam results. This was a piece of good news. And finally, I’ll close with
the multiple choice results from H2 (my section of 90), since I’m not sure how valid the extra credit essay results
were in this section. On multiple choice, in some ways, I got my most useful and informative results, since there
was such a wide range of scoring, and especially a wide range of improvement shown on some questions that tap
Learning Outcome C. Some aspects or questions showed low scores that didn’t rise from Mid-Term to Final.
Others showed low scores that improved considerably. Some were high and stayed high, while others were high
and improved even more! This gives me a lot to think about for future semesters in terms of what and how to
teach. Specifically, I need to understand why questions 32, 33 and 34 were hardly answered correctly by half the
class, even during the second time around! (Final Exam). Clearly, there is something I’m doing wrong here. By
the same token, questions 31, 35 and 48 give cause for concern, with little improvement on already bad results!
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