Assessment Report: Social Sciences
Introductory to Psychology
Fall 2014
(Dr. Aalai)
(1) Sections
a. 3 sections of Introduction to Psychology were assessed, one of which was an LC
(Learning Community), all of which were taught by Dr. Aalai. The sections were:
PSYC 101/D24 (21919), PSYC 101/C3B (55882), & PSYC 101/LC (21930)
(2) Sample Size
a. A total number of 73 students were assessed
(3) Learning Outcomes:
a. PY 102 Outcomes for course, as outlined on Syllabus: “Upon successfully
completing this course, students will be able to discuss general principles guiding
the discipline of psychology, critically examine the methodological viability of
research within psychology and related fields, offer written commentaries
regarding relevant psychological issues that are both coherent and well supported,
and apply these general principles to the world we live in today”
b. General Education Outcomes: Communicate effectively through reading and
writing & Integrate knowledge and skills in program of study (Listed as outcomes
1 and 5 on the website)
(4) Assignment:
a. The Assignment used for assessment was the first homework assignment of the
semester. The assignment, as posted on the Syllabus and Blackboard, is pasted
below:
For this assignment, students will be required to access the article from the New York Times
about recent research in the field regarding Autism (see Blackboard). This should enable students
to access the article. In a 3-5 pages response paper that is typed, double spaced, and abides by
APA citation standards students should answer the following questions:


What is presented regarding the state of research into Autism’s causes today?
Relate the discussion of the causes of Autism to the nature versus nurture debate as
discussed in class
o How are twin studies being used to try to tease apart these influences?
 Based on this article, in your opinion, where does Autism fall on the nature versus
nurture spectrum?
In addition to being graded based on content, this written response will also be graded based on
coherency of the writing itself. Thus students will be expected to write in complete sentences,
with proper grammar, spelling, etc. There should be an opening paragraph, body paragraphs that
relate to one another theoretically, and then a final concluding paragraph that wraps up the
discussion (see Rubric for more specific details).
The url for this article is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/health/views/09klass.html?_r=5&scp=1&sq=environment
%20poses%20a%20knotty%20challenge%20in%20autism&st=cse&
1
(5) Instrument
a. Instrument
The following rubric was used to determine how well students achieved the selected outcomes.
Thus below the specific outcomes that were measured via this homework assignment are
identified, as well as the point distribution and explanation.
The assignment is worth 20 points total. The points are broken down into the following
distribution:
 Content: 10 points (Knowledge/Application):
 (2.5): What is presented regarding the state of research into Autism’s causes today?
 0 points: Students do not address this question in their response
 .5 points: Students offer a weak summary of state of research in causes, omitting
nature v. nurture
 1 points: Students offer a weak summary of state of research in causes, minimally
addressing nature v. nurture
 2 points: Students offer a strong summary of state of research in causes, specifically
identifying nature versus nurture effects as applicable
 2.5: Students offer a strong summary of the state of research in causes, specifically
identifying nature versus nurture effects as applicable that is complex and insightful
 (5 points) How are twin studies being used to try to tease apart these influences?
o 0 points: Students do not address this question in their response
o 1 points: Students identify “twin studies” but do not link it specifically to nature
v. nurture or autism causes
o 2 points: Students offer a weak discussion of twin studies, omitting key details
o 3 points: Students offer a discussion of twin studies that addresses some link to
autism’s causes
o 4 points: Students offer a satisfactory discussion of twin studies that specifically
addresses genetic similarities versus differences between them
o 5 points: Students offer a strong analysis of twin studies, identifying their genetic
similarities versus differences, and linking how they separate nature from nurture
effects
 (2.5) Based on this article, in your opinion, where does Autism fall on the nature versus
nurture spectrum?
 0 points: Students do not address this question in their response
 .5 points: Students offer an opinion but no support
 1 points: Students offer an opinion with weak support for it (e.g. anecdotal, not scientific)
 2 points: Students offer an opinion with support to substantiate it
 2.5: Students offer an opinion that is strongly supported by what they present
 Writing: 5 points (Knowledge/Application)
o 1 point: Grammar, spelling, basic formatting, and coherency are compromised
and not developed in this paper
o 2 points: Grammar, spelling, basic formatting and coherency are somewhat
compromised and still developing
o 3 points: Grammar, spelling, basic formatting and coherency are proficient
o 4 points: Grammar, spelling, basic formatting and coherency are skilled, with few
errors
2

o 5 points: Grammar, spelling, basic formatting and coherency are strong, virtually
error free
APA format: 5 points (2.5 for in text citations, 2.5 for Works Cited)
(Knowledge/Application)
o *0 points: APA format not used (no in text citations or Works Cited)
 Depending on content, this may be grounds for plagiarism and failure of
the assignment*
o 1 point: APA format is attempted but missing full in text or Works Cited
o 2 points: APA format is attempted but either in text or Works Cited is not correct
o 3 points: APA format is included in text and Works Cited, with some errors
o 4 points: APA format is included in text and Works Cited, with minimal errors
o 5 points: APA format is included in text and Works Cited, and both are complete
and error free
(6) Analysis
a. The average score for students was calculated as 14.5 out of 20 points. Four
students earned 0* out of 20 points because their papers were plagiarized, and
thus they could not earn credit for the assignment (see Rubric above). Breaking
down the scores based on the three facets of the learning outcomes, on average
students earned 7.77 points out of 10 on content, 3.55 out of 5 on writing, and
3.16 out of 5 on APA format. Despite the fact that the LC section is matched with
an English course, there were no significant differences between their writing
scores when compared to the other two sections. In fact, their writing scores were
the lowest, although the decimal difference is likely negligible. Interestingly, all
sections performed best on content, second best on writing, and worse on APA
format, which is also consistent with the cases of plagiarism that were found. In
sum, the table below reflects a sample size (N) of 73 students, with the breakdown
of sample size per section indicated below.
TABLE 1.0: AVERAGE SCORES BROKEN DOWN BY SECTION & COMBINED (ALL)
D24 (N= 30)
C3B (N= 19)
LC (N=24)
ALL (N=73)
CONTENT (10)
8.12
7.41
7.67
7.77
WRITING (5)
3.48
3.83
3.40
3.55
APA (5)
3.40
2.78
3.14
3.16
TOTAL (20)
15.0
14.02
14.26
14.52
b. Summary
The data indicate greatest strength on content, which encapsulates every part of the
course objectives listed on the Syllabus. Moreover, this specific learning outcome in
General Education reflects competence in both knowledge and application. This is
particular impressive given that this was the first homework assignment of the semester,
and students typically perform worse on the first assignment as opposed to later ones.
The writing scores were lower, which is typical of a first assignment in an introductory
course. Similarly, APA format typically takes multiple times of practice before students
3
start to master it. The cases of plagiarism likely lowered overall averages, and occurred in
each section, with two in the LC, and one in each of the other sections. It is disappointing
to see that the LC did not produce stronger results, however, given that this is data
reflecting the first assignment, it is consistent with the notion that it takes longer over the
course of the semester for students to start to make connections between the two courses
in the learning community. Moreover, many of the benefits from the LC are intangibles
that do not lend themselves to quantification in this regard.
(7) Results, Impact & Future
a. These assessment results are important data to highlight the significance of
identifying student learning outcomes and measuring whether they are being
achieved over the course of the semester. The outcomes listed in the course
Syllabus related to Knowledge/Application of General Education were measured
via one specific homework assignment across all three introductory sections. The
results suggest competency as well as room for growth. Clearly, students are
performing best regarding grasping general principles in psychology, writing
about them, assessing research in psychology and application. They need more
improvement regarding how to articulate their ideas better on paper (e.g. proper
grammar, spelling, etc.) as well as in presenting the sources for their ideas in
proper APA format.
The areas where students need to improve will be addressed by additional written
homework assignments over the course of the semester so that students can
continue to practice their academic writing and proper citation of sources. Each
section has at least one more written homework assignment due, and the LC in
fact has more homework assignments on the Syllabus because of the required
Synthesis Paper to fulfill the requirements for the Learning Community. This is
particularly significant given that the LC performed the worse on the writing
metric. Moreover, student papers for this first assignment were given extensive
feedback by the Professor regarding edits in writing and corrections on source
citations in APA format. Additionally, students who plagiarized were warned that
if they committed the infraction on any future papers in the course that this would
be grounds for failure of the course, not just failure of the assignment. They also
met with the Professor one on one to grasp why their responses constituted
plagiarism and what could be done to avoid such an infraction on future papers.
Most students reflected remorse and were genuinely surprised that their lack of
proper citations constituted plagiarism.
Lastly, students have been given multiple in class reflections since this
assignment to practice writing in a more low stakes environment to get
comfortable with articulating their ideas about psychology in an academic setting.
Finally, the Professor has offered students opportunities to turn in drafts of
subsequent homework assignments before their official due dates to get additional
feedback and has strongly encouraged those students who did not perform well on
the first assignment to consider this additional help from the instructor. APA
format has been an overarching lesson in class, as has the cultivation of writing
skills. Content related issues are addressed every day during lecture as students
are exposed to new information and engage in class discussion and group work to
4
become more familiar with psychological concepts and get the opportunity to
them apply them as applicable to relevant topics.
In sum, the Professor anticipates that students will perform better on future
assignments this semester, in large part because the data here has enabled her to
focus specifically on what aspects of learning outcomes students need additional
help with. Moreover, this assessment is a great opportunity to quantify student
performance, and focus on relative strengths and weaknesses that can then be
addressed by the instructor over the remainder of the semester as relevant.
b. As a preview to how this assessment has impacted future assignments and
performance in the course, the Professor had the opportunity to grade the next
round of homework assignments in one of the three sections. Similar to the first
assignment, it was a 20 point out of class reflection with the same approximation
of number of pages, based on reading at least two articles (instead of one for the
first assignment), with a similar rubric breakdown of 10 points for content, 5 for
writing and 5 for APA style. This second assignment as assessed in one section
did not produce a single plagiarized case. Additionally, the class average was a
striking 17.9 out of 20. All the average scores for each section of the rubric
increased significantly—content was 9.375 out of 10, writing 4.1 out of 5, and
APA style 4.5 out of 5. Thus, the Professor predicts that future performance in all
sections will increase based on the feedback given to students on the first
assignment and the Professor’s specific instruction in each section that catered to
what aspects of the first assignment students scored poorly on.
5