‐
“You   are   in   the   same   cycle   as   last   year!”
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Appendix   B2:    “Closing   the   Loop”   Course ‐ Level   Assessment   Reflections.
E NGLISH   WILL   ASSESS   IN   FALL   2013   AND   R EFLECT /C LOSE   THE   L OOP   IN   SPRING
2014.
T HE   F OLLOWING   R EFLECTIONS   APPLY   TO   ALL   COURSES   ASSESSED   FROM
SPRING   11
F ALL   11.
P ART   III:   C OURSE   R EFLECTIONS   AND   F UTURE   P LANS
1.
What   changes   were   made   to   your   courses   based   on   the   previous   assessment   cycle,   the   prior
Closing   the   Loop   reflections   and   other   faculty   discussions?
Repeatability   changes   to   Creative   Writingand   Service   Learning   courses   have   been   sent   to
Curriculum.
2.
Based   on   the   current   assessment   and   reflections,   what   course ‐ level   and   programmatic   strengths   have   the   assessment   reflections   revealed?
What   actions   has   your   discipline   determined   might   be   taken   as   a   result   of   your   reflections,   discussions,   and   insights?
We   have   become   better   able   to   discuss   our   expectations   of   our   students   in   various   classes   among   ourselves,   and   communicate   these   to   students,   based   on   the   rubrics   we   developed
in   conjunction   with   the   SLO   work.
We   continue   to   develop   our   program   and   have   discussions   about   our   classes;   creating   the
English   Dept.
Website   and   revitalizing   our   “English   Department   Philosophy   and   Practice”
(see   www.chabotcollege.edu/languagearts/ english /philosophy.cfm
)   in   a   retreat   has   also   been   a   part   of   this   –   helping   us   recognize   and   reaffirm   our   core   values.
We   have   improved   our   adjunct   hiring   process,   and   we   do   see   a   need   for   further   staff   development   opportunities   to   discuss   our   students,   our   teaching   practices,   how   we   evaluate   students,   etc.
–   both   f/t   and   p/t   faculty   (there   are   about   50   of   us).
We   have   developed   an   AA ‐ T   degree   to   help   our   students   transfer   more   easily   as   English   majors.
Two   new   courses   (English   35   and   English   41)   for   the   AAT,   and   the   AAT   itself,   were   both   approved.
They   are   being   sent   forward   for   approval   by   the   state,   and   for   articulation   at   CSU   and   (for   the   classes)   at   UC.
We   anticipate   the   courses   will   be   in   the   catalogand   the
AA ‐ T   ready   to   offer   by   Fall   2014.We
recognize   that   we   have   many,   many   strong   English   students   who   plan   to   transfer,   and   as   seen   by   our   literature   and   creative   writing   courses   in   particular,   they   find   a   special   “home”   in   these   classes,   yet   there   are   very   few   sections   of   them   as   compared   to   our   composition   and   basic   skills   offerings.
These   same   students   serve   as   tutors,   are   active   in   ASCC   and   clubs,   and   contribute   greatly   to   our   college   in   so   many   ways.
We   want   to   make   sure   we   don’t   lose   these   students,   and   we   are   dedicated   to   maintaining   (and   growing)   the   depth   and   breadth   of   our   curriculum   so   as   to   at   least   be   on
par   with   other   Bay   Area   community   colleges.
Finally,   we   are   fairly   satisfied   with   our   success   in   our   courses.
We   have   reaffirmed   our   support   of   both   the   101A/B   and   102   developmental   pathways   as   viable   and   needed   for
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our   students,   and   are   working   to   maintain   both   options   in   our   schedule   per   student   need.
We   have   also   reaffirmed   our   support   of   our   elective   courses   (literature,   creative   writing   and   technical   writing   support)   and   are,   again,   working   hard   to   keep   the   classes   accessible   to   our   students.
As   a   side   note   on   this,   we   are   happy   to   be   offering   a   course   in   Youth   Literature   for   the   first   time   in   Spring   2014.
We   hope   this   class   will   have   crossover   appeal   across   English   majors,   parents,   ECD   students,   and   lovers   of   literature   for   children   and   young   adults.
This   class   also   refreshes   and   updates   our   elective   offerings   in   literature,   and,   like   all   of   our   electives,   offers   a   high   “productivity”   value   for   the   college.
We   do   have   some   questions   about   our   online   offerings;   although   initial   demand   is   high,   student   retention   and   success   rates   are   not   on   par   with   on ‐ site   offerings.
We   recognize
that   access   to   these   classes   is   important,   but   we   are   equally   concerned   about   success   and   equity   (not   all   students   are   equally   prepared   or   equipped   to   succeed   in   on ‐ line   courses;   low ‐ income   and   first   generation   college   students   may   be   even   less   likely   to   succeed   online   than   they   are   in   face ‐ to ‐ face   classes).
3.
What   is   the   nature   of   the   planned   actions   (please   check   all   that   apply)?
XCurricular
X        Pedagogical
 Resource   based
 Change   to   CLO   or   rubric
 Change   to   assessment   methods
 Other:_________________________________________________________________
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Appendix   C:    Program   Learning   Outcomes
Considering   your   feedback,   findings,   and/or   information   that   has   arisen   from   the   course   level   discussions,   please   reflect   on   each   of   your   Program   Level   Outcomes.
Program:   English   (developmental,   composition   sequence,   AA   degree   and   transfer___
 PLO   #1:   Independently   read   and   understand   complex   academic   texts
 PLO   #2:   Critically   respond   to   the   ideas   and   information   in   academic   texts
 PLO   #3:   N/A
 PLO   #4:   N/A
What   questions   or   investigations   arose   as   a   result   of   these   reflections   or   discussions?
We   continue   to   be   interested   in   uses   of   both   non ‐ fiction   and   fiction   texts   in   our   Basic   Skills   and   transfer   level   courses.
As   a   department   we   actively   share   the   texts/ideas   that   we   use   in   order   to   enhance   our   ability   as   individuals   to   make   complex   texts   accessible   to   our   students,   while   maintaining   a   high   level   of   Program   Coherence   throughout   our   curriculum   and   Faculty.
What   program ‐ level   strengths   have   the   assessment   reflections   revealed?
Strengths   revealed:   Our   department   offers   a   rich   variety   of   texts   (in   genre,   cultural   contexts,   complexity   of   ideas,   etc.)   that   help   our   students   develop   as   critical   thinkers   and   writers.
We   also   have   articulated   clear   values   around   how   to   teach   English,   and   we   have   a   very   dedicated,   passionate   faculty   that   works   hard   to   develop   relationships   with   students,   and   not   just   present   curriculum   or   evaluate   work.
What   actions   has   your   discipline   determined   might   be   taken   to   enhance   the   learning   of   students   completing   your   program?
Revise   Adjunct   Hiring   Process—Completed   in   spring   2013:
Given   the   number   of   adjunct   faculty   who   teach   our   developmental   and   college   composition   courses,   it   is   critical   that   we   hire,   train,   and   evaluate   teachers   well.
Recognizing   the   liabilities   with   the   present   brevity   of   the   adjunct   interview   session,   a   teaching   demonstration   and   student   paper   evaluation   are   being   incorporated   into   the   interview.We
are   also   revising   the   interview   questions   to   better   evaluate   a   candidate’s   pedagogy   and   experience   in   keeping   with   English   Department   philosophy.
These   changes   should   be   in   place   by   early   March,   2013,   so   that   Dean   of   Language   Arts   can   adopt   them   as   part   of   the   adjunct   hiring   process.
The   short   of   it:   Better   teaching   will   translate   to   enhanced   learning.
On   February   14 th ,   2013   the   department   also   participated   in   a   “grading/   essay   response   norming”   workshop   to   help   us   improve   our   abilities   to   effectively   respond   to   students’   written   work.
We’d   like
to   do   these   regularly,   at   all   levels   of   our   program   (basic   skills/   college   level   composition/   electives).
We   have   developed   an   AA ‐ T   degree   to   help   our   students   transfer   more   easily   to   CSUs   as   English
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majors.
Two   new   elective   English   courses   have   been   created   per   state   regulations   so   that   we   can   accommodate   the   AAT:   English   35,   “Modern   and   Contemporary   U.S.
Literature,”   and   English   41,
“World   Literature   from   the   1700s   to   the   Present.”    The   AA ‐ T   has   been   fully   researched   and   both   the   degree   and   the   courses   are   undergoing   the   Chabot   curriculum   review   process   at   this   writing.
If   all   goes   well,   we   should   be   able   to   offer   the   degree   by   this   coming   fall   (2014).
While   working   on   the   AA ‐
T,   we   also   have   made   some   important   revisions   to   our   English   AA   degree,   eliminating   old   courses   that   are   no   longer   being   offered   and   discussing   ways   to   make   permanent   changes   to   the   configuration   of   the   degree   so   that   it   complements   the   AA ‐ T,   but   serves   primarily   non ‐ CSU   bound   students   (that   is,   students   who   are   either   transferring   to   UC   or   other   non ‐ CSU   institutions,   or   students   who   are   not   interested   in   transferring   but   simply   want   to   earn   an   AA).
Since   the   AA ‐ T   is,   by   state   mandate,   quite   rigid   in   its   requirements,   we   plan   to   make   the   AA   quite   flexible,   thus   serving   the   needs   of   a   wide   range   of   our   diverse   Chabot   student   body.
We   recognize   that   we   have   many,   many   strong   English   students   who   plan   to   transfer,   and   as   seen   by   our   literature   and   creative   writing   courses   in   particular,   they   find   a   special   “home”   in   these   classes,   yet   there   are   very   few   sections   of   them   as   compared   to   our   composition   and   basic   skills   offerings.
These   same   students   serve   as   tutors,   are   active   in   ASCC   and   clubs,   and   contribute   greatly   to   our   college   in   so   many   ways.
We   want   to   make   sure   we   don’t   lose   these   students,   and   we   are   dedicated   to   maintaining   (and   growing)   the   depth   and   breadth   of   our   curriculum   so   as   to   at   least   be   on   par   with
other   Bay   Area   community   colleges.
Program:   Creative   Writing   and   Literature   electives    (Certificate,   GE,   and   transfer)
 PLO   #1:   Student   produces   a   body   of   quality   creative   work.
 PLO   #2:   Student   forms   a   critical   response   to   the   creative   writings   of   others
 PLO   #3:   n/a
 PLO   #4:   n/a
What   questions   or   investigations   arose   as   a   result   of   these   reflections   or   discussions?
We   are   convinced   that   our   Creative   Writing   and   Literature   courses   are   valuable   to   our   student   body   as   they   promote   both   the   mission   statement   of   our   department   and   the   College.
They   also   further   develop   critical   thinking   and   communication   skills,   produce   community   on   our   campus,   and   further   both   English   majors   and   non ‐ majors   in   their   educational   goals,   since   the   courses   transfer   as   GE   electives.
As   the   landscape   of   our   College   continues   to   change,   we   continue   to   investigate   how   we   can   articulate   the   value   of   these   courses   while   evolving   our   methods   to   reach   our   students’   needs.
What   program ‐ level   strengths   have   the   assessment   reflections   revealed?
Strengths   revealed:   We   use   writing   as   an   assessment   for   reading,   analysis   and   critical   thinking.
We   see   in   these   courses   that   a   student’s   enjoyment   of   the   material   and   the   complex   integration   of   reading   and   writing   leads   to   improved   understanding   of   not   only   literature,   but   the   society   in   which   we   live   in,
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and   leads   students   to   observe   more   intently,   ask   better   questions,   and   read   more   critically   into   their
own   lives   and   the   lives   of   others.
The   ability   to   produce   more   effective   and   nuanced   writing   is   another   key   product   of   our   courses.
What   actions   has   your   discipline   determined   might   be   taken   to   enhance   the   learning   of   students   completing   your   program?
Our   upcoming   AA ‐ T   degree   will   help   students   maintain   an   academic   focus   as   they   continue   through   our   program   and   beyond   to   further   studies.
We   are   expanding   our   course   selections,   which   we   hope
to   include   more   creative   writing   opportunities   and   world   literature   courses.
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