A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Revised 10121/2013
Course Prefix, Number and Title: ENGL 220-Writing Poetry
Division/Unit: Liberal Arts/English
Submitted by: English Department
Contributing Faculty: Lindsay Wilson; Henry Sosnowski
Academic Year: 2014-201 5
Complete and electronically submit your assessment report to your Department Chair/Coordinator/Director. As needed, please attach supporting documents and/or
a narrative description of the assessment activities in your course.
Course Outcomes
In the boxes below, summarize
the outcomes assessed in your
course during the year.
Assessment Measures
Assessment Results
Use of Results
Effect on Course
In the boxes below, summarize
the methods used to assess
course outcomes during the last
year.
In the boxes below, summarize
the results of your assessment
activities during the last year.
In the boxes below, summarize
how you are or how you plan to
use the results to improve
student learning.
Based on the results of this
assessment, will you revise your
outcomes? If so, please
summarize how and why in the
boxes below:
The Henry Sosnowski and I,
who teach ENG 220, formed an
assessment committee. We
collected final portfolios from
two sections of220. We used a
rubric to assess metaphors
within the poems of the
portfolios. The rubric follows
the 0-5 scale employed in other
creative writing course
assessments. <>=incompetent,
l =very weak, 2=marginal,
3=adequate, 4=strong,
5=superior, and N/A=not
applicable. Each portfolio
received two readings.
Overall, the poems in the
portfolios showed our students
are "adequate" to "strong" in our
courses for metaphor usage. The
average score for metaphors in
the portfolios were 3.4. This
shows we're doing okay, but we
could do better. At times it
seemed as if the students did not
know the line between the literal
and figurative.
The professors need to better
communicate metaphor as part
of more than one class. We need
to reinforce it through workshop
that deals with student work
specifically. We also need to
consider the published work we
show to students as examples. I
have created a metaphor Power
Point to illustrate basic
definitions better, which
students will see before we get
into a discussion of how
published writers use metaphor.
I do not see a need to revise our
outcomes at this time.
Outcome#!
Students will show they
understand the use of an
effective metaphor, and their use
will reflect an understanding of
what is literal and what is a
metaphor within the poem.
Page I
A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSl\fENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: ENGL 220-Writing Poetry
Division/Unit: Liberal Arts/English
Submitted by: English Department
Contributing Faculty: Lindsay Wilson; Henry Sosnowski
Academic Year: 2014-2015
Course Outcomes
Assessment Results
Use of Results
Effect on Course
The committee used the same
process outlined above, but
assessed how well the students
used line breaks within the
portfolios.
The results for this outcome
were also " adequate" to
"strong." The average score on
the line breaks were 3.5 making them slightly better than
metaphors. Considering that line
breaks are one of the single most
important aspects of poetry, we
should strive to do better than
3.5. It is certainly not a poor
score, but it's almost impossible
to overstate the importance of
line breaks to convey meaning,
emphasis, and rhythm.
A few semester back while I was
assessing my own class by
myself, I realized I was not
doing enough for teaching line
breaks. I found a wonderful
essay about line breaks, and I
used it to develop a line break
handout sheet. Since then I've
noticed more improvement from
students regarding line breaks. I
am going to share this handout
with Henry Sosnowski. Also I
think it's vital we use workshop
to re-emphasize what we talk
about through lecture, readings,
and discussion. Being able to
show how to use these ideas
within student writing is key.
I do not see a need to revise our
outcomes at this time.
The committee used the same
process outlined above, but
assessed the first draft of a poem
with the final draft within the
portfolio.
The process of assessing this
outcome revealed a few flaws.
We discovered that our final
portfolio assignments in some
sections didn' t match the others,
so assessing the different drafts
in the portfolios was difficult.
Professor Sosnowski did not
make his students turn in draft 1
with the final draft of the poems.
My class achieved a 3.6 for
revision.
We will review each other's
assignment sheets for the
portfolio and align them while
still providing a space for
instructors to use their own
approach. Professor Sosnowski
will have to make draft I
required at least during
assessment cycles.
We won't revise the outcome
and instead better communicate
about the final portfolio
expectations and requirements.
Assessment Measures
Outcome#2
Line breaks: Students will use
line breaks in a competent
manner.
Outcome#3
Revision: Students will
demonstrate an understanding of
revision techniques between
different drafts.
Page2
A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSl\fENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: ENGL 220-Writing Poetry
Division/Unit: Liberal Arts/English
Submitted by: English Department
Contributing Faculty: Lindsay Wilson; Henry Sosnowski
Academic Year: 2014-2015
Please enter your name and date below to confirm you have reviewed this report:
Title
Department Chair/Coordinator/Director
Dean
Vice President of Academic Affairs
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