ED110 Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices June 2011 Queensborough Community College/CUNY
Department of Social Sciences
Individual Course Assessment Report
Date Submitted: June 2011 Course No./Title: ED‐110 Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices Course Description (from QCC Catalog or course Master Syllabus)
This course will examine the historical, philosophical and sociological foundations of American Education. Students will study the evolution of educational theory and research‐based practices that promote social, emotional, and cognitive development and enhance learning. Attention will be paid to comparative analysis of past and contemporary political, philosophical, and sociological factors that influence and shape education decision‐making. This course introduces students to the reflective decision‐making model through readings, in‐class activities and discussions, and intensive writing exercises. Students will directly observe the teaching and learning process through the experience of a required internship in a public or private educational institution with field hours to be arranged. Students will also be introduced to the applications of technology in the classroom. General Education Objectives (GEO) Assessed (from course Master Syllabus)
GEO1 Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking. GEO2 Utilize information management systems and technology skills effectively in academic and lifelong learning research practices. GEO3 Utilize historical or social sciences perspectives to examine formation of ideas, human behavior, social institutions, or social processes GEO4 Work collaboratively in diverse groups directed at accomplishing learning objectives Individual Course Objectives (ICO) Assessed (from course Master Syllabus)
ICO1 Students will identify the underlying factors indicating students at risk for academic failure. ICO2 Students will describe the branches of philosophy to frame the construction of their personal philosophies of education. ICO3 Students will analyze current pedagogical practices in our educational system. ICO5 Students will use technology to create computer generated products. 1 ED110 Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices June 2011 Curricular Objectives (CO) Assessed (if applicable):
NONE
Participants
No. Sections Assessed:
2
No. Students Assessed:
33
Course Assessment Method (attach copy of course objectives survey as an attachment)
See Appendix A for ED110 Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices Outcomes
Survey.
Course Assessment Results: Narrative Summary
Two sections of ED110 (Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices) representing 33 students completed a course evaluation for spring, 2011. The survey asked the respondents to indicate whether they agreed with each of eight statements designed to measure a General Education Objectives, and Individual Course Objectives, or both. For ease of scoring, all 8 eight items were keyed so that “agree” signified that the objective was met. As shown in the General Education Objectives Results Table below, analysis of the results indicated strong agreement for two of the statements. Agreement ranged from 60.1%‐
90.9% across the 8 statements with #7, “This class helped me work in collaborative learning groups to reach shared goals,” and statement #6 “This class helped me utilize technology for academic research and self‐directed learning,” receiving the highest agreement, and 2 ED110 Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices June 2011 statement #5, “This class helped me read education texts (i.e. books, articles, newspapers) effectively” and statement #8 “This class helped me examine theories, concepts, and debates in education,” receiving the lowest agreement. As shown in the Individual Course Objectives Results Table, analysis of the results indicated strong agreement for two of the statements with #1 “This class helped me analyze philosophies of education,” and statement #2 “This class helped me compare and contrast factors of why some students succeed academically and others do not,” receiving the highest agreement. Statement #4 “This class helped me use technology to create learning materials,” and statement #3 “This class helped me draw conclusions from classroom observations and research findings,” received the lowest agreement. A comparison of results in the General Education Objectives vs. Individual Course Objectives Tables indicates that overall students agreed equally with statements representing General Education Objectives (mean agreement of 76.35%) and with statements representing Individual Course Objectives (mean agreement of 76.35%). General Education Objective 4 statement #7, “This class helped me work in collaborate learning groups to reach shared goals,” received higher agreement than any statement on General Education Objectives and Individual Course Objectives. 3 ED110 Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices June 2011 I. General Education Objectives Results
Gen Ed Objectives (GEO) Results Summary Table
Gen Ed
Objective
GEO #1
Survey
Question
Q#5
Q#
Sub-total
Agree
N (%)
60.1
GEO #2
Q#6
Q#
Sub-total
87.8
GEO #3
Q#8
Q#
Sub-total
66.6
Q#7
Sub-total
GEO1,2,3,4
Overall Mean
90.9
GEO #4
4 76.35
ED110 Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices June 2011 II. Individual Course Objectives Results
Individual Course Objectives (ICO) Results Summary Table
Individual
Course
Objective
ICO #1
Survey
Question
Q #2
Q#
Sub-total
Agree
N (%)
81.8
ICO #2
Q #1
Q#
Sub-total
87.8
ICO #3
Q #3
Q#
Sub-total
Q#4
75.7
ICO #5
ICO1,2,3,4
Overall Mean
5 60.1
76.35
ED110 Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices June 2011 Conclusions
In regard to helping ED110 students achieve the General Education Objectives and Individual Course Objectives, a look at applying the QCC grading standards in translating numerical grades to letter grades, resulted in ranking the grades for each objective as follows: 1) 90.9% (A‐) for General Education Objectives 4: Work collaboratively in diverse groups directed at accomplishing learning objectives. 2) 87.8% (B+) for General Education Objectives 2: Utilize historical or social sciences perspectives to examine formation of ideas, human behavior, social institutions, or social processes and Individual Course Objectives 2: Students will describe the branches of philosophy to frame the construction of their personal philosophies of education. 3) 81.8% (B‐) for Individual Course Objectives 1: Students will identify underlying factors indicating students at risk for academic failure. 4) 75.7% (C) for Individual Course Objectives 3: Students will analyze current pedagogical practices in our educational system. 5) 66.6% (D+) for General Education Objectives 3: Utilize information management systems and technology skills effectively in academic and lifelong learning research practices and 6) 60.1% (D‐) for General Education Objectives 1: Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening, and speaking and Individual Course Objectives 5: Students will use technology to create computer generated products. 6 ED110 Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices June 2011 The low percentage (60.1%) of students who agreed with statement #5 “This class helped me read education texts (i.e. books, articles, newspapers) effectively” and statement #4 “This class helped me use technology to create learning materials” is considerably lower than the number agreeing with the rest of the survey. One possible explanation for this atypical result is that the students may have interpreted the word “read” to indicate the process of decoding the written symbols corresponding to speech rather than its intended meaning “to understand.” As an instructor, I assign supplementary readings in the course (articles, newspapers etc.) in addition to the required textbook. A possible explanation for statement #4 is that students may have interpreted the words creates learning materials to mean they developed instructional tools, books, activities, and/ or curriculum materials for elementary school classroom use. It is noteworthy to mention that the highest level of agreement was with the statement measuring the General Education Objective 4: Work collaboratively in diverse groups directed at accomplishing learning objectives. This outcome was expected as the education curriculum emphasized the importance of those involved in the education of children working together to improve student success in schools. Action Plan
As the data indicate, there was an equal agreement for attainment of the General Education Objectives and the Individual Course Objectives. However, in order to address the lower percentages, the following suggestions are offered: 7 ED110 Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices June 2011 1. List on the syllabus which objectives the course plans to fulfill to inform the students regarding what will be emphasized. Throughout the semester, alert students to individual course and general education objectives as they occur. 2. Review the Outcomes Survey and revise statements to clarify intended meaning. Replace statement 4 entirely as it is similar to statement 6. 3. Increase the number of survey statements from 8 to 10 and include an additional General Education Objectives statement and Individual Course Objectives statement. 8 ED110 Contemporary Education: Principles and Practices June 2011 Attachment A
EDD‐110 CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OUTCOMES SURVEY Spring 2011 Directions: Please indicate whether you agree or disagree with these statements by marking the Scantron form in the following way: A= You agree with the statement B= You are neutral about the statement. (You do not agree or disagree) C= You disagree with the statement. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
This class helped me analyze philosophies of education. This class helped me compare and contrast factors of why some students succeed academically and others do not. This class helped me draw conclusions from classroom observations and research findings. This class helped me use technology to create learning materials. This class helped me read education texts (i.e. books, articles, newspapers) effectively. This class helped me utilize technology for academic research and self‐directed learning. This class helped me work in collaborative learning groups to reach shared goals. This class helped me examine theories, concepts, and debates in education. 9