A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Revised I0/21/2013
Course Prefix, Number and Title: ENG 102-Composition II
Division/Unit: Liberal Arts/English
Submitted by: Natalie Russell and Erika Bein
Contributing Faculty: Assessment Reading Committee
Academic Year: 2013-2014 (Spring 2014)
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.
Coune Outcomes
In the boxes below, summarize
the outcomes assessed in your
course during the year.
Outcome#l
Standard Written English (SWE)
• Employ the conventions of
SWE, as evidenced by
competency in format, grammar,
mechanics, punctuation, and
sentence structure.
Outcome #2
Students will write a variety of
essays that demonstrate
progression in college-level
writing skills.
Assessment Measures
Assessment Results
Use of Results
Effect on Coune
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:
We did not directly assess this
outcome although it was
indirectly evaluated through
reading and scoring the
assessment essays, which could
not be completely understood
without basic student
competency in S WE.
No direct findings.
We do not have plans to change
our instruction in this area at this
time.
This outcome was revised to be
attached to the new General
Education Leaming Outcomes of
Communication, Critical
Thinking, and Information
Literacy. It was approved by the
CAP Committee and the Vice
President ofTMCC in I 0/2013.
In this current assessment cycle,
we evaluated the culminating
English 102 assignment, the
research paper. This assignment
demonstrates the progression of
reading and writing skill building
through the English composition
sequence. It is just one of several
types of analytical academic
essays that students write during
this course.
We found that remains one of the
most important assignments
because it demonstrates the
writing and research abilities that
are critical to gain in this course.
However, we discovered that we
need to provide additional
training on assignment design
and holistic reading/scoring so
that we maintain consistency
throughout the department.
We will be providing more
ongoing training to part-time
faculty in particular, full-time
faculty if requested, on
assignment design.
This outcome was revised to be
attached to the new General
Education Leaming Outcomes of
Communication, Critical
Thinking, and Information
Literacy. It was approved by the
CAP Committee and the Vice
President of TMCC in I 0/2013 .
Page I
We will also be redesigning the
assessment rubric so that it
matches the assignment
expectations and cannot be
misinterpreted.
A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: ENG 102-Composition II
Division/Unit: Liberal Arts/English
Submitted by: Natalie Russell and Erika Bein
Contributing Faculty: Assessment Reading Committee
Academic Year: 2013-2014 (Spring 2014)
Course Outcomes
Outcome #3
Students will synthesize critical
reading and writing skills in the
production of analytical essays
that demonstrate synthesis of
primary and secondary sources.
Outcome #4
Students will synthesize
academic research methodologies
and college-level writing skills in
the production of a research
paper.
Assessment Measures
Assessment Results
Use of Results
Effect on Course
We did not assess any other
essay from this course except the
research paper. This analysis is
explained below.
No specific findings in this area.
In future assessments, we may
choose to drill-down our analysis
of research methodologies to
study the synthesis of reading
and writing and the use of
particular types of sources.
This outcome was revised to be
attached to the new General
Education Learning Outcomes of
Communication, Critical
Thinking, and Information
Literacy. It was approved by the
CAP Committee and the Vice
President ofTMCC in 10/2013.
In this assessment cycle, we
focused primarily on the
culminating research paper. We
sampled 35 sections of English
I 02, with S essays selected from
each class. We studied three
main core indicators: evidence of
an argument-based thesis,
evidence of effective source
material, and demonstrated
research skills.
In each of the three core
indicators, students demonstrated
an average level of competency.
Our numbers slipped slightly
from the 20 I I assessment results,
showing that diligent work is still
needed in these areas.
As indicated in the Assessment
Report, here is an abbreviated list
of our recommendations:
I. Refine assessment
rubric.
2. Focus instruction on
thesis development and
on the nature and
incorporation of
sources.
3. Keep adjunct faculty
involved in the process
and provide additional
training.
4. Continue to collect
assignment sheets and
provide training in
assignment design.
Continue to focus on all
areas of instruction that
maintain the rigorous
standards of this course.
This outcome was revised to be
attached to the new General
Education Leaming Outcomes of
Communication, Critical
Thinking, and Information
Literacy. It was approved by the
CAP Committee and the Vice
President ofTMCC in 10/2013.
s.
Page2
A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: ENG 102-Composition II
Division/Unit: Liberal Arts/English
Submitted by: Natalie Russell and Erika Bein
Contributing Faculty: Assessment Reading Committee
Academic Year: 2013-2014 (Spring 2014)
Please enter your name and date below to confirm you have reviewed this report:
Title
Name
Date
Department Chair/Coordinator/Director
Natalie A. Russell
6/13/201 4
Dean
Armida Fruzzetti
6/ 13/2014
Vice President of Academic Affairs
Jane Nichols
~~ Q f\,,J
(j
I
Page 3
/
~
6/25/2014
A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: ENG 102-Composition II
Division/Unit: Liberal Arts/English
Submitted by: Natalie Russell and Erika Bein
Contributing Faculty: Assessment Reading Committee
Academic Year: 2013-2014 (Spring 2014)
English 102-Spring 2014 Assessment Report
The Assessment:
The previous English 102 assessment was completed in the spring 2011 semester. Results from this assessment can be found in the 2011 report and CAR fonn.
For the 2014 English l 02 assessment process, the department used the same core indicators that had been used in the 2011 assessment, giving us a pattern of
results to evaluate and discuss. We used the research paper in 102 as our assessment focus, pulling from 35 sections of English 102 from the fall 2013 semester,
selecting 5 essays from each section. This assignment is a typical, required culminating assignment in 102, a thesis-driven research assignment incorporating
appropriate source material and fonnatted in a proper (usually MLA) fonnat.
New to this assessment cycle was the method of collection: instructors were asked to provide the corresponding assignment sheet along with their designated
student essays identified by roster number (similar to our English 101 and 98R department assessments).
The assessment committee used three core indicators for this assessment.
• Evidence of an argument-based thesis;
• Evidence of appropriate/effective use of source material within the essay;
• Demonstrated research skills of at least 5 varied/scholarly research materials (as shown in the works cited pages).
The assessment readers scored these on a five point scale (O=incompetent and 5==superior). A score of3 on the 5 point scale on the individual indicators was an
acceptable passing score. In January of 2014, the 22 assessment readers, both full and part-time instructors, completed a norming session on six essays ranging in
quality before the formal reading began. During the formal reading, each essay was read twice, and if discrepancies existed, (a variation of more than 2 points),
then the essay was given a third read (37%). For the first time in this assessment process, we also encountered a small number (2%) of fourth reads.
The Results: (Average results in all categories)
Appropriate Thesis
Raw
Score
513.4
2011
Average
3.34
2014
Average
2.9
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A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: ENG 102-Composition II
Division/Unit: Liberal Arts/English
Submitted by: Natalie Russell and Erika Bein
Contributing Faculty: Assessment Reading Committee
Academic Year: 2013-2014 (Spring 2014)
Use of Appropriate Source
Material
517.8
3.185
3.0
Evidence of Appropriate
Research Materials
608.8
3.77
3.5
The scores for the spring assessment were significant in several ways. Although each of the areas still met the level of "adequate competence" (the thesis section
marginally so), the table illustrates that our overall scores have fallen since 2011. There may be multiple reasons for this trend. Throughout both the nonning
session and fonnal reading, we discovered that confusion existed in how terms like "thesis" and "research" were defined. Once we noticed ongoing large scoring
gaps in these areas, we stopped pulling essays for fourth reads because we decided that it would be unproductive to continue without further evaluating the cause
of the discrepancies. In addition, when we reviewed the provided assignment sheets, we also observed that problems existed in assignment design that could have
led to the misinterpretation of the expectations of the assignment, therefore skewing assessment results.
Even though the downward trend may be discouraging, the scores still indicate average competence ofour students, which is to be expected with an overall
sampling of classes. These scores suggest that we still have work to do in these areas, which we will accomplish through the recommendations found below.
Recommendations:
l . Our primary task before the next assessment should be to refine the rubric. The department will be consulted on how to explain each item up for review and on
which core indicators of the class we should focus.
2. Going forward, the English department needs to continue to focus ample class time teaching our students how to craft an effective argument-based thesis and
incorporate and cite sources in text. These are skills our students must have leaving the research class, English 102. As mentioned above, though, some of these
results could have been affected by a misinterpretation of the nature of the required sources (qualification and incorporation) to be used for this assignment, which
should be improved by a reinvention of the rubric.
Page 5
A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: ENG I 02-Composition II
Division/Unit: Liberal Arts/English
Submitted by: Natalie Russell and Erika Bein
Contributing Faculty: Assessment Reading Committee
Academic Year: 2013-2014 (Spring 2014)
3. The department also recommends keeping the adjunct faculty involved in the assessment process. The integration of full and part-time instructors helps
generate a better dissemination of assessment data to all of the instructors and maintain consistent curriculum across classes. However, we discovered that
additional training in course expectations and holistic reading/scoring techniques should be provided to those instructors who do not teach English l 02 but would
like to be included in the assessment process. We must also streamline the payment process for part-time instructors in order to include them in a fair and ethical
way.
4. We also suggest continuing to collect the research paper assignment as part of the required assessment materials from each instructor. Not all of them were
received, and some of those collected demonstrated problems in assignment design. We should also provide ongoing professional development and mentoring for
instructors to help maintain consistent expectations.
5. While we wish to emphasize the use of an argument-based thesis, appropriate use of scholarly source materials, and research abilities in classes, the department
recommends that we continue to focus on all areas, so we can continue to maintain our course standards and work toward improvement in the next assessment
cycle.
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