Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Department of Anthropology
Academic Year 2014-15 Assessment Report
MISSION STATEMENT
The core mission of the Department of Anthropology is to impart an anthropological understanding of the human condition through teaching, research,
and service. The Anthropology undergraduate major program is designed to: (1) provide a stimulating and challenging curriculum that will enable
students to understand and appreciate the range of human cultures, languages, and biological diversity from prehistoric times to the present; (2) promote
and develop the ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and comprehend the complexities of an increasingly culturally diverse world; (3) create
an atmosphere to impart anthropological knowledge to students through creative research, teaching, and public service; and (4) prepare students to
apply their anthropological knowledge and skills in graduate programs as well as in a variety of careers in the public and private sectors. These goals are
congruent with the mission of the University of Montana-Missoula.
DEPARTMENT OBJECTIVES and ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC ISSUES
1. Prepare undergraduate majors and minors in the core knowledge, methods, and critical research skills of the discipline. (This department objective
meshes best with University Strategic Goal 1: Partnering for Student Success)
2. Provide students with the opportunity to gain basic knowledge in the four substantive sub-disciplines of anthropology: socio-cultural anthropology,
physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology. (This department objective meshes best with Strategic Goal 2—Education for the Global
Century—and Strategic Goal 3—Discovery and Creativity to Serve Montana and the World)
3. Provide students with the opportunity to gain knowledge of the discipline beyond the classroom via guided research, service learning, independent
study, and internships. (This department objective meshes best with University Strategic Goal 3—Discovery and Creativity to Serve Montana and the
World—as well as Strategic Goal 4—Dynamic Learning Environment).
4. Prepare students to conduct and convey results of independent anthropological research. (This department objective fits with University Strategic
Issue 3—Discovery and Creativity to Serve Montana and the World)
5. Make anthropology available to non-majors, both as a general education course and to students studying related disciplines.(This department objective
meshes best with Strategic Goal 2—Education for the Global Century)
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6. Teach, conduct, research and engage in service to enrich faculty’s ability to convey anthropological knowledge to students. (This department objective
meshes best with Strategic Goal 4—Dynamic Learning Environment)
STUDENT LEARNING GOALS AND MEASUREMENT TOOLS
1. Goal 1: Gain discipline-wide knowledge, including the
four core sub-disciplines of anthropology (socio-cultural
anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and
linguistic anthropology).
2. Goal 2: Interpret and convey knowledge and values
about the diversity of the human condition.
3. Goal 3: Impart a set of problem solving skills and
methods that can be applied to various human issues.
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APA
ASES
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APA
ASES
ASES
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RESULTS AND MODIFICATIONS
Goal 1: Gain discipline-wide knowledge,
including the four core sub-disciplines of
anthropology (socio-cultural anthropology,
physical anthropology, archaeology, and
linguistic anthropology).
Goal 2: Interpret and convey knowledge and
values about the diversity of the human
condition.
Here we compare results of the APA between new majors and graduating majors. New majors scored an
average of 27 out of 40 on the entrance exam. Graduating majors scored an average of 28/40. The most
common grade for outgoing seniors was 32/40, compared to 26/40 for incoming majors. Thus, graduating
seniors most commonly show a 6-point improvement on the 40 point exit exam; we feel this is a significant
improvement. We picked nine questions (1, 2, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21, 35, and 39) that we deemed the most
pertinent to Goal 1 and compared the results of success between new majors and graduating seniors. The
average grade among those nine questions for new majors was 5.84 compared to 5.80 for graduating
seniors. We are concerned about the lack of an improvement between the two groups. However, it may be
related to the contexts in which the exams are taken. New majors take the survey at the end of courses,
whereas graduating seniors take it after they graduate and not in a class context. Also, the data sets for
new majors (n=97) versus graduating seniors (n=19) are also quite variable and may impact the scores.
We will discuss the results among the faculty more thoroughly and evaluate the results again next year
when samples sizes are greater.
The senior exit survey (ASES) also provides data by which to determine if students gained discipline-wide
knowledge. Of the students asked if Anthropology provided discipline-wide knowledge, 87% stated that they
strongly agreed or agreed. 89% of students agreed or strongly agreed that the Department of Anthropology
gave them an adequate understanding of the techniques and skills of a working anthropologist. 90% of
students agreed/strongly agreed that the Department courses provided knowledge by which they
understand the underlying concepts of Anthropology. 94% agreed/strongly agreed that courses in
Anthropology expanded their understanding of Anthropology and the human experience. Finally, 83%
agreed/strongly agreed that Anthropology courses provided a coherent understanding of the field while
letting me specialize as I wanted.
Here we compare results to APA questions 3, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 25, 35, and 40. These questions most
appropriately assess whether students learned about the diversity of the human condition. The average
score for new majors is 0.64/1.0 for the nine questions about diversity, compared to an average of 0.74/1.0
for graduating seniors. While not a huge leap in improvement, it does show a 10 point increase in effective
knowledge of the human condition for graduating seniors.
The senior exit survey (ASES) also provides data by which to determine if students learned how to interpret
and convey knowledge of the diversity of the human condition. 90% of students agreed/strongly agreed that
the Department courses provided knowledge by which they understand the underlying concepts of
Anthropology. 94% agreed/strongly agreed that courses in Anthropology expanded their understanding of
Anthropology and the human experience. Finally, 83% agreed/strongly agreed that Anthropology courses
provided a coherent understanding of the field while letting me specialize as I wanted.
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Goal 3: Impart a set of problem solving skills
and methods that can be applied to various
human issues.
It is difficult to assess student success in this goal based on the APA and ASES, so we as a department
may want to think about how to address this in the future. However, certain questions in the ASES survey
provide information by which to evaluate if students feel they developed a set of problem solving skills and
methods. Within the ASES, 90% of students felt that theory course(s) helped them understand the
underlying concepts of Anthropology. 89% of students felt that their methods courses provided them with an
adequate understanding of the techniques and skills of a working anthropologist (or linguist). Finally, 76% of
students felt that their statistics courses were helpful in understanding basic statistics. Theory, methods,
and statistics are the most obvious techniques students will use to solve problems in future decisionmaking. As such, these exit results strongly support that the graduating Anthropology students are prepared
to solve problems requiring complex thought.
APPENDICES
1. APA (Anthropology Proficiency Assessment)
2. ASES (Anthropology Senior Exit Survey)
These are included in the 2013 Anthropology Assessment guide; attached to email sent with this document
FUTURE PLANS FOR CONTINUED ASSESSMENT
We will continue to evaluate the data generated by the APA and ASES. Since we are only in its second year of implementation, we will need to see how
the data trend for a few years before we implement any changes. As it stands, sample sizes for graduating seniors are still small (n=19) compared to
incoming majors (n=97). We will reexamine the data in a year when the data samples are larger and perhaps more statistically significant. For now, the
insignificant differences in average scores on the APA between incoming and graduating anthropology majors is disheartening. We will carefully track
those numbers in the next year or so to determine how we will change the exams and/or our curriculum to better meet the needs of our students in
learning the core concepts of Anthropology.
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