QCC COURSE ASSESSMENT FORM (SHORT)
QCC COURSE ASSESSMENT FORM
Fall 2004, Rev. 6/15/07
Date: 3-03-10
Department: Foreign Languages and Literatures
Course:
LS 111
Curriculum or Curricula: LA
PART I. STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES
For Part I, attach the summary report (Tables 1-4) from the QCC Course Objectives Form.
TABLE 1. EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT
LS-111 is the first part of the introductory sequence of foreign language study (a requirement for a successful
transfer to the junior year of a baccalaureate program). It is a foundation course required for (AA) degree in
Liberal Arts and Sciences, Fine Arts, and Business Transfer.
TABLE 2. CURRICULAR OBJECTIVES
Note: Include in this table curriculum-specific objectives that meet Educational Goals 1 and 2:
Curricular objectives addressed by this course:
N/A
TABLE 3. GENERAL EDUCATION OBJECTIVES
Gen Ed
objective’s ID
number from
list (1-10)
General educational objectives addressed by this course: Select from preceding list.
(1) Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking.
(2) Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to
make informed decisions.
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TABLE 4: COURSE OBJECTIVES AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Course objectives
Learning outcomes
1. Provide basic information in
Students will be able to talk about themselves by providing their name,
Spanish about yourself, your city,
address, phone number, school schedule. They will also be able to describe
your classmates, your family,
their family or hobbies by answering questions in prompted dialogues.
friends, hobbies, and daily activities.
2. Demonstrate ability to participate
in simple conversations on everyday
topics, such as greetings and
introductions, work, college, home
life, family, daily activities, etc.
Students will be able to greet people and/or introduce themselves, or
exchange personal information by participating in different communicative
tasks: a new student talking with an advisor at QCC, at a party talking with
a new friend, at a coffee shop talking with your best friend.
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PART II. ASSIGNMENT DESIGN: ALIGNING OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES, AND
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
For the assessment project, you will be designing one course assignment, which will address at least one general
educational objective, one curricular objective (if applicable), and one or more of the course objectives. Please
identify these in the following table:
TABLE 5: OBJECTIVES ADDRESSED IN ASSESSMENT ASSIGNMENT
Course Objective(s) selected for assessment: (select from Table 4)
1. Provide basic information in Spanish about yourself, your city, your classmates, your family, friends, hobbies,
and daily activities.
2. Demonstrate ability to accomplish simple communicative tasks on every day topics such as greeting people or
introducing yourself to others, or describing your life in school or at work and in your spare time.
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. Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking.
2. Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to make informed
decisions.
In the first row of Table 6 that follows, describe the assignment that has been selected/designed for this project.
In writing the description, keep in mind the course objective(s), curricular objective(s) and the general education
objective(s) identified above,
The assignment should be conceived as an instructional unit to be completed in one class session (such as a lab) or
over several class sessions. Since any one assignment is actually a complex activity, it is likely to require that
students demonstrate several types of knowledge and/or thinking processes.
Also in Table 6, please
a) identify the three to four most important student learning outcomes (1-4) you expect from this assignment
b) describe the types of activities (a – d) students will be involved with for the assignment, and
c) list the type(s) of assessment tool(s) (A-D) you plan to use to evaluate each of the student outcomes.
(Classroom assessment tools may include paper and pencil tests, performance assessments, oral questions,
portfolios, and other options.)
Note: Copies of the actual assignments (written as they will be presented to the students) should be gathered
in an Assessment Portfolio for this course.
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TABLE 6: ASSIGNMENT, OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES, AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Briefly describe the assignment that will be assessed:
This project will assess students’ speaking abilities at a novice-mid proficiency level as described in ACTFL 2006
guidelines. Their conversational abilities will be assessed by engaging them in role-play activities where both
they and the instructor play a specific role. Students may play the role of a new student at QCC, or a party guest
trying to make new friends, or may share some personal information with a close friend (played by the instructor)
about a new boy/girlfriend. Oral tasks will prompt the students in providing personal information, i.e. their name,
address, phone number, or class schedule, or describing their daily activities and hobbies.
Desired student learning outcomes
for the assignment
(Students will…)
List in parentheses the Curricular
Objective(s) and/or General
Education Objective(s) (1-10)
associated with these desired learning
outcomes for the assignment.
Gen-Ed objective
(1) Communicate effectively through
reading, writing, listening and
speaking.
Briefly describe the range of
activities student will engage in
for this assignment.
Students will engage in a role-play
activity with his/her instructor. The
activity is designed so that it can be
completed in 7-10 minutes interaction,
students will select at random one of
three situations: at the Registrar’s
office, at a party, and at a coffee shop.
(2) Use analytical reasoning to
identify issues or problems and
evaluate evidence in order to make
informed decisions.
Curricular objectives
N/A
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What assessment tools will be
used to measure how well
students have met each learning
outcome? (Note: a single
assessment tool may be used to
measure multiple learning
outcomes; some learning
outcomes may be measured using
multiple assessment tools.)
Role-play activity: Students will be
asked to complete a task where they
need to exchange personal information
with a new acquaintance met at the
Registrar’s office, or in a friend’s
house, or share a new
boy/girlfriend’s personal information
with a close friend while having
something to drink in a nearby cafe
(see Appendix I).
PART III. ASSESSMENT STANDARDS (RUBRICS)
Before the assignment is given, prepare a description of the standards by which students’ performance will be
measured. This could be a checklist, a descriptive holistic scale, or another form. The rubric (or a version of it) may
be given to the students with the assignment so they will know what the instructor’s expectations are for this
assignment.
Please note that while individual student performance is being measured, the assessment project is collecting
performance data ONLY for the student groups as a whole.
TABLE 7: ASSESSMENT STANDARDS (RUBRICS)
Brief description of assignment: (Copy from Table 6 above)
This project will assess students’ speaking abilities at a novice-mid proficiency level as described in ACTFL 2006
guidelines. Their conversational abilities will be assessed by engaging them in role-play activities where both
they and the instructor play a specific role. Students may play the role of a new student at QCC, or a party guest
trying to make new friends, or may share some personal information with a close friend (played by the instructor)
about a new boy/girlfriend. Oral tasks will prompt the students in providing personal information, i.e. their name,
address, phone number, or class schedule, or describing their daily activities and hobbies.
Desired student learning
outcomes from the
assignment: (Copy from
Column 1, Table 6 above;
include Curricular and /or
General Education Objectives
addressed)
Gen-Ed objectives
(1) Communicate effectively
through reading, writing,
listening and speaking.
Assessment measures for
each learning outcome:
(Copy from Column 3,Table 6
above)
Students will be asked to complete
a task where they need to
exchange personal information
with a new acquaintance met at
the Registrar’s office, or in a
friend’s house, or share a new
boy/girlfriend’s personal
information with a close friend
while having something to drink
in a nearby coffee shop.
2) Use analytical reasoning
to identify issues or problems
and evaluate evidence in order
to make informed decisions.
Standards for student performance:
The parameters for measuring students’ speaking
abilities will be to determine whether:
(i) they understand the questions being asked by the
interlocutor and they respond without probing,
(ii) they speak continuously with few pauses or
stumbling,
(iii) they are understood by the interlocutor by
using the correct intonation and pronunciation,
(iv) they speak with some degree of fluidity,
(v) they use correctly the required grammatical
structures and
(vi) they use the appropriate vocabulary.
75% of the students tested are anticipated to meet
the course’s expectations as described in the
attached rubric (see Appendix II).
Curricular objectives
N/A
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PART IV. ASSESSMENT RESULTS
TABLE 8: SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Use the following table to report the student results on the assessment. If you prefer, you may report outcomes
using the rubric(s), or other graphical representation. Include a comparison of the outcomes you expected (from
Table 7, Column 3) with the actual results. NOTE: A number of the pilot assessments did not include expected
success rates so there is no comparison of expected and actual outcomes in some of the examples below. However,
projecting outcomes is an important part of the assessment process; comparison between expected and actual
outcomes helps set benchmarks for student performance.
TABLE 8: SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Desired student learning outcomes:
(Copy from, Column 1,Table 6 above;
include Curricular and/or General
Education Objectives addressed)
Student achievement: Describe the group achievement of each
desired outcome and the knowledge and cognitive processes
demonstrated.
Gen-Ed objectives
See Table 9
Communicate effectively through
reading, writing, listening and
speaking.
Curricular objectives
N/A
TABLE 9. EVALUATION AND RESULTING ACTION PLAN
In the table below, or in a separate attachment, interpret and evaluate the assessment results, and describe the
actions to be taken as a result of the assessment. In the evaluation of achievement, take into account student
success in demonstrating the types of knowledge and the cognitive processes identified in the Course
Objectives.
A. Analysis and interpretation of assessment results:
378 students completed the speaking task in Spanish and their performance was rated according
to 5 parameters; listening comprehension, fluidity, pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
Student performance was scored using the scoring rubric.
The average score achieved for listening comprehension and pronunciation was 3.2, and the
average score for fluidity on speech was 3. On these three parameters, students on average met
expectations (see Chart 1 below):
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Chart 1
The average score for proficiency use of vocabulary and accuracy on grammar was 2.9. On both
parameters students on average almost met expectations.
The total points a student could achieve (adding up all five parameters, each worth a maximum of
four points) was 20. The scale agreed upon beforehand by the Assessment Committee defined the
following ranges:0-5 points = student performance does not meet expectations; 6-10 points =
student performance almost meets expectations; 11-15 points = student performance meets
expectations;16-20 student performance exceeds expectations
The average of total points achieved by students tested in Spanish was 15.17. According to the
scale, this average falls between the range of meets expectations and exceed expectations.
The assessment Committee also predicted that 75% of students tested would achieve a score
indicating that their performance meets expectations. The results of students who achieved each
performance level in Spanish are the following: level 1- does not meet (0-5) 3%, level 2 - almost
meets expectations (6-10) 9%, level 3 - meets expectations (11-15) level 4 - exceed expectations
(16-20) 54%. Adding together levels 3 and 4 gives us a total of 88% who meet o exceed
expectations, as defined by the scoring rubric (see Chart 2 below):
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Chart 2
B. Evaluation of the assessment process:
B1) Evaluation of students’ results
The results of the speaking task in Spanish show that, as predicted, at least 75% of students tested
meet or exceed expectations on overall performance of the task: the actual percentage of student
tested in Fall 2009 that meet or exceed expectations is 88%. The largest portion of students (54%)
fell into the category rated as exceeding expectations, which is achieving 16-20 points out of 20.
Adding together levels 1 and 2 the percentage of students whose performance does not meet
expectations is 12 percent.
If we look at student performance according to individual parameters, the highest average scores
was in listening comprehension and pronunciation, the second average score was fluidity.
Listening comprehension is a passive skill and pronunciation and fluidity require the least
analytical skills on the part of the student.
The two lowest scoring parameters were vocabulary and grammar. These parameters require
active knowledge of the material learned. Proficient use of vocabulary requires memorization,
and accurate application of the rules of grammar requires analytical skills.
In the context of a speaking task, linguistics expects the performance on parameters of vocabulary
and on grammar to be weaker than in the context of a writing task. The student results achieved
on each of the individual parameters coincide with the expected results for a speaking task.
B2) Evaluation of the assessment tools
A formal evaluation of the assessment tools and assessment process has not been conducted, but
informal reactions were very positive overall, both from faculty members and students. The great
majority of students evidently took the speaking task assessment very seriously, and had studied
for it. Faculty members were most happy in cases where they saw students gain a real sense of
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accomplishment from having participated successfully in the speaking task.
Faculty – especially adjunct faculty – gave of their personal time to be able to complete the
student assessments.
Some faculty had comments and recommendations concerning the scoring rubric.
C. Resulting action plan:
The overall average achieved by students on the speaking task in Spanish shows a satisfactory
result with 88% of students meeting expectations as defined by the Assessment Committee. The
average achieved on each individual parameter in Spanish show areas of relative strength, as well
as two areas of relative weakness: vocabulary and grammar.
After discussion of the results across all language taught in the department, it has been decided by
the Assessment Committee to postpone any changes in curriculum emphases or instructional
methodology until we have gathered more complete data, including student performance on
written tasks, as well as a second assessment using the speaking task. After compiling and
analyzing data for all assessment completed in academic year 2009-2010, the Assessment
Committee, in consultation with the faculty of the department, will make recommendations
concerning curriculum and classroom practice for the 2010-2011 academic year.
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
SITUATIONS FOR ORAL ASSESSMENT IN SPANISH
GUIDELINES





It is a conversation: teacher-student (10 minutes)
Student select AT RANDOM one of three situations (see study guide)
Student should answer with complete sentences. English is not allowed.
Listening comprehension, fluidity, pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar will be evaluated.
For top results:
a. Listening comprehension: understand the questions and respond easily without probing.
b. Fluidity: speak continuously with few pauses or stumbling
c. Pronunciation: pronounce properly
d. Vocabulary: use the appropriate vocabulary. Don’t repeat the same words.
e. Grammar: use correctly the required grammatical structures.
STUDY GUIDE
PRACTICE the following situations and questions:
a. in class
b. with your classmates outside the classroom
c. with a tutor at the library
d. with your Spanish speaking friends
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SITUACIÓN 1: AT QCC
Imagine that you are a new student and you are talking with an advisor. What would you say, how would
you answer his/her questions.
-
Greet each other and exchange names
Personal info: age, nationality, how is he doing/feeling, phone number
Services on campus/location of certain buildings
Daily activities (schedule): courses, activities during the day
Activities during the weekend: likes and dislikes
Plans after college.
POSIBLES PREGUNTAS
¿Cómo está usted? ¿Cuántos años tiene? ¿De dónde es? ¿Cuál es su número de teléfono?
¿Dónde está la cafetería? ¿Dónde está…?
¿Qué clases tiene? ¿A qué hora es su clase de matemáticas? ¿Qué días de la semana?
¿ A qué hora desayuna? ¿A qué hora regresa a casa? ¿Qué hace los lunes…?
¿Qué hace los fines de semana? ¿Juega al fútbol? ¿Estudia? ¿Trabaja? ¿Cuándo? ¿Dónde? ¿Con
quién?
¿Qué te gusta hacer?
¿Qué va a hacer después de estudiar? ¿Va a trabajar? ¿Dónde? ¿Por qué? ¿Vas a viajar? ¿Dónde?
¿Cuándo? ¿Con quién?
SITUACIÓN 2: AT A PARTY
Imagine that you are at a party and you start talking with a person there. What would you say, how would
you answer his/her questions.
-
Greet each other and exchange names
Exchange personal info: age, nationality, how is he doing/feeling, birthday, phone number
Talk about your family
Activities during the week
Plans for next year
Likes and dislikes
POSIBLES PREGUNTAS
¿Cómo estás? ¿Cuántos años tienes? ¿De dónde eres? ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono?
¿Dónde vive tu familia? ¿Tienes hermanos? ¿Quién es tu pariente favorito? ¿Cómo es?
¿Qué haces los lunes por la mañana? ¿Qué haces los jueves por la tarde? ¿A qué hora almuerzas?
¿Qué almuerzas? ¿Dónde? ¿Cuándo? ¿Con quién?
¿Qué vas a hacer el próximo año? ¿Vas a trabajar? ¿Vas a estudiar? ¿Cuándo? ¿Dónde? ¿Con quién?
¿Qué te gusta hacer? ¿Te gusta bucear? ¿Te gusta montar a caballo? …
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SITUACIÓN 3: AT YOUR FAVORITE COFFEE SHOP
Imagine that you are talking with your best friend about your new boyfriend/girlfriend. What would you
say, how would you answer his/her questions.
-
Greet each other
Girlfriend/boyfriend info: age, nationality, how is he doing/feeling, birthday, phone number
Talk about his/her family
Activities during the week. What does he/she do?
Plans for the weekend. What are they planning to do during the weekend?
Likes and dislikes. What does he/she like?
POSIBLES PREGUNTAS
¿Cómo estás?
Y tu novio/a: ¿Cuántos años tiene? ¿De dónde es? ¿Cómo es? ¿Cómo está? ¿Dónde está ahora?
¿Dónde trabaja? ¿Cuándo es su cumpleaños? ¿Cuál es su número de teléfono?
¿Dónde vive su familia? ¿Tiene hermanos? ¿Dónde viven?
¿Trabaja o estudia? ¿Dónde? ¿Qué días? ¿Qué hace los lunes por la mañana? ¿Qué haces los jueves
por la tarde?
¿Qué van a hacer ustedes el fin de semana? ¿Van a bailar? ¿Van a caminar? ¿Cuándo? ¿Dónde?
¿Cuáles son sus diversiones favoritas?
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APPENDIX II
HOLISTIC RUBRIC FOR ORAL ASSESSMENT IN SPANISH
Listening
Comprehension
Performance
exceeds
expectations
(4 points)
Performance
meets
expectations
(3 points)
Performance
almost meets
expectations
(2 points)
Performance
does not
meet
expectations
(0 – 1 points)
Fluidity
Student understands
the examiner’s
questions and
responds easily and
without probing
Speech
continuous
with few
pauses or
stumbling
Student understands
the examiner’s
questions and knows
how to respond but
needs occasional
probing
Some
hesitation but
manages to
continue and
to complete
her/his
thoughts
Student only
understands the
examiner’s questions
after probing
Student fails to
understand most
questions even after
probing
Pronunciation
Vocabulary
Grammar
Rich use of
vocabulary
Correct use
of basic
language
structures
(1-5 errors)
Does not interfere
with
communication
Adequate and
accurate use of
vocabulary for
this level
Adequate use
of basic
language
structures
(6-10 errors)
Speech
choppy and/or
slow with
frequent
pauses. Few
or incomplete
thoughts
Occasionally
interferes with
communication
Somewhat
inadequate
and/or
inaccurate use
of vocabulary
Emerging use
of basic
language
structures
(11-15 errors)
Speech
halting and
uneven with
long pauses
or incomplete
thoughts
Frequently
interferes with
communication
Inadequate
and/or
inaccurate use
of vocabulary
Inadequate
and/or
inaccurate
use of basic
language
structures
(more than 16
errors)
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Enhances
communication
Summary & Conclusion
Generally speaking, data have portrayed a quite uniform acquisition scenario among the six
language groups tested. As shown in Chart 1 below, the majority of students met and exceeded
the standard set up for the course, namely Chinese (97%), French (88%), German (82%),
Hebrew (81%), Italian (86%), and Spanish (88%). The percentage of students that performed
below the expected level was irrelevant, and, in some languages, null. The number of students
that almost reached the expected proficiency level was also uniform among the different
languages ranging from the 3 percentile and the 18 percentile.
Chart 1
Percentage of students in each proficiency level among the six languages tested
70
60
Chinese
50
French
40
German
30
Hebrew
20
Italian
10
Spanish
0
Below
Almost Lev
Level
Exceed Lev
The scenario does not substantially change when we take a closer look at how students
performed with each parameter tested, namely “Listening Comprehension”, “Fluidity”,
“Pronunciation”, “Vocabulary”, and “Grammar”. Results, in fact, do not report significant
discrepancies among these parameters as well as the six language groups. As indicated below,
for each parameter, students reached or slightly exceeded the expected level (3.0).
Chart 2
Accuracy rates of the five parameters among the six languages
4
3.5
Chinese
3
French
2.5
2
German
1.5
Hebrew
Italian
1
0.5
Spanish
0
Listening
Fluidity
Pronunc.
Vocab.
Grammar
Interestingly, the typology and the complexity of the sound pattern of a language do not seem to
delay the development of a particular speaking skill. For instance, the tone system that
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characterizes languages such as Chinese does not create major acquisition delays to students
whose native phonological system is quite different.
In conclusion, given the overall positive outcomes obtained, we can safely assume that
the instruction time, the teaching methodology practiced and the tools used appear to be effective
in helping our students reach the desired oral ability.
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QCC COURSE ASSESSMENT FORM (SHORT)
QCC COURSE ASSESSMENT FORM
Fall 2004, Rev. 6/15/07
Date: 6-15-10
Department: Foreign Languages and Literatures
Course:
LS 111
Curriculum or Curricula: LA
PART I. STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES
For Part I, attach the summary report (Tables 1-4) from the QCC Course Objectives Form.
TABLE 1. EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT
LS-111 is the first part of the introductory sequence of foreign language study (a requirement for a successful
transfer to the junior year of a baccalaureate program). It is a foundation course required for (AA) degree in
Liberal Arts and Sciences, Fine Arts, and Business Transfer.
TABLE 2. CURRICULAR OBJECTIVES
Note: Include in this table curriculum-specific objectives that meet Educational Goals 1 and 2:
Curricular objectives addressed by this course:
N/A
TABLE 3. GENERAL EDUCATION OBJECTIVES
Gen Ed
objective’s ID
number from
list (1-10)
General educational objectives addressed by this course: Select from preceding list.
(1) Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking.
(2) Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to
make informed decisions.
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TABLE 4: COURSE OBJECTIVES AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Course objectives
Learning outcomes
1. Provide basic information in
Students will be able to talk about themselves by providing their name,
Spanish about yourself, your city,
address, phone number, school schedule. They will also be able to describe
your classmates, your family,
their family or hobbies by answering questions in prompted dialogues.
friends, hobbies, and daily activities.
2. Demonstrate ability to participate
in simple conversations on everyday
topics, such as greetings and
introductions, work, college, home
life, family, daily activities, etc.
Students will be able to greet people and/or introduce themselves, or
exchange personal information by participating in different communicative
tasks: a new student talking with an advisor at QCC, at a party talking with
a new friend, at a coffee shop talking with your best friend.
17(43)
PART II. ASSIGNMENT DESIGN: ALIGNING OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES, AND
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
For the assessment project, you will be designing one course assignment, which will address at least one general
educational objective, one curricular objective (if applicable), and one or more of the course objectives. Please
identify these in the following table:
TABLE 5: OBJECTIVES ADDRESSED IN ASSESSMENT ASSIGNMENT
Course Objective(s) selected for assessment: (select from Table 4)
1. Provide basic information in Spanish about yourself, your city, your classmates, your family, friends, hobbies,
and daily activities.
2. Demonstrate ability to accomplish simple communicative tasks on every day topics such as greeting people or
introducing yourself to others, or describing your life in school or at work and in your spare time.
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. Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking.
2. Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to make informed
decisions.
In the first row of Table 6 that follows, describe the assignment that has been selected/designed for this project.
In writing the description, keep in mind the course objective(s), curricular objective(s) and the general education
objective(s) identified above,
The assignment should be conceived as an instructional unit to be completed in one class session (such as a lab) or
over several class sessions. Since any one assignment is actually a complex activity, it is likely to require that
students demonstrate several types of knowledge and/or thinking processes.
Also in Table 6, please
a) identify the three to four most important student learning outcomes (1-4) you expect from this assignment
b) describe the types of activities (a – d) students will be involved with for the assignment, and
c) list the type(s) of assessment tool(s) (A-D) you plan to use to evaluate each of the student outcomes.
(Classroom assessment tools may include paper and pencil tests, performance assessments, oral questions,
portfolios, and other options.)
Note: Copies of the actual assignments (written as they will be presented to the students) should be gathered
in an Assessment Portfolio for this course.
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TABLE 6: ASSIGNMENT, OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES, AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Briefly describe the assignment that will be assessed:
This project will assess students’ speaking abilities at a novice-mid proficiency level as described in ACTFL 2006
guidelines. Their conversational abilities will be assessed by engaging them in role-play activities where both
they and the instructor play a specific role. Students may play the role of a new student at QCC, or a party guest
trying to make new friends, or may share some personal information with a close friend (played by the instructor)
about a new boy/girlfriend. Oral tasks will prompt the students in providing personal information, i.e. their name,
address, phone number, or class schedule, or describing their daily activities and hobbies.
Desired student learning outcomes
for the assignment
(Students will…)
List in parentheses the Curricular
Objective(s) and/or General
Education Objective(s) (1-10)
associated with these desired learning
outcomes for the assignment.
Gen-Ed objective
(1) Communicate effectively through
reading, writing, listening and
speaking.
Briefly describe the range of
activities student will engage in
for this assignment.
Students will engage in a role-play
activity with his/her instructor. The
activity is designed so that it can be
completed in 7-10 minutes interaction,
students will select at random one of
three situations: at the Registrar’s
office, at a party, and at a coffee shop.
(2) Use analytical reasoning to
identify issues or problems and
evaluate evidence in order to make
informed decisions.
Curricular objectives
N/A
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What assessment tools will be
used to measure how well
students have met each learning
outcome? (Note: a single
assessment tool may be used to
measure multiple learning
outcomes; some learning
outcomes may be measured using
multiple assessment tools.)
Role-play activity: Students will be
asked to complete a task where they
need to exchange personal information
with a new acquaintance met at the
Registrar’s office, or in a friend’s
house, or share a new
boy/girlfriend’s personal information
with a close friend while having
something to drink in a nearby cafe
(see Appendix I).
PART III. ASSESSMENT STANDARDS (RUBRICS)
Before the assignment is given, prepare a description of the standards by which students’ performance will be
measured. This could be a checklist, a descriptive holistic scale, or another form. The rubric (or a version of it) may
be given to the students with the assignment so they will know what the instructor’s expectations are for this
assignment.
Please note that while individual student performance is being measured, the assessment project is collecting
performance data ONLY for the student groups as a whole.
TABLE 7: ASSESSMENT STANDARDS (RUBRICS)
Brief description of assignment: (Copy from Table 6 above)
This project will assess students’ speaking abilities at a novice-mid proficiency level as described in ACTFL 2006
guidelines. Their conversational abilities will be assessed by engaging them in role-play activities where both
they and the instructor play a specific role. Students may play the role of a new student at QCC, or a party guest
trying to make new friends, or may share some personal information with a close friend (played by the instructor)
about a new boy/girlfriend. Oral tasks will prompt the students in providing personal information, i.e. their name,
address, phone number, or class schedule, or describing their daily activities and hobbies.
Desired student learning
outcomes from the
assignment: (Copy from
Column 1, Table 6 above;
include Curricular and /or
General Education Objectives
addressed)
Gen-Ed objectives
(1) Communicate effectively
through reading, writing,
listening and speaking.
Assessment measures for
each learning outcome:
(Copy from Column 3,Table 6
above)
Students will be asked to complete
a task where they need to
exchange personal information
with a new acquaintance met at
the Registrar’s office, or in a
friend’s house, or share a new
boy/girlfriend’s personal
information with a close friend
while having something to drink
in a nearby coffee shop.
3) Use analytical reasoning
to identify issues or problems
and evaluate evidence in order
to make informed decisions.
Standards for student performance:
The parameters for measuring students’ speaking
abilities will be to determine whether:
(i) they understand the questions being asked by the
interlocutor and they respond without probing,
(ii) they speak continuously with few pauses or
stumbling,
(iii) they are understood by the interlocutor by
using the correct intonation and pronunciation,
(iv) they speak with some degree of fluidity,
(v) they use correctly the required grammatical
structures and
(vi) they use the appropriate vocabulary
75% of the students tested are anticipated to meet
the course’s expectations as described in the
attached rubric (see Appendix II).
Curricular objectives
N/A
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PART IV. ASSESSMENT RESULTS
TABLE 8: SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Use the following table to report the student results on the assessment. If you prefer, you may report outcomes
using the rubric(s), or other graphical representation. Include a comparison of the outcomes you expected (from
Table 7, Column 3) with the actual results. NOTE: A number of the pilot assessments did not include expected
success rates so there is no comparison of expected and actual outcomes in some of the examples below. However,
projecting outcomes is an important part of the assessment process; comparison between expected and actual
outcomes helps set benchmarks for student performance.
TABLE 8: SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Desired student learning outcomes:
(Copy from, Column 1,Table 6 above;
include Curricular and/or General
Education Objectives addressed)
Student achievement: Describe the group achievement of each
desired outcome and the knowledge and cognitive processes
demonstrated.
Gen-Ed objectives
See Table 9
Communicate effectively through
reading, writing, listening and
speaking.
Curricular objectives
N/A
TABLE 9. EVALUATION AND RESULTING ACTION PLAN
In the table below, or in a separate attachment, interpret and evaluate the assessment results, and describe the
actions to be taken as a result of the assessment. In the evaluation of achievement, take into account student
success in demonstrating the types of knowledge and the cognitive processes identified in the Course
Objectives.
A. Analysis and interpretation of assessment results:
Data from 370 students that completed the speaking task in Spanish was gathered. Their
performance was rated according to 5 parameters; listening comprehension, fluidity, pronunciation,
vocabulary and grammar. Student performance was scored using the above-mentioned scoring
rubric.
The average score achieved for listening comprehension and pronunciation was 3.2 and the average
score for fluidity on speech was 3. On these three parameters, students on average met expectations.
The average score for proficiency use of vocabulary was 2.8 and accuracy on grammar was 2.9. On
both parameters students on average almost met expectations (see Chart 1 below):
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Chart 1
The total points a student could achieve (adding up all five parameters, each worth a maximum of
four points) was 20. The scale agreed upon beforehand by the Assessment Committee defined the
following ranges:0-5 points = student performance does not meet expectations; 6-10 points =
student performance almost meets expectations; 11-15 points = student performance meets
expectations;16-20 student performance exceeds expectations
The average of total points achieved by students tested in Spanish was 15.1. According to the scale,
this average falls between the ranges of meets expectations and exceeds expectations.
The assessment Committee also predicted that 75% of students tested would achieve a score
indicating that their performance meets expectations. The results of students who achieved each
performance level in Spanish are the following: level 1- does not meet (0-5) 1%, level 2 - almost
meets expectations (6-10) 8%, level 3 - meets expectations (11-15) 40% and level 4 - exceed
expectations (16-20) 51%. Adding together levels 3 and 4 gives us a total of 91% who meet o
exceed expectations, as defined by the scoring rubric.
B. Evaluation of the assessment process:
B1) Evaluation of students’ results
The results of the speaking task in Spanish show that, as predicted, at least 75% of students tested
meet or exceed expectations on overall performance of the task: the actual percentage of student
tested in Spring 2010 that meet or exceed expectations is 91%. The largest portion of students
(51%) fell into the category rated as exceeding expectations, which is achieving 16-20 points out of
20. Adding together levels 1 and 2 the percentage of students whose performance does not meet
expectations is 9% (see Chart 2 below):
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Chart 2
If we look at student performance according to individual parameters, the highest average scores
was in listening comprehension and pronunciation, the second average score was fluidity.
The two lowest scoring parameters were vocabulary and grammar.
B2) Evaluation of the assessment tools
A formal evaluation of the assessment tools and assessment process has not been conducted, but
informal reactions were very positive overall, both from faculty members and students. The great
majority of students evidently took the speaking task assessment very seriously, and had studied for
it. Faculty members were most happy in cases where they saw students gain a real sense of
accomplishment from having participated successfully in the speaking task.
Faculty – especially adjunct faculty – gave of their personal time to be able to complete the student
assessments.
Some faculty had comments and recommendations concerning the scoring rubric.
C. Resulting action plan:
The overall average achieved by students on the speaking task in Spanish shows a satisfactory result
with 91% of students meeting expectations as defined by the Assessment Committee. The average
achieved on each individual parameter in Spanish show areas of relative strength, as well as two
areas of relative weakness: vocabulary and grammar.
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
SITUATIONS FOR ORAL ASSESSMENT IN SPANISH
GUIDELINES





It is a conversation: teacher-student (10 minutes)
Student select AT RANDOM one of three situations (see study guide)
Student should answer with complete sentences. English is not allowed.
Listening comprehension, fluidity, pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar will be evaluated.
For top results:
f. Listening comprehension: understand the questions and respond easily without probing.
g. Fluidity: speak continuously with few pauses or stumbling
h. Pronunciation: pronounce properly
i. Vocabulary: use the appropriate vocabulary. Don’t repeat the same words.
j. Grammar: use correctly the required grammatical structures.
STUDY GUIDE
PRACTICE the following situations and questions:
e. in class
f. with your classmates outside the classroom
g. with a tutor at the library
h. with your Spanish speaking friends
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SITUACIÓN 1: AT QCC
Imagine that you are a new student and you are talking with an advisor. What would you say, how would
you answer his/her questions.
-
Greet each other and exchange names
Personal info: age, nationality, how is he doing/feeling, phone number
Services on campus/location of certain buildings
Daily activities (schedule): courses, activities during the day
Activities during the weekend: likes and dislikes
Plans after college.
POSIBLES PREGUNTAS
¿Cómo está usted? ¿Cuántos años tiene? ¿De dónde es? ¿Cuál es su número de teléfono?
¿Dónde está la cafetería? ¿Dónde está…?
¿Qué clases tiene? ¿A qué hora es su clase de matemáticas? ¿Qué días de la semana?
¿ A qué hora desayuna? ¿A qué hora regresa a casa? ¿Qué hace los lunes…?
¿Qué hace los fines de semana? ¿Juega al fútbol? ¿Estudia? ¿Trabaja? ¿Cuándo? ¿Dónde? ¿Con
quién?
¿Qué te gusta hacer?
¿Qué va a hacer después de estudiar? ¿Va a trabajar? ¿Dónde? ¿Por qué? ¿Vas a viajar? ¿Dónde?
¿Cuándo? ¿Con quién?
SITUACIÓN 2: AT A PARTY
Imagine that you are at a party and you start talking with a person there. What would you say, how would
you answer his/her questions.
-
Greet each other and exchange names
Exchange personal info: age, nationality, how is he doing/feeling, birthday, phone number
Talk about your family
Activities during the week
Plans for next year
Likes and dislikes
POSIBLES PREGUNTAS
¿Cómo estás? ¿Cuántos años tienes? ¿De dónde eres? ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono?
¿Dónde vive tu familia? ¿Tienes hermanos? ¿Quién es tu pariente favorito? ¿Cómo es?
¿Qué haces los lunes por la mañana? ¿Qué haces los jueves por la tarde? ¿A qué hora almuerzas?
¿Qué almuerzas? ¿Dónde? ¿Cuándo? ¿Con quién?
¿Qué vas a hacer el próximo año? ¿Vas a trabajar? ¿Vas a estudiar? ¿Cuándo? ¿Dónde? ¿Con quién?
¿Qué te gusta hacer? ¿Te gusta bucear? ¿Te gusta montar a caballo? …
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SITUACIÓN 3: AT YOUR FAVORITE COFFEE SHOP
Imagine that you are talking with your best friend about your new boyfriend/girlfriend. What would you
say, how would you answer his/her questions.
-
Greet each other
Girlfriend/boyfriend info: age, nationality, how is he doing/feeling, birthday, phone number
Talk about his/her family
Activities during the week. What does he/she do?
Plans for the weekend. What are they planning to do during the weekend?
Likes and dislikes. What does he/she like?
POSIBLES PREGUNTAS
¿Cómo estás?
Y tu novio/a: ¿Cuántos años tiene? ¿De dónde es? ¿Cómo es? ¿Cómo está? ¿Dónde está ahora?
¿Dónde trabaja? ¿Cuándo es su cumpleaños? ¿Cuál es su número de teléfono?
¿Dónde vive su familia? ¿Tiene hermanos? ¿Dónde viven?
¿Trabaja o estudia? ¿Dónde? ¿Qué días? ¿Qué hace los lunes por la mañana? ¿Qué haces los jueves
por la tarde?
¿Qué van a hacer ustedes el fin de semana? ¿Van a bailar? ¿Van a caminar? ¿Cuándo? ¿Dónde?
¿Cuáles son sus diversiones favoritas?
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APPENDIX II
HOLISTIC RUBRIC FOR ORAL ASSESSMENT IN SPANISH
Listening
Comprehension
Performance
exceeds
expectations
(4 PUNTOS)
Performance
meets
expectations
(3 PUNTOS)
Performance
almost meets
expectations
(2 PUNTOS)
Performance
does not
meet
expectations
(0 – 1
PUNTOS)
Fluidity
Pronunciation
Vocabulary
Grammar
Rich use of
vocabulary
Correct use
of basic
language
structures
(1-5 errors)
Does not interfere
with
communication
Adequate and
accurate use of
vocabulary for
this level
Adequate use
of basic
language
structures
(6-10 errors)
Speech
choppy and/or
slow with
frequent
pauses. Few
or incomplete
thoughts
Occasionally
interferes with
communication
Somewhat
inadequate
and/or
inaccurate use
of vocabulary
Emerging use
of basic
language
structures
(11-15 errors)
Speech
halting and
uneven with
long pauses
or incomplete
thoughts
Frequently
interferes with
communication
Inadequate
and/or
inaccurate use
of vocabulary
Inadequate
and/or
inaccurate
use of basic
language
structures
(more than
16 errors)
Student understands
the examiner’s
questions and
responds easily and
without probing
Speech
continuous
with few
pauses or
stumbling
Student understands
the examiner’s
questions and knows
how to respond but
needs occasional
probing
Some
hesitation but
manages to
continue and
to complete
her/his
thoughts
Student only
understands the
examiner’s questions
after probing
Student fails to
understand most
questions even after
probing
RESULTADOS
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Enhances
communication
QCC COURSE ASSESSMENT FORM (SHORT)
QCC COURSE ASSESSMENT FORM
Fall 2004, Rev. 6/15/07
Date: 6-8-10
Department: Foreign Languages and Literatures
Course:
LS 111
Curriculum or Curricula: LA
PART I. STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES
For Part I, attach the summary report (Tables 1-4) from the QCC Course Objectives Form.
TABLE 1. EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT
LS-111 is the first part of the introductory sequence of foreign language study (a requirement for a
successful transfer to the junior year of a baccalaureate program). It is a foundation course required for
(AA) degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Fine Arts, and Business Transfer.
TABLE 2. CURRICULAR OBJECTIVES
Note: Include in this table curriculum-specific objectives that meet Educational Goals 1 and 2:
Curricular objectives addressed by this course:
N/A
TABLE 3. GENERAL EDUCATION OBJECTIVES
Gen Ed
objective’s ID
number from
list (1-10)
General educational objectives addressed by this course: Select from preceding list.
(1) Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking.
(2) Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in
order to make informed decisions.
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TABLE 4: COURSE OBJECTIVES AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Course objectives
Read, understand, write simple
texts on familiar topics such as
greetings, food, daily life, and
hobbies; express preferences,
likes and dislikes.
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to read, understand and write simple texts on the
mentioned topics such as food, daily life, hobbies, dates and time.
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PART II. ASSIGNMENT DESIGN: ALIGNING OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES, AND
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
For the assessment project, you will be designing one course assignment, which will address at least one general
educational objective, one curricular objective (if applicable), and one or more of the course objectives. Please
identify these in the following table:
TABLE 5: OBJECTIVES ADDRESSED IN ASSESSMENT ASSIGNMENT
Course Objective(s) selected for assessment: (select from Table 4)
1. Provide basic information in Spanish about yourself, your classmates, family, friends and hobbies.
2. Demonstrate ability to accomplish simple communicative tasks on every day topics such as greeting
people or introducing yourself to others, or describing what you like to do in your spare time.
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. Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking.
2. Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to make
informed decisions.
In the first row of Table 6 that follows, describe the assignment that has been selected/designed for this project.
In writing the description, keep in mind the course objective(s), curricular objective(s) and the general education
objective(s) identified above,
The assignment should be conceived as an instructional unit to be completed in one class session (such as a lab) or
over several class sessions. Since any one assignment is actually a complex activity, it is likely to require that
students demonstrate several types of knowledge and/or thinking processes.
Also in Table 6, please
a) identify the three to four most important student learning outcomes (1-4) you expect from this assignment
b) describe the types of activities (a – d) students will be involved with for the assignment, and
c) list the type(s) of assessment tool(s) (A-D) you plan to use to evaluate each of the student outcomes.
(Classroom assessment tools may include paper and pencil tests, performance assessments, oral questions,
portfolios, and other options.)
Note: Copies of the actual assignments (written as they will be presented to the students) should be gathered
in an Assessment Portfolio for this course.
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TABLE 6: ASSIGNMENT, OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES, AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Briefly describe the assignment that will be assessed:
This project will assess students’ overall abilities; except for their speaking ability (see separate report).
Their listening, reading and writing abilities as well as their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary
will be assessed by a comprehensive final exam. See appendix 1 for a description of the final exam.
Desired student learning
outcomes for the assignment
(Students will…)
List in parentheses the
Curricular Objective(s) and/or
General Education Objective(s)
(1-10) associated with these
desired learning outcomes for
the assignment.
Gen-Ed objective
(1) Communicate effectively
through reading, writing,
listening and speaking.
(2) Use analytical reasoning
to identify issues or
problems and evaluate
evidence in order to make
informed decisions.
Curricular objectives
Briefly describe the range of
activities student will engage
in for this assignment.
Listening comprehension: listen to
two paragraphs and answer
true/false and multiple choice
questions.
Reading activity: read two passages
and answer questions.
Vocabulary activity: complete three
sections with the appropriate
vocabulary.
Grammar activities: complete
seven sections with the appropriate
words.
Writing activities: write a
composition about yourself and
your family (see Appendix I for
guidelines).
N/A
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What assessment tools will be used to
measure how well students have met
each learning outcome? (Note: a single
assessment tool may be used to measure
multiple learning outcomes; some learning
outcomes may be measured using multiple
assessment tools.)
Students will be asked to listen to two passages
and answer questions.
Students will be asked to read two paragraphs
and answer questions.
Students will be asked to provide the correct
vocabulary in three exercises.
Students will be asked to complete sentences
using the correct word.
Students will be asked to give information about
themselves and their families.
PART III. ASSESSMENT STANDARDS (RUBRICS)
Before the assignment is given, prepare a description of the standards by which students’ performance will be
measured. This could be a checklist, a descriptive holistic scale, or another form. The rubric (or a version of it) may
be given to the students with the assignment so they will know what the instructor’s expectations are for this
assignment.
Please note that while individual student performance is being measured, the assessment project is collecting
performance data ONLY for the student groups as a whole.
TABLE 7: ASSESSMENT STANDARDS (RUBRICS)
Brief description of assignment: (Copy from Table 6 above)
This project will assess students’ overall abilities; except for their speaking ability (see separate report).
Their listening, reading and writing abilities as well as their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary
will be assessed by a comprehensive final exam. See appendix 1 for a description of the final exam.
Desired student learning
outcomes from the
assignment: (Copy from
Column 1, Table 6 above;
include Curricular and
/or General Education
Objectives addressed)
Gen-Ed objectives
(1) Communicate
effectively through
reading, writing,
listening and speaking.
4) Use analytical
reasoning
to identify issues or
problems and evaluate
evidence in order to
make informed
decisions.
Assessment measures for
each learning outcome:
(Copy from Column 3,Table
6 above)
Students will be asked to listen
to two passages and answer
questions.
Students will be asked to read
two paragraphs and answer
questions.
Students will be asked to
provide the correct vocabulary in
three exercises.
Students will be asked to
complete sentences using the
correct word.
Students will be asked to give
personal information
Standards for student performance:
Standards for student performance:
Students’ listening comprehension ability will be
determined by calculating their accuracy rates in
providing the correct answers to the questions asked. 75
per cent of them are expected to meet the course
standards (80% accuracy rate).
Students’ reading comprehension ability will be
determined by calculating their accuracy rates in
providing the correct answers to the questions asked. 75
per cent of them are expected to meet the course
standards (80% accuracy rate).
Students’ vocabulary knowledge will be determined by
calculating the accuracy rates in providing the correct
words or phrases in a given situation. 75 per cent of them
are expected to meet the course standards (80% accuracy
rate).
Students’ grammar knowledge will be determined by
calculating their accuracy rates in providing the correct
forms or structures. 75 per cent of them are expected to
meet the course standards (80% accuracy rate) (see
Appendix II for scoring scales).
Curricular objectives
N/A
The parameters used to measure students’ writing abilities
will be to determine whether:
(i) they will provide all the information they have been
asked,
(ii) their writing displays a vocabulary appropriate to
their proficiency level,
(iii) they show an adequate control of the syntactic
structures for a Spanish beginning level class,
(iv) their sentences are fully developed, even though
sporadically connected.
75% of the students tested are anticipated to meet the
course’s expectations as described in the attached rubric
(see Appendix III).
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PART IV. ASSESSMENT RESULTS
TABLE 8: SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Use the following table to report the student results on the assessment. If you prefer, you may report outcomes
using the rubric(s), or other graphical representation. Include a comparison of the outcomes you expected (from
Table 7, Column 3) with the actual results. NOTE: A number of the pilot assessments did not include expected
success rates so there is no comparison of expected and actual outcomes in some of the examples below. However,
projecting outcomes is an important part of the assessment process; comparison between expected and actual
outcomes helps set benchmarks for student performance.
TABLE 8: SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Desired student learning outcomes:
(Copy from, Column 1,Table 6 above;
include Curricular and/or General
Education Objectives addressed)
Student achievement: Describe the group achievement of each
desired outcome and the knowledge and cognitive processes
demonstrated.
Gen-Ed objectives
See Table 9.
Communicate effectively through
reading, writing, listening and
speaking.
Curricular objectives
N/A
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TABLE 9. EVALUATION AND RESULTING ACTION PLAN
In the table below, or in a separate attachment, interpret and evaluate the assessment results, and describe the
actions to be taken as a result of the assessment. In the evaluation of achievement, take into account student
success in demonstrating the types of knowledge and the cognitive processes identified in the Course
Objectives.
A. Analysis and interpretation of assessment results:
What does this show about what and how the students learned?
The data of 377 students that completed the final exam (assessment tool) in Spanish was
gathered. Their performance was rated according to five categories: listening comprehension,
vocabulary, grammar, reading and writing.
The results are as follows:
SCORING SHEET‐ LS General Performance in E ach Category
Listening Vocabulary Grammar
Reading
Writing Total Range 16 16 36 16 16 0‐100 Score 13.6 10.3 24.2
12.3
12.2
72.5 # of Students 377 377 377
377
377
377 The average score achieved was 72.5%
The total points a student could achieve (adding up all five categories) was 100. The scale agreed
upon beforehand by the Assessment Committee defined the following ranges: 0-60points=
student performance does not meet expectations; 61–78 points= student performance almost
meets expectations; 79-89 points= student performance meets expectations; 90-100= student
performance exceeds expectations.
Range # 0f Students Percentage OVERALL. Student performance …
Does not meet Almost meets expectations expectations 0‐60 61‐78 Meets expectations 79‐89 Exceed expectations 90‐100 39 115 144 79 21% 31% 38% 10% The overall student performance shows that only 48% of students meet o exceed
expectations.
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The results for percentage of students in each category are as follows:
LISTENING. Student performance… Range Does not meet expectations 9.5 Almost meets expectations 10 to 12.5 Meets expectations 13 to 14.5 Exceed expectations 15‐16 # 0f Students Percentage 18 72
132
155 4.8% 19.1%
35.0%
41.1% VOCABULARY. Student performance …
Range Does not meet expectations 9.5 Almost meets expectations 10 to 12.5 Meets expectations
13 to 14.5 Exceed expectations 15‐16 # 0f Students Percentage 138 115
84
40
36.6% 30.5%
22.3%
10.6% GRAMMAR. Student performance … Does not meet Almost meets expectations expectations 0‐21.5 22‐28 Meets expectations
28.5‐32 Exceed expectations 32.5‐36 128 120 78 51 34.0% 31.8% 20.7% 13.5% READING. Student performance …
Does not meet Almost meets expectations expectations 9.5 10 to 12.5 Meets expectations
13 to 14.5 Exceed expectations 15‐16 35 156 120 66 9.3% 41.4% 31.8% 17.5% WRITING. Student performance …
Does not meet Almost meets expectations expectations 9.5 10 to 12.5 Meets expectations
13 to 14.5 Exceed expectations 15‐16 66 100 105 106 17.5% 26.5% 27.9% 28.1% Range # 0f Students Percentage Range # 0f Students Percentage Range # 0f Students Percentage B. Evaluation of the assessment process:
What do the results suggest about how well the assignment and the assessment process
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worked both to help students learn and to show what they have learned?
The results in the writing, vocabulary and grammar categories show that only 48% of
students meet o exceed expectations. The actual percentage of students tested who meet
or exceed expectations in vocabulary is 32%, in grammar is 34.2%, in reading is 49.3%,
in writing is 56% and in listening is 76%
B2) Evaluation of the assessment
The results obtained seem to indicate that the assessment tools used and the assessment
process undertaken has been successful in accurately determining our students’
proficiency level.
C. Resulting action plan:
Based on A and B, what changes, if any, do you anticipate making?
The overall average achieved by students on the assessment in Spanish shows an
unsatisfactory result. The averages achieved on each individual category in Spanish show
that all areas need to improve except for listening. The two weakest areas are vocabulary
and grammar. These results need to be addressed. The committee will meet in the fall to
discuss the results and determine recommendations. It will then share and discuss the
recommendations with the faculty.
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
WRITING FINAL EXAM– GUIDELINES
A. COMPRENSIÓN AUDITIVA (16 POINTS)
Listen to what your instructor will read and then complete the activities. Your instructor will
repeat ONLY TWICE
 Listening A. TRUE OR FALSE
 Listening B. MULTIPLE CHOICE
B. VOCABULARIO (16 POINTS)
Complete with the appropriate word or word expression related to:
a. greeting and introductions
b. professions
c. family
d. outdoor activities
e. the weather
C. GRAMÁTICA (36 POINTS)
Fill in the blanks or write sentences related to:
a. Ser vs. Estar
b. Present tense of regular and irregular verbs
c. Verb gustar
d. Ir + a + infinitivo
e. Interrogative words
f. Descriptive and possessive adjectives
D. COMPRENSIÓN DE LECTURA (16 POINTS)
Read and complete the following activities.
 Reading A. TRUE OR FALSE
 Reading B. MULTIPLE CHOICE
E. COMPOSICIÓN (16 POINTS)
Write a paragraph about yourself or a member of your family (Minimum 60 words).
Include the following information
country of origin, nationality, age
physical appearance and personality traits (use at least three different adjectives)
studies or/and occupation
three daily activities (where, with whom)
three activities you/he/she like/s to do on the weekend
plans for a future vacation (where you/he/she want/s to go, what are you/he/she going to
do, and with whom)
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APPENDIX II
SCORING SCALES
Grammatical Task Scale (Range: 0 to 36)
GRAMMAR
SECTION
ACCURATE USE OF THE GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURES LEARNED IN
THE COURSE
Performance More than 90% completion of the task
exceeds
(32.5- 36 points)
expectations
Performance Between 79% and 89% completion of the task
meets
(28.5- 32 points)
expectations
Performance Between 64% and 78% completion of the task
almost
(22 – 28 points)
meets
expectations
Performance Between 0% to 60% completion of the task
does not
(0 - 21.5 points)
meet
expectations
Vocabulary Task Scale (Range: 0 to 16)
VOCABULARY ACCURATE AND ADEQUATE USE OF THE VOCABULARY
SECTION
LEARNED IN THE COURSE
Performance
exceeds
expectations
More than 90% completion of the task
(15 - 16 points)
Performance
meets
expectations
Between 79% and 89% completion of the task
(13 – 14.5 points)
Performance
almost meets
expectations
Between 62% and 78% completion of the task
(10 – 12.5 points)
Performance
does not meet
expectations
Between 0% to 61% completion of the task
(0- 9.5 points)
38(43)
Listening Task Scale (Range: 0 to 16)
LISTENING
SECTION
UNDERSTAND PHRASES, EXPRESSIONS AND SHORT MESSAGES
RELATED TO THE TOPICS COVERED IN THE COURSE
Performance
More than 90% completion of the task
exceeds
expectations (15 – 16 points)
Performance Between 79% and 89% completion of the task
meets
(13- 14.5 points)
expectations
Performance
almost
meets
expectations
Performance
does not
meet
expectations
Between 65% and 78% completion of the task
(10 – 12.5 points)
Between 0% to 60% completion of the task
(0 to 9.5 points)
Reading Task (Range: 0 to 16)
READING
SECTION
UNDERSTAND SHORT AND SIMPLE MESSAGES
RELATED TO THE TOPICS COVERED IN THE COURSE
Performance
More than 90% completion of the task
exceeds
expectations (15 – 16 points)
Performance Between 79% and 89% completion of the task
meets
(13- 14.5 points)
expectations
Performance Between 65% and 78% completion of the task
almost
(10- 12.5 points)
meets
expectations
Performance Between 0% to 60% completion of the task
does not
(0 to 9.5 points)
meet
expectations
39(43)
APPENDIX III
Writing Task Holistic Rubric
Exceeds
expectations
Meets
expectations
Almost meets
expectations
Does not meet
expectations
Task
Completion
Level of
Discourse
Vocab.
Grammar
Superior completion
of the task. Ss fully
address the
information
requested, and
provide additional
details
Completion of task.
Ss fully address the
information
provided, but do not
provide additional
details
Partial completion of
task. Ss complete no
more than 60% of
the information
requested
Sentences are fully
developed and
interconnected with
conjunctions (e.g.
AND, BUT, or
BECAUSE )
Rich use of
vocabulary
Perfect control of the
syntactic structures
required (accuracy
level 90% - 100%)
Sentences are fully
developed. Cohesive
devices, however,
are sporadically used
Adequate and
accurate use of
vocabulary
Sentences are
somewhat complete.
Rare use of cohesive
devices
Somewhat
inadequate and/or
inaccurate use of
vocabulary
Adequate control of
the syntactic
structures. Some
grammatical errors
(accuracy level
79% - 89%)
Emerging control of
syntactic structures.
Several grammatical
errors (accuracy
level 61% - 78%)
Minimal completion
of task. Ss complete
less than 40% of the
information
requested.
Sentences are mostly
incomplete. No use
of cohesive devices
Inadequate and/or
inaccurate use of
vocabulary
40(43)
Minimal control of
syntactic structures.
Numerous
grammatical errors
(accuracy level
0% - 60%)
Conclusions & Action Plan
Generally speaking, data portray a uniform acquisition scenario among the foreign languages
evaluated, namely, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian and Spanish. As Table 1 shows, all
six language groups display similar percentages of students reaching or exceeding the
proficiency levels set up for a Beginning I language course.
Table 1
Percentage of students reaching or exceeding the required proficiency levels for each language group
80
70
Chinese
60
French
50
German
40
Hebrew
30
Italian
20
Spanish
10
0
However, contrary to our predictions, no language group reported more than 75 percent of their
students meeting the proficiency standards of the course. In fact, an average of less than 2/3 of
our learners reached the desired proficiency levels.
In any case, a closer look at the data reveals an interesting acquisition phenomenon. Our L2
learners seem to encounter less difficulty in developing the required speaking and auditory skills
than their reading or writing abilities. Despite their limited amount of instruction and exposure to
the target language, a relatively high number of students (avg. 87%), are able to speak and
converse at the expected level of a beginning course, irrespective of the language they are
learning. Furthermore, their ability to comprehend oral messages seems to be equally developed.
In fact, the percentage of students meeting the standards of the course is 75 percent (see Table 2
below).
41(43)
Table 2
Percentage of students reaching or exceeding the required level of oral, auditory, reading and writing proficiency
for each language group
100
90
80
70
Oral
Auditory
Reading
Writing
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Chinese
French
Hebrew
German
Italian
Spanish
The reading and writing skills, however, do not seem to follow a similarly expedite
developmental pattern. Data indicate that an average of only 63 percent of the students write at
the level required by the course. If we eliminate the high percentage displayed by the students of
Chinese (92%), the number reaches worrisome levels (55%). These results are quite interesting
and intriguing. Normally, one would expect just opposite outcomes given that performance
limitations of psychological nature (i.e. nervousness, anxiety) are usually more visible in
generating oral than written language.
Such a clear discrepancy in students’ oral and written use of their target language (henceforth:
L2) calls for a re-analysis of the oral assessment tools used, mainly with regard to their reliability
and usefulness in generating accurate data. This re-evaluation should help us eliminate or, at
least reduce, the effects of external factors that might have altered the results obtained. The
personal and oral nature of this assessment process, in fact, may be easily subject to human
errors or bias. With that in mind, the department will organize some training sessions for the
instructors administering the oral test in order to ensure that the assessment tool is used
uniformly and appropriately.
In any case, the low percentage of students meeting the writing standards of the course is also
reflected in the appropriate use of L2 syntactic structures. Data indicate that an average of 44
percent of the students tested were able to reach the accuracy standards required by the course.
And again, if we eliminate the percentage of the students of Chinese from our calculations, the
percentile lowers to 38 percent. Interestingly, such a lower accuracy level is also encountered in
42(43)
L2 oral production. Across the six language groups, the appropriate use of grammatical
structures is one of the weakest oral abilities. That being the case, one could assume that
internalizing L2 grammar rules is problematic. Such difficulties are displayed in both oral and
written language modes.
Fortunately, this does not seem to be case when students need to master the required vocabulary.
Lexical items do not appear to be acquisitionally as problematic as the grammar rules. As Table
3 indicates, the overall percentage of students using the required vocabulary is clearly higher
(62%), even though the Italian and Spanish learners are still showing some problems (33% and
43%, respectively)
Table 3
Percentage of students reaching or exceeding the required levels of lexical and syntactic proficiency for each
language group
80
70
60
50
Grammar
Voc.
40
30
20
10
0
Chinese French Hebrew German
Italian
Spanish
In sum, students have shown to be struggling with the mastering of L2 grammar rules. Their
behavior is quite consistent, equally involving the oral and written use of their target language.
The reasons justifying this lack of accuracy may be various and of different nature. The groups
that have shown greater number of problems are those learning morphologically rich languages
such as Italian, French Spanish and German. At a beginning level, the acquisition of grammar is
mostly morphologically-based. It is well known that morphology is a linguistic component that is
usually acquired very late.
However, the similarly lower number of students of Italian and Spanish reaching the desired
level of lexical knowledge seems to highlight a general behavior of poor study skills and habits.
In fact, L2 learners appear to fall short whenever the skill requires a more attentive participation
and thorough analysis of the language. With this in mind, the department will implement a
greater variety of grammar activities and tasks in the curricula of the beginning language courses
along with a closer monitoring of students' homework and lab assignments.
43(43)