Anthropology, ANTH 101 Assessment, Fall Semester 2014 Queensborough Community College/CUNY Department of Social Sciences Individual Course Assessment Report Date Submitted: June 2, 2015 Course No./Title: ANTH 101 Introduction to Anthropology Course Description (from QCC Catalogue or Course Master Syllabus): Anth 101 Introduction to Anthropology, is an entry-­‐level introductory course that provides students with an overview of research and theory in the four fields of anthropology: biological anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and cultural anthropology. A survey of peoples and cultures, past and present, from many parts of the world, this course provides students with an introduction to the biological and cultural diversity of the human species, as well as a historical perspective on the development of anthropology and the relevance of anthropology to contemporary human problems. This course satisfies a Social Sciences requirement in any curriculum and is part of the Pathways Flexible Core category II.D Individual and Society. Pathways Learning Outcomes II.D. Individual and Society Upon completion of this course, students should be able to: Gather, interpret, and assess information from a variety of sources and points of view. Evaluate evidence and arguments critically or analytically. Produce well-­‐reasoned written or oral arguments using evidence to support conclusions. Identify and apply the fundamental concepts and methods of a discipline or interdisciplinary field exploring the relationship between the individual and society. Examine how an individual's place in society affects experiences, values, or choices. Articulate and assess ethical views and their underlying premises. Articulate ethical uses of data and other information resources to respond to problems and questions. Identify and engage with local, national, or global trends or ideologies, and analyze their impact on individual or collective decision-­‐making. Participants No. Sections Assessed: 3 No. Students Assessed: 62 Course Assessment Method In Fall 2014 three sections of Anth 101 with a total of 62 students completed the assessment task. The assessment tool was a task-­‐based reading assignment designed to evaluate the critical thinking skills of our anthropology students. This task was based on a concept developed by the assessment committee of the Social Sciences Department, which is assessing the critical thinking skills of students across all of the social sciences disciplines based on their reading comprehension of disciplinary-­‐specific texts. To this end, I selected a short excerpt on virginity testing from an introductory anthropology textbook by Richard Robbins, Anthropology: A Problem Based Approach. I consider this a relevant text because it calls on students to evaluate an unfamiliar cultural practice from several points of view; it draws on anthropological methods; it highlights several anthropological concepts which students would be expected to master at the conclusion of Anthropology 101, including cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, kinship and descent practices, gender relations, the clash between Western and non-­‐Western cultures, and the impact local behaviors can have on issues of far-­‐reaching global concerns. Some adjustments were made to the assessment tool this semester. The first change was the addition of 4 questions, bringing the tool in line with the other disciplines in the department, for a total of 16 questions. These questions are designed to assess the competence of students' critical thinking skills as categorized by a standard critical reading rubric. Based on the analysis of the previous assessment results, the following changes were made to the questions: Constructing Meaning Question 2 now reads "Based on the information provided in the above passage, which of the following is a true statement about traditional Turkish village society." Question 3 now reads "In traditional Turkish village society, the bloody sheet is displayed by the groom the morning after the wedding in order to." Contextualizing Question 3 now reads "Based on this excerpt, we can conclude that traditional Turkish village society is characterized by which of the following descent patterns." Evaluating Evidence Question 2 now reads "The evidence provided in the text best supports which of the following statements." Question 3 answer c now reads "Virginity testing is a clear demonstration that Western women have a higher level of gender equality than Turkish women." This text was chosen because it addresses the above General Education Objectives for Anthropology, and because it can be utilized to evaluate disciplinary-­‐specific questions which align with the categories outlined on the standard critical reading rubric by Amanda Deal and Melissa Rareshide of Winston-­‐Salem State University in their Critical Reading Manual. This rubric sets forth 5 categories for evaluating students’ critical reading abilities: Constructing Meaning; Contextualizing; Using Other Perspectives and Positions; Evaluating Evidence and Drawing Conclusions. There are 4 questions for each category on the rubric. As discussed by the assessment committee, successfully answering all four questions counts as Mastery of the criteria. Three correct questions is assessed as Strong Development. Two correct question is considered Weak Development, and 1 correct questions in a section is considered Emerging within the given category on the rubric. Overview and Analysis of Results There was a wide range of student performance for each of the four rubric categories. When only mastery level is considered, Constructing Meaning was the strongest category, with 87% of the students achieving this level. The other three categories were relatively low. 38% demonstrated mastery of the Contextualizing category; 58% demonstrated mastery of Using Other Perspectives and Positions; and 51.6% demonstrated mastery of Evaluating Evidence and Drawing Conclusions. When analyzed as 2 levels rather than 4, a different picture emerges. In my analysis I combined the Strong and Mastery levels into one level of Strong, and the Weak and Emerging levels into one level of Weak. Analyzed thusly, it quickly becomes apparent that the vast majority of students achieved Strong or higher levels on each of the assessment categories. 98.3% tested Strong or higher in the category Constructing Meaning; 58% tested strong or higher in Contextualizing; 83.8% tested strong or higher on Using Other Perspectives and Positions; and 88.7% tested strong or higher on Evaluating Evidence and Drawing Conclusions. Students performed well on 3 of the 4 categories. When compared with the scores from the most recent assessment (Fall 2013), the percentage of students who attained the level of strong or mastery was higher for 2 categories (Constructing Meaning and Evaluating Evidence and Drawing Conclusions) and lower for two categories (Contextualizing and Using Other Perspectives). The category of Contextualizing stands out for two reasons: 1. it is significantly weaker than the other categories; and 2. it is significantly weaker than the previous assessment, where 85.2% tested as strong or higher. In terms of total questions answered for each rubric category, 96.3 were answered correctly in the category Construction Meaning; 72.1% were answered correctly in the category Contextualizing; 84.6% were answered correctly in the category Using Other Perspectives; and 83.4% were answered correctly in the category Evaluating Evidence and Drawing Conclusions. Course Assessment Results Rating Criteria Emerging Weak Strong Mastery Questions 1 Correct Development Development 4 Correct 2 Correct 3 Correct Correct (Percentage) Constructing Meaning 1 7 54 96.3 Questions 1-­‐4 Contextualizing Questions 1-­‐4 7 19 12 24 72.1 Using Other 2 8 16 36 84.6 Perspectives Questions 1-­‐4 Evaluating 4 3 23 32 83.4 Evidence and Drawing Conclusions Questions 1-­‐4 Constructing Meaning This category is the strongest. 98.3% of students demonstrated Strong Development or above. Only one student demonstrated Weak Development and none were Emerging. Slight improvement from last assessment. 54 Mastery (87%) 7 Strong Development (11.2%) 1 Weak Development (1%) 0 Emerging Constructing Meaning Mastery Strong Weak Emerging Contextualizing This category was the weakest. Only 58% demonstrated Strong Development or higher. 30.6% indicated Weak Development and 11.2% indicate only Emerging. This is a significant drop from last assessment. 24 Mastery (38.7%) 12 Strong Development (19.3%) 19 Weak Development (30.6%) 7 Emerging (11.2%) Contextualizing Mastery Strong Weak Emerging Using Other Perspectives A large majority of students (83.8%) demonstrated Strong Development or higher on this category. This is a drop from last assessment. 36 Mastery (58%) 16 Strong Development (25.8%) 8 Weak Development (12.9%) 2 Emerging (3.2%) Using Other Perspectives Mastery Strong Weak Emerging Evaluating Evidence and Drawing Conclusions A large majority of students (88.7%) demonstrated Strong Development or higher in this category. This is a small improvement from the last assessment. 32 Mastery (51.6%) 23 Strong Development (37%) 3 Weak Development (4.8%) 4 Emerging (6.4%) Evaluating Evidence and Drawing Conclusions Mastery Strong Weak Emerging Individual Questions Constructing Meaning % of Students w/Correct Answers Q1 98.38 Q2 91.9 Q3 95.9 Q4 100 Contextualizing Q1 75.8 Q2 61.29 Q3 58 Q4 90.3 Using Other Perspectives Q1 90.3 Q2 66 Q3 91.9 Q4 90.3 Evaluating Evidence Q1 74.19 Q2 77.41 Q3 83.87 Q4 96.77 Conclusions and Action Plan The assessment indicates that overall students in the Anth 101 courses are demonstrating a strong level of achievement with the General Education learning objectives presented above, but there are several specific areas where improvement can be made. The most significant weaknesses were found with the category Contextualizing. The first three questions in this category required students to have an understanding of anthropology concepts of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism as well as kinship terminology. The final question required students to distinguish between figurative and literal language. Question 3 had the lowest rate of correct responses for the entire test (58%). Questions 2 and 3 were 75.8% and 61.29% respectively. This indicates that it is likely that not all anthropology sections are covering this material. Consideration will be made as to the content of all of the Anth 101 courses in order to evaluate the appropriateness of the questions in this category. The other problematic question is Q2 from Using Other Perspectives. In this assessment this question had a 66% accuracy rate. This is down from 69.3% in the previous assessment. The other 3 questions in this category had accuracy rates in the 90s (Q1 90.3; Q3 91.9; Q4 90.1), indicating that overall students have a mastery of this category. The low accuracy rate of Q2 may indicate a need to rework this particular question. Because this assessment was conducted late in the semester, the number of students participating was lower than expected. I would recommend that the next assessment be conducted a few weeks before the end of the semester. However, because in part this assessment is evaluating students' mastery of anthropological concepts, the assessment should not be conducted before the last month of classes. Appendix A Assessment Task-­‐ Critical Reading in Anthropology for the Course Anth 101 Instructions. Please read the passage below called “Virginity Testing in Turkey.” When you are finished reading, answer the multiple choice questions that follow the passage. You may consult the passage as you answer the questions. When answering the questions, choose only one answer and do not leave any questions blank. Virginity Testing in Turkey Excerpt from the Textbook Cultural Anthropology: A Problem Based Approach by Richard Robbins Traditionally, young women in Turkey, as in some other cultures, are expected to avoid sexual relations prior to marriage, although the same rule does not apply to men. The morning after the wedding, the bride’s virginity is revealed by displaying the sheet that was spread on the couple’s wedding bed with the telltale hymeneal blood stain. An American human rights group condemned this practice, as well as reports of forced virginity tests on hospital patients, students and applicants for government jobs. Is the human rights group being ethnocentric in judging Turkish customs by American cultural norms, or is it correctly identifying abuses of women that must be corrected? Does it help if we further understand the so-­‐called logic behind the belief? Anthropologist Carol Delaney, in her book on Turkish village society, The Seed and the Soil, describes how virginity testing is related to the way that Turkish villagers conceptualize and explain the reproductive process. They see reproduction as symbolically similar to the planting and growing of crops; the man provides the “seed” with his semen, and the woman serves as the “soil” in which the seed germinates and grows. As a metaphor for reproduction, the idea of the seed and the soil provides villagers with a way of thinking about and understanding reproduction. However, the metaphor of seed and soil has at lease one very important implication. Because seeds do not have a limited life span, villagers believe that once planted, the seed (semen) may grow at any time. Consequently, if a woman has had sexual relations with a man other than her husband at any time prior to her marriage, the paternity of the child will be in doubt. And because descent in traditional Turkish villages is closely tied to many things, including property rights, uncertainty about the identity of the true father can have major implications. Thus, in the context of Turkish beliefs about procreation, virginity testing may make sense. Furthermore, Turkish beliefs about conception are not that far removed from our own, since our language draws from the same agricultural metaphors as that of Turkish villagers to explain reproduction. We talk about women being “fertile” or “barren” and semen “fertilizing” “eggs.” “Sowing one’s oats” as an expression of sexual activity is still heard in parts of the United States and Canada. Furthermore, these views are reinforced by religious taboos, legitimized in the Koran and the Old Testament. Thus, before we either condemn or accept the Turkish villagers for their treatment of women, we need to examine what their beliefs tell us about our own, which may be equally problematic. I. Constructing Meaning 1. According to Carol Delaney’s book The Seed and the Soil, which of the following statements is true: a. Turkish women gather seeds to plant in the garden before their wedding b. A Turkish woman may become pregnant even if she has not had sexual intercourse for several years. c. Turkish villagers are obsessed with farming and planting seeds d. Turkish villagers symbolize reproduction through the use of agricultural metaphors 2.
Based on the information provided in the above passage, which of the following is a true statement about traditional Turkish society? a. If a women has sexual relations before marriage, she will not be allowed to marry. b. Men are more highly valued because they contribute the “seed” in reproduction. c. Men and women must prove their virginity before marriage. d. Virginity is valued in women because it is believed to ensure the paternity of the children within a marriage. 3. According to the passage, in traditional Turkish village society: a. Men and women are expected to be virgins before marriage. b. Only women are expected to be virgins before marriage. c. Only men are expected to be virgins before marriage. d. No one is expected to be a virgin before marriage. 4. In traditional Turkish village society, the bloody sheet is displayed by the groom the morning after the wedding in order to: a. bring shame upon the bride and her family b. oppress women c. prove the virginity of the bride to the village d. bless the harvest II. Contextualizing 1. Richard Robbins includes information from Carol Delaney’s book The Seed and the Soil primarily because: a. he wants to convince readers of the positive influence of virginity testing b. he wants readers to understand what a metaphor is c. he wants readers to consider applying the cultural relativist approach to the practice of virginity testing d. he wants readers to understand the farming techniques of a traditional Turkish village 2. When an individual condemns or judges the practices or beliefs of another culture based on his or her own norms and values, this is an example of which of the following anthropological concepts: a. cultural relativism b. ethnocentrism c. ethnography d. evolution 3. Based on this excerpt, which emphasizes the important role of paternity in this culture, we can conclude that traditional Turkish society is characterized by which of the following descent patterns: a. Matrilineal b. Patrilineal c. Polyandry d. Polygyny 4. According to the above passage, Americans and Turkish villagers refer to reproductive functions and sexuality using terms from agriculture, such as 'fertile' and 'sowing one's oats'. Linguistically, such phrases serve to convey which of the following: a. Literal meanings b. Figurative meanings c. Shifting identities d. Social Class III. Using Other Perspectives and Positions 1. According to the author of this passage, virginity is valued in traditional Turkish society because: a. women are viewed as weaker than men b. this is believed to help ensure the paternity of children, which is important for determining land inheritance rights. c. the villagers are superstitious, ignorant and bound to tradition d. the villagers do not believe that women have sexual desires 2. According to the author of this excerpt, religious texts and beliefs influence sexual practices and norms: a. in both North America and Turkey b. only in rural areas of Turkey c. only in rural areas of the United States d. only in areas where western forms of education have not been developed 3. According to the passage, within a traditional Turkish village, paternity is important because a. it determines who will inherit the father’s property b. it determines who will become leader of the village c. it determines who will be responsible for harvesting the field d. it determines who will be able to vote in village elections 4. According to the author of this excerpt, which of the following statements can be inferred about inheritance in traditional Turkish village society?: a. children inherit property directly from their mothers. b. paternity is unimportant for determining such issues as inheritance of property c. if a child's paternity is unclear, his or her right to inheritance may be called into question. d. a child's inheritance will be determined by the number of seeds planted during the year of his birth. IV. Evaluating Evidence and Drawing Conclusions 1. According to Robbins, Turkish understandings of reproduction a. are vastly different from American and therefore backwards b. are incorrect and therefore must be updated with modern understandings of biology c. share metaphorical similarities with American notions about reproduction d. are connected with agriculture and therefore more authentic than American notions of reproduction 2. The evidence provided in the text best supports which of the following statements: a. Women are treated unfairly in rural Turkish society b. American anthropologists should join the human rights campaign against virginity testing c. American activists should campaign in support of forced virginity testing d. American activists should aim to understand the cultural and historical context of virginity testing before joining campaigns for or against the practice. 3. Based on the information provided in the passage, which of the following conclusions can be clearly made about virginity testing: a. virginity testing proves that traditional Turkish society does not value women b. virginity testing is practiced as part of a traditional Turkish wedding ritual c. virginity testing is a clear demonstration that Western women have a higher level of gender equality than Turkish women d. virginity testing proves that Turkish women are stronger than Turkish men 4. The author of this excerpt explains traditional Turkish ideas about seed growth and pregnancy in order convey which of the following ideas: a. to show that Turkish understandings of biology are incorrect. b. to explain how Turkish women can become pregnant without having sexual intercourse c. to demonstrate the cultural foundation behind the traditional Turkish tradition of virginity testing d. to convince American human rights advocates to work to provide better educational opportunities for Turkish women. Appendix B. Fall 2014 Critical Reading Rubric Rubric 0-­‐1 = emerging; 2 = weak development; 3 = strong development; and 4 = mastery Rating Criteria Emerging Weak Strong Mastery 1 Development Development 4 2 3 Constructing Meaning Derives meaning from Derives Usually derives Always derives texts in a confused or meaning from accurate accurate meaning inaccurate way texts in a meaning from from texts by making limited texts by making sense of written fashion, makes sense of written words and analyzing sense of words and reading with respect written words analyzing to prior knowledge, but no further reading with research and analysis respect to prior experience knowledge, research and experience Contextualizing Reads written Makes Usually Always connects language in isolation connections in connects written language with or connects it to a limited written contexts such as prior irrelevant or fashion language with experience, historical inaccurately between contexts such as setting, physical understood contexts written prior setting, knowledge of language and experience, the discipline, etc. contexts historical setting, physical setting, knowledge of the discipline, etc. Using Other Perspectives and Takes text at face Attempts to Usually Always explores Positions value, showing explore explores perspectives, minimal awareness of perspectives, perspectives, assumptions, perspectives, assumptions, assumptions, purposes, and assumptions, purposes, and purposes, and techniques purposes, and techniques techniques exemplified or techniques exemplified or exemplified or implied by the text implied by the implied by the text text Evaluating Evidence and Draws Draws Draws conclusions Conclusions are Drawing Conclusions inconsistently tied to conclusions that conclusions that and related outcomes are logically tied are logically (consequences and some of the information, related to information tied to a range implications) that are (because of information, logical and reflect outcomes student’s informed (consequences and information is including chosen to fit the opposing evaluation and ability implications) are oversimplified. desired viewpoints; to place evidence and conclusion), related perspective discussed some related outcomes in priority order. outcomes (consequences (consequences and and implications) implications) are are identified identified clearly clearly.