QCC COURSE ASSESSMENT
Date: September 3, 2013
Department: Foreign Languages and Literatures
Course: LS 222
Curriculum or Curricula: Liberal Arts
PART I. STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES
TABLE 1. EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT
LS-222 is the second course of the Heritage Spanish sequence of foreign language study. This
course partially fulfills the foreign language requirements for the Associate Degree in Liberal
Arts and Sciences. It fulfills the language requirements for the Associate Degree in Visual and
Performing Arts. It may also fulfill the Liberal Arts and Science and the Humanities elective
requirements for all other degree programs.
TABLE 2. CURRICULAR OBJECTIVES
Curricular objectives addressed by this course:
N/A
TABLE 3. GENERAL EDUCATION OBJECTIVES
Gen Ed
General educational objectives addressed by this course: Select from
objective’s preceding list.
(1) Write, read, listen and speak clearly and effectively
ID
(2) Use analytical reasoning skills
number
(3) Use information management skills effectively for academic research and
from list
lifelong learning
(1-10)
(4) Integrate knowledge and skills across disciplines
(5) Differentiate and make informed decisions about issues based on cultural
and political value systems
(6) Use personal and collaborative skills
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TABLE 4: COURSE OBJECTIVES AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Course objectives
Learning outcomes
1) Students will be able to read,
analyze and interpret a variety of
literary and non-literary Spanish
texts dealing with key sociocultural aspects of
Hispanics/Latinos in the United
States
2) Students will be able to draw
conclusions, express opinions, and
define points of view in their oral
and written discussions of literary
and non-literary Spanish texts
3) Students will be able to write 2page reports in Spanish following
the steps of the writing process
(brainstorming, developing an
outline for an essay, developing a
draft, revising and self-editing)
4) Students will have an increased
awareness of the vast range of
Spanish varieties used throughout
the Spanish-speaking world
5) Students will have an increased
awareness of formal and informal
oral and written registers
6) Students will have an increased
confidence in their bilingual
language strengths
Student will be able to
1) name the characteristics of a good thesis;
identify and write good theses
2) find bibliographical resources and include
them in an essay using the appropriate format
for references
3) describe the characteristics of a good
summary; identify and write good summaries
4) describe strategies to create a good title
5) evaluate the title, introduction and conclusion
of a text
6) explain the meaning of words related to
immigration, identity, bilingualism and labor
relations; use this vocabulary appropriately
7) use transitional words like “according to” and
“however” appropriately
8) identify linguistic phenomena related to
bilingualism such as code switching and
cognates; provide alternative words and
expressions for those linguistic phenomena
9) distinguish the verbal form “ha” from the
preposition “a”
10) use the infinitive and the gerund in Spanish,
and identify the differences with English
11) read, analyze and interpret a Spanish text
dealing with key socio-cultural aspects of the
Hispanic world
12) write 2 persuasive or argumentative essays on
topics related to political and socio-cultural
aspects of the Hispanic world. The essays
should include a title, a clear thesis, opinions
in favor and against the thesis, a conclusion
and references
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PART II. ASSIGNMENT DESIGN: ALIGNING OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES, AND
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
TABLE 5: OBJECTIVES ADDRESSED IN ASSESSMENT ASSIGNMENT
Course Objective(s) selected for assessment: (select from Table 4)
1) Students will be able to read, analyze and interpret a variety of literary and non-literary
Spanish texts dealing with key socio-cultural aspects of Hispanics/Latinos in the United
States
2) Students will be able to draw conclusions, express opinions, and define points of view in
their written discussions of literary and non-literary Spanish texts
3) Students will have an increased awareness of formal and informal oral and written registers
Curricular Objective(s) selected for assessment: (select from Table 2)
N/A
General Education Objective(s) addressed in this assessment: (select from Table 3)
1) Write, read, listen and speak clearly and effectively
2) Use analytical reasoning skills
3) Differentiate and make informed decisions about issues based on cultural and political
value systems
TABLE 6: ASSIGNMENT, OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES, AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS
The assessment tool is a comprehensive final exam that addresses the following course
objectives and contents:
1. read, analyze and interpret an argumentative text dealing with socio-cultural aspects of
Hispanics/Latinos in the United States
2. identify and apply the elements and steps of the writing process
3. write an argumentative essay
4. grammar and orthography activities
5. vocabulary activities
(See appendix 1 for a copy of the final exam)
Desired student learning
outcomes for the
assignment
Students will be able to:
Briefly describe the
What assessment tools will be
range of activities
used to measure how well students
student will engage in for have met each learning outcome?
this assignment.
1) read, analyze and
interpret a variety of
literary and non-literary
Spanish texts dealing with
key socio-cultural aspects
of Hispanics/Latinos in
1) Reading
comprehension
activities
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1) Students answer questions about
a non-fiction text provided to them
in the exam.
the United States (Gen.
Ed. Obj. 1 and 2)
2) draw conclusions,
express opinions, and
define points of view in
their oral and written
discussions of literary and
non-literary Spanish texts
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1, 2 and 3)
2) Reading and writing
skills activities,
including writing a
short argumentative
essay
2) Students answer questions about
a non-fiction text provided to them
in the exam, and write an essay
arguing in favor or against the
minimum salary (one of the topics
of the course). This writing
assignment is evaluated using the
rubric designed for this purpose.
(See Appendix 2). Students answer
questions related to the following
topics: developing good theses,
citing references, developing good
summaries, describing the
characteristics of good titles and
conclusions.
3) have an increased
awareness of formal and
informal oral and written
registers (Gen. Ed. Obj. 1)
3) Vocabulary activities.
Grammar and orthography
activities
3) Students answer vocabulary
questions, provide transitional
words within a paragraph, and
distinguish between formal and
informal expressions. Students
answer questions related to the uses
of “ha” vs. “a”, written accents, and
the use of the infinitive vs. the
gerund.
PART III. ASSESSMENT STANDARDS (RUBRICS)
TABLE 7: ASSESSMENT STANDARDS (RUBRICS)
Brief description of assignment:
The assessment tool is a comprehensive final exam that addresses the following course
objectives and contents:
1. read, analyze and interpret an argumentative text dealing with socio-cultural aspects of
Hispanics/Latinos in the United States
2. write an argumentative essay
3. knowledge of grammar and orthography
4. vocabulary knowledge
(See Appendix 1 for a copy of the final exam)
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Desired student learning
outcomes from the
assignment.
Assessment measures for
each learning outcome:
Standards for student
performance:
1) read, analyze and interpret
a variety of literary and nonliterary Spanish texts dealing
with key socio-cultural
aspects of Hispanics/Latinos
in the United States (Gen. Ed.
Obj. 1 and 2)
1) Students answer questions
about a non-fiction text
provided to them in the
exam.
1) Students’ reading
comprehension ability will be
determined by calculating
their accuracy rates in their
answers to reading
comprehension questions.
75% of the students are
expected to meet the course
standard.
2) draw conclusions, express
opinions, and define points of
view in their oral and written
discussions of literary and
non-literary Spanish texts
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1, 2 and 3)
2) Students write an essay
arguing in favor or
against the minimum
salary (one of the topics
of the course). Students
also answer questions
related to the following
topics: developing good
theses, citing references,
developing good
summaries, describing the
characteristics of good
titles and conclusions.
2) The parameters used to
measure students’ writing
abilities in their essay will be
determined by the written
rubric (See Appendix 2). 75%
of the students are expected
to meet the course standard.
3) Students answer
vocabulary questions, provide
transitional words within a
paragraph, and distinguish
between formal and informal
expressions. Students also
answer questions related to
the uses of “ha” vs. “a”,
written accents, and the use
of the infinitive vs. the
gerund
3) Students’ vocabulary
knowledge will be
determined by calculating
their accuracy rates in their
answers to the vocabulary
questions. 75% of the
students are expected to meet
the course standard.
Students’ grammar and
ortography knowledge will be
determined by calculating
their accuracy rates in
providing the correct forms or
structures. 75% of the
students are expected to meet
Students will:
3) have an increased
awareness of formal and
informal oral and written
registers (Gen. Ed. Obj. 1)
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the course standard.
PART IV. ASSESSMENT RESULTS
TABLE 8: SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Desired student learning
outcomes:
Student achievement:
Gen-Ed objectives
1) read, analyze and interpret a
variety of literary and nonliterary Spanish texts dealing
with key socio-cultural aspects
of Hispanics/Latinos in the
United States (Gen. Ed. Obj. 1
and 2)
See Table 9.
2) draw conclusions, express
opinions, and define points of
view in their oral and written
discussions of literary and nonliterary Spanish texts (Gen. Ed.
Obj. 1, 2 and 3)
3) have an increased awareness
of formal and informal oral and
written registers (Gen. Ed. Obj.
1)
TABLE 9. EVALUATION AND RESULTING ACTION PLAN
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A. Analysis and interpretation of assessment results:
1. Written Final Examination
The data below correspond to the performance of 44 students in the final exam, which was
designed and used as the main assessment tool. The assessment included five categories: 1)
writing skills, 2) vocabulary, 3) grammar and orthography, 4) reading comprehension, 5) essay
writing.
The results are as follows:
Table 1
Average Score in Each Category
Writing
Vocabulary
Grammar
Reading
Essay
Total
skills
and
Comprehension Writing
Orthography
Range
0-25
0-20
0-25
0-10
0-20
0-100
Average
17,18
12,37
18,19
8,01
13,92
69,68
Score
# of
44
44
44
44
44
44
Students
The total points a student could obtain (adding all five categories) was100.
The Assessment Committee had defined the following performance scale: 0-60 points = student
performance does not meet expectations; 61–73 points = student performance almost meets
expectations; 74-89 points = student performance meets expectations; 90-100 = student
performance exceeds expectations.
The students’ average score in this assessment (69,68%) is within the range of 61-73 (“student
performance almost meets expectations”).
Table 2
Percentage of Students in Each Proficiency Level
Range
Does not meet
Almost meets
Meets
expectations
expectations
expectations
0-60
61-73
74-89
0f 44 Students
Percentage
Exceeds
expectations
90-100
10
19
12
3
23%
43%
27%
7%
The overall student performance shows that 34% of students met or exceeded the expectations of
this assessment process.
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The results by percentage of students in each category are as follows:
Table 3
Range
Of 44
Students
Percentage
Writing skills. Student performance…
Does not meet
Almost
Meets
expectations
meets
expectations
0-14,75
expectations
18,50-22,25
15-18,25
Exceeds
expectations
22,5-25
13
13
8
10
29,5%
29,5%
18%
23%
Table 4
Range
# Of 44
Students
Percentage
VOCABULARY. Student performance …
Does not meet
Almost meets Meets
expectations
expectations
expectations
0-12
12,25-14,5
14,75-17,75
Exceeds
expectations
18-20
25
8
10
1
57%
23%
18%
2%
Table 5
Range
# Of 44
Students
Percentage
GRAMMAR AND ORTOGRAPHY. Student performance
…
Does not meet
Almost meets Meets
Exceeds
expectations
expectations
expectations expectations
0-14,75
15-18,25
18,50-22,25
22,5-25
11
8
17
8
25%
18%
39%
18%
Table 6
Range
READING. Student performance …
Does not meet
Almost meets Meets
expectations
expectations
expectations
0-6
6,1-7,3
7,4-8,9
8
3
11
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Exceeds
expectations
9-10
22
# 0f 44 Students
Percentage
18%
7%
25%
50%
Table 7
Range
ESSAY WRITING. Student performance …
Does not meet
Almost meets Meets
expectations
expectations
expectations
0-12
12,25-14,5
14,75-17,75
Exceeds
expectations
18-20
# 0f 44 Students
Percentage
11
25%
14
32%
12
27%
7
16%
B. Evaluation of the assessment process:
The percentage of students who meet or exceed expectations in writing skills is 41%.
The percentage of students who meet or exceed expectations in vocabulary is 20%.
The percentage of students who meet or exceed expectations in grammar and orthography is
57%.
The percentage of students who meet or exceed expectations in reading is 75%.
The percentage of students who meet or exceed expectations in essay writing is 43%.
When looking at the assessment results in relation to the Course Objectives and the General
Education objectives, we observe the following:
Course Objective 1: Students will read, analyze and interpret a variety of literary and
non-literary Spanish texts dealing with key socio-cultural aspects of Hispanics/Latinos
in the United States.
The assessment tool measured students’ analytical reasoning in several ways: a) by asking
students to evaluate a series of potential theses for an essay, b) by asking analytical questions
about the reading provided (i.e. “Which would be the consequences of retro-acculturation on
marketing and commercial activities?”), and b) by asking students to present written
arguments in favor and against a socio-political issue (“minimum salary”) that had been part
of the course readings and class discussions.
Students’ performance in the specific analytical questions has yet to be calculated separately,
but students overall performance in the sections with analytical questions shows that they are
better prepared to apply analytical reasoning to reading comprehension questions (75% at or
above level) than to develop original analytical reasoning in writing (essay part; 43%).
Course Objective 2: Students will draw conclusions, express opinions, and define points
of view in their oral and written discussions of literary and non-literary Spanish texts
(Gen. Ed. Obj. 1, 2 and 3).
Essay-writing results (43% at or above level) are consistent with the results in the answers to
the writing-skills questions (41% at or above level). In both cases, less than half of the
students assessed performed at the expected level.
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Course Objective 3: Students will have an increased awareness of formal and informal
oral and written registers (Gen. Ed. Obj. 1)
The assessment tool measured students’ awareness of formal and informal oral and written
registers by: a) asking grammar and spelling questions, and b) asking vocabulary questions.
At 57%, the percentage of students who meet or exceed expectations in the grammar and
orthography section of the assessment is below the expected 75% defined by the assessment
committee. Students’ performance in the vocabulary activities is weak (20% of students at or
above level). The lower percentage in the vocabulary task (20%), when compared to the
reading task (75%), suggests that students’ understanding of vocabulary is stronger in the
context of a reading than in isolated sentences.
The assessment tool also measured students’ ability to make informed decisions (Gen. Ed.
3) by asking students to present written arguments in favor and against a socio-political issue
that had been part of the course readings and class discussions (“minimum salary”), and by
prompting them to defend one side of the issue. Students overall performance in the essaywriting section (41% at or above level) suggests that the majority of the students assessed did
not master this objective’s skills. Nevertheless, students’ performance in the “Content” area
of the essay (as defined in the rubrics), if calculated separately from the other writing
categories, should produce more accurate information about the students’ level of acquisition
of this skill (see Appendix 2 with rubrics).
An in-depth examination of the assessment tool and results suggests the following:
1. The assessment tool was too long. Some students rushed through some parts of the exam,
which might account for the differences in performance among the different sections of the
assessment.
2. The level of difficulty among the different parts of the exam was uneven. This might also
account for the differences in performance among sections.
C. Resulting action plan:
Only 34% of students completing the assessment tasks met or exceeded the expectations defined
by the assessment committee, while 43% almost met the expectations (61-73 performance
range). On average, students’ scores (69,68%) also fall within the range of 61-73 (“Student
performance almost meets expectations”).
The averages of each individual category show that all the areas are below expected levels,
except for reading.
Although the assessment committee will meet in the fall of 2013 for follow-up discussions of the
assessment tool and the results, a preliminary review of the assessment process suggests the
following:
1. The two sections of Spanish 222 that have been assessed have used a new textbook for the
first time during the semester when the assessment was taking place. The assessment should be
repeated after one or two semesters in order for instructors to gain enough knowledge of the new
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textbook.
2. The assessment tool needs to be revised for a more homogeneous difficulty level among
sections.
3. The assessment tool needs to be shortened. The next time that instructors conduct the
assessment of this course, the assessment committee should consider the possibility of using the
essay writing part of the exam as the entire assessment tool. In this case, the grading rubric
should be revised and expanded, and the writing should take place on a different day than the
final exam to allow students more time to complete it.
4. Ideally, the assessment committee should look at students’ performance in certain questions to
obtain more specific information about students’ achievement of certain skills, such as analytical
reasoning and the ability to make informed decisions based on socio-cultural value systems. To
account for differences among instructors, the assessment committee also recommends that the
results of the two classes assessed be compared.
5. Although it is possible that the use of an imperfect assessment tool has distorted the
assessment results, the assessment committee should meet with the instructors of this course and
discuss ways to improve the writing skills of Spanish heritage speakers. Some ideas include:
 provide more guided writing time and activities for heritage students,
 conduct analyses of good writing samples with heritage students,
 invite students to share writing pieces with their peers,
 edit and publish a volume with students’ writing,
 coordinate and train tutors at the Student Learning Center to help with Spanish heritage
students’ writing,
 begin conversations with English composition instructors to: a) compare assessment tools
and results, and b) share pedagogical strategies to improve students’ writing.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: LS 222 - FINAL EXAM
APPRENDIX 2: LS 222 - RUBRICS
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