Student Academic Achievement Committee (SAAC)
Standardized Report Form
INTRODUCTION
Program/Discipline Title:1
Associate of Arts Degree in Liberal Arts
Associate of Arts Degree in General Studies
Time Period:
Fall 2008-Summer 2009
Program goals, objectives, and/or mission:
The Communication, Humanities & Social Sciences (CHSS) and Mathematics, Science, and Engineering
(MSE) Schools at Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) offer an accessible broad-based
academic curriculum in a student-focused environment. The curriculum provides students with a
foundation for further educational studies, self-expression and critical thinking in today's society. In
the pursuit of accomplishing this mission, the CHSS and MSE schools have established the following
goals regarding our mission statement.
Liberal Arts Goals
1) Provide skills necessary for successful further studies at CNM or elsewhere.
2) Maintain quality curricula to meet the evolving standards of industry, education & community.
3) Create an environment that promotes active learning and communicates the value of cultural
diversity.
Exit Competencies:
Measured on a two-year rotational basis with approval from the Student Academic Achievement
Committee (SAAC).
Liberal Arts exit competencies measured in 2008-2009:
Academic Inquiry
Cultural Diversity
Global Perspective
Additional Liberal Arts exit competencies, not measured in 2008-2009:
Written Communication
Oral Communication
Numeracy
Critical Thinking
General Studies exit competencies measured in 2008-2009:
Numeracy
Additional General Studies exit competencies, not measured in 2008-2009:
Written Communication
Oral Communication
Critical Thinking
Per SAAC policy, an annual report for each degree program is expected. Because of shifts in data
collection strategies and anticipated curricular change (discussed in the report in the “Assessment Plan”
section), CHSS elected to reported results for both degrees in a joint report.
1
Core Competencies:
All adopted, but reported this year:
Life Skills
Numeracy (rubric pilot)
RESULTS
Introduction and Discussion of Assessment Efforts:
The Liberal Arts (LA) and General Studies (GS) Degree Programs are shared across two schools, CHSS
and MSE. The results reported here only reflect assessment in the School of CHSS.
The School of CHSS adopted a new strategy for data collection and analysis in 2008-2009. The
strategy aims to engage faculty more directly with exit competency results and increase the prospect
of curriculum change. SLOT historically has operated on the philosophy that students should be
assessed outside the courses that address specific exit competencies (e.g., no assessment of writing
in English classes). The new rationale was to measure student skills in “real life” (albeit in school)
settings. The strategy also enjoys the feature of encouraging more faculty involvement with
assessment.
CHSS employed embedded assessment in 2008-2009. In fall semester 2008 faculty were asked to
use and/or develop instruments as part of students’ routine coursework; measurements included both
the scheduled Liberal Arts exit competencies—cultural diversity, global perspective, academic inquiry—
and the CNM core competencies life skills and numeracy (pilot of the rubric). Notably, the cultural
diversity and global perspective exit competency rubrics share some common characteristics with the
CNM life skills rubric, although the results are reported separately. In addition, numeracy is an exit
competency for Liberal Arts students, and although not scheduled for data collection for the LA and GS
degrees, the CNM pilot rubric offered a fitting substitute.
Faculty, and in some sections students, scored student work and submitted score sheets to SLOT.
SLOT conducted the analysis of the data and facilitated the follow-up effort to share results and “close
the loop” with CHSS faculty and administration.
Assessment Plan (Who, what, when and how assessment took place):
Overview
Faculty used the exit competency rubrics shown in Appendix A, as well as the CNM core competency
rubrics for life skills and numeracy, to score the embedded assignments. The exit competency rubrics
are common across the LA and GS degrees. If the submitted score sheets included out-of-range
scores (e.g., score of 0 for cultural diversity whereas the rubric allows for scores 1-4), the cases were
eliminated from the analysis. Mid-point scores (e.g., 1.5) were rounded up and included in the
analysis.
Because the data represent student work in sections volunteered by the faculty, the results are not
representative of student performance in CHSS courses or of Liberal Arts majors. In addition, the
instruments used to assess student skills were mixed, and scoring was not normed. As such, we
elected to share the complete results and not separate out the LA and GS majors. Past assessment
efforts in CHSS culled these majors from the larger data and further sorted the data into credit hour
categories in order to approximate student progress in the major (i.e., students with less than 15
credit hours attempted versus those with 45 or more credit hours as the proxy for LA and/or GS
graduates). Given the diversity of instruments and scoring methods used, and because faculty
contribution of data was voluntary, we elected not to follow past processes.
Sample. The duplicated count for the fall 2008 LA and GS sample comprised 2975 students. Of
these, 237 (8%) are declared General Studies majors and 581 (19.5%) identified as Liberal Arts
majors. These majors constitute the largest concentration in the sample. Descriptive data for the
sample shows 21 mean credit hours attempted in CHSS courses, and 12 hours in MSE courses
(although the number of students with a history of MSE course-taking was significantly smaller
[n=1791]).
Academic Inquiry
Assessment of the exit competency is based on faculty input from the following departments:
Anthropology, Art History, Communication, English, Geography, General Honors, History, Humanities,
Philosophy, Political Science, Religion, and Sociology. The academic inquiry rubric features five
primary traits; coverage of the traits varied by department. The sample sizes for the five traits, and
the list of departments contributing the largest portion of the respective samples, are summarized in
the table.
Academic Inquiry
Primary Traits
n students
Posing Questions
516
Locating Resources
508
Evaluating Information
552
Citing Resources
463
Drawing Conclusions
569
Contributing Departments
English 44%
Philosophy 17%
History 14%
English 36%
Philosophy 19%
Anthropology 12%
English 37%
Philosophy & History @ 15%
Anthropology 11%
English 30%
Philosophy 18%
Anthropology 13%
Art History 28%
English 27%
Philosophy 12%
The assignments used for the academic inquiry assessment also varied. Assignments included: book
reports, take-home essay examinations, exam short answer questions, take-home essays based on
course readings, analysis of sources following library visit, group presentation with use of five sources,
written reports with compare and contrast for works of art by a specified artist and by time period.
Cultural Diversity
Data were submitted from the following departments: Anthropology, Cultural Studies, English,
French, History, Music, Psychology, Sociology, Spanish and Theatre. With one exception, the
embedded assessments included a mix of in-class work and written work outside of class. The
assignments included: short answer questions to course readings, book reports, character analysis in
a theatrical script, reflective essay, written analysis of original research on race and gender in the
media, and exam essays. One department used multiple-choice exam questions; these were summed
and mapped onto the rubric (i.e., four correct questions equal rubric score of 4).
The cultural diversity rubric features three primary traits. The distribution of sections and number of
students shows that “identification of diversity” was the most common trait assessed.
Summary for Cultural Diversity
Primary Traits
n sections
Identification of Diversity
39
Causes of Diversity & Disparity
18
Application of Knowledge
17
n students
677
345
320
Thirteen percent of the cultural diversity sample scores were scored by students. Inclusion of these
scores did not statistically alter the results, with the exception of a smaller percentage of exemplary
scores for the application of knowledge traits, but are excluded here.
Global Perspective
Three departments participated in the global perspective assessment—History, Geography and
Sociology (n=77). The sociology assessment more than one-half of the total sample. Engagement
with the “human choice” trait (see rubric in Appendix A) was exclusive to the sociology classes. The
bulk of the embedded data was derived from evaluation of students’ out-of-class written work.
CNM Core Competency Life Skills
The Department of Psychology used the Life Skills rubric in fall 2008. The tools used to assess life
skills included analyses of psychological theories, essay and short answer questions based on course
reading material, and written analyses of interviews with care-givers in the community. Coverage of
the four primary traits varied.
Summary for Life Skills
Primary Traits
n sections
Work Ethic
9
Human Decisions
7
Cultural Diversity Awareness
4
Global Awareness
3
n students
153
142
75
66
CNM Core Competency Numeracy
Two sections in Economics, and two sections in English employed the core competency pilot rubric for
numeracy (n=78), although assessment of two primary traits was restricted to the Economics classes
(n=50).
Exit Competency Results:
Academic Inquiry
More than 50% the students demonstrated proficiency with the academic inquiry traits, with the
exception of the “drawing conclusions” trait which yielded 46% proficiency. “Drawing conclusions”
also shows the largest percentage of students, albeit a minor aberration vis-à-vis the other traits,
scoring at the inadequate level.
Correlations between the traits are exceptionally good, ranging from .483 to .809. The data suggest
that “drawing conclusions” skills parallel “evaluating information” skills (.809) and “posing questions”
skills (.721).
Cultural Diversity
Two-thirds of students demonstrated proficiency or exemplary skills for the three cultural diversity
traits; 39% of students had exemplary scores for “identification of diversity,” and 69% and 35% had
exemplary scores for “cause of disparity/diversity” and “application of knowledge,” respectively.
Correlations between traits (n ranging from 197 to 217) were significant, with the strongest relation
between “cause of disparity/diversity” and “application of knowledge” (.842).
Global Perspective
Given the small sample for the global perspective assessment, it is important to view the results with
caution. Almost 50% of students met the proficiency criteria for the “state of the planet” trait,
compared to 59% for the “global dynamics/systems” trait and 64% for the “human choice” trait. The
“human choice” trait showed the smallest percentage of students with exemplary scores (22% versus
38-40% for the other traits).
Core Competency Results:
Life Skills
Students in psychology classes (the only department employed the rubric) were the most successful
with the “cultural awareness” and “human decisions” traits, with 49-51% achieving proficient or
exemplary scores. Students were the least successful with the “global awareness” trait with 32% at
proficiency or higher. (Recall that it is difficult to contrast the traits’ percentages because the results
are based on diverse tools and scoring methods.) Correlations were strongest for the “human
decisions” and “work ethic” traits (.796), and weakest for “human decisions” and “cultural awareness”
(.488).
Numeracy
Proficiency in numeracy varied by primary trait. Students were most competent with “use different
units of measurement” (86% accomplished proficient or exemplary work) and “read quantitative
information” (76%). The results hint that “interpretation of quantitative relationships” is the most
difficult for students (33% proficient or exemplary).
Because assessment of numeracy in the Department of Economics and English are two different
endeavors, we parsed the results by department and as expected, students in Economics
outperformed those in English classes, although the margin of difference was negligible for the
“interpret quantitative relationships” trait (data not shown).
Discussion of changes in support of student learning for PAST year based upon your
assessment results:
SLOT developed three recommendations based on the results of the written communication
assessment in 2007-2008: (a) encourage faculty to add a standard English composition and grammar
book (e.g., the Bedford Manual) to the required or recommended text list on their syllabi, (b) begin to
include as a prerequisite or recommended English 1101 for 200-level courses by choosing one second
year course to assess the need for the prerequisite/recommendation, (c) begin to develop outcomes
for a major in specific disciplines. The recommendations were shared with the CHSS chairs and
administration, and the chairs were asked to take the recommendations to their faculty. After some
discussion, PBIR was requested to provide data on student performance in 200-level courses
comparing those who had completed English 1101, were currently enrolled in English 1101 and those
who had never taken English 1101. The data did not support the inclusion of English 1101 as a
prerequisite, although additional research is warranted.
Discussion of proposed changes in support of student learning for COMING year
based upon your assessment results:
The embedded assessment strategy of faculty-developed instruments and faculty scoring was deemed
successful in that it brought more CHSS faculty into assessment. Summary results for the exit and
core competencies were shared with the CHSS faculty at the January 2009 school meeting (because
more data were submitted following the meeting the results presented here reflect larger samples
than that presented in January). In addition, department-level results were distributed to the
participating departments (if data from only one course section was submitted the results were not
shared to maintain confidentiality). Faculty in participating departments were asked to reflect on the
results and develop a list of next steps for assessment and curricular change. SLOT faculty contacted
the participating departments to gauge the follow-up. Efforts to “close the loop” were uneven at best.
Individual instructors did make changes in their courses, but no department- or school-level changes
were identified.
SLOT reviewed the assessment process and results in summer semester 2009. The team sought to
develop an assessment plan that continued the “grass roots” strategy used in the fall. The consensus
was that because faculty do not identify with Liberal Arts or General Studies, but rather with their
respective departments, curricular change was in order. The team recommended that departments
develop “transfer pages.” The pages outline the combination and sequencing of courses for 4-year
school transfers in Spanish, English, Psychology and so forth from CNM. The pages would be
published in the CNM catalog alongside student learning outcomes for these new “concentrations.”
The rationale for the change was straightforward: aid students in making the connection between
their Liberal Arts and General Studies coursework and the future majors at 4-year schools, and
engage faculty at the department level.
The plan was presented to, and supported by, the CHSS Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Implementation of the plan is on hold pending execution of the new CNM chair model in 2009-2010,
and chair training.
Plans for assessment of all Core Competencies
Development of plans for assessment of CNM core competencies is on hold pending execution of the
new CNM chair model in 2009-2010, and chair training.
DATA
What tools did you use to measure the Exit Competencies?
Reviewed in the “Introduction and Discussion of Assessment Efforts” section.
Rubrics for the Liberal Arts exit competencies are presented in Appendix A.
Histograms of Exit Competency Results:
Academic Inquiry:
Embedded Assessment Results in CHSS courses, fall 2008
60
Percentage of Students
50
40
30
20
10
0
Posing Questions (n=516)
Locating Resources
(n=508)
Inadequate
Evaluating Information
(n=552)
Limited
Citing Resources (n=463)
Drawing Conclusions
(n=569)
Proficient
Cultual Diversity:
Embedded Assessment Results in CHSS courses, fall 2008
45
40
35
% Students
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Identification of Diversity (n=591)
Inadequate
Cause of Disparity/Diversity (n=259)
Adequate
Proficient
Application of Knowledge (n=234)
Exemplary
8
Global Perspective:
Embedded Assessment Results in CHSS courses, fall 2008
45
40
35
% Students
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
State of the Planet (n=73)
Inadequate
Global Dynamics & Systems (n=77)
Adequate
Proficient
Human Choice (n=55)
Exemplary
9
Histograms of Core Competency Results:
Life Skills: Embedded Assessment Results in Department of Psychology courses, fall 2008
45
40
% students
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Work Ethic (n=153)
Human Decisions (n=142)
Inadequate
Adequate
Cultural Diversity Awareness
(n=75)
Proficient
Global Awareness (n=66)
Exemplary
10
Numeracy: Embedded Assessment Results in CHSS courses, fall 2008
80
70
% students
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Read quantitative
information
Interpret quantitative
relationships
Inadequate
Apply quantitative
methods to solve
problems
Adequate
Use different units of
measurement
Proficient
Perform computations
Exemplary
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APPENDIX A
LIBERAL ARTS EXIT COMPETENCY RUBRICS
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Liberal Arts Cultural Diversity Rubric
Primary Traits
Identification of
Diversity: Identify
diversity of ideas and
practices in society and
how they affect biases
and assumptions in
human interactions.
Causes of Diversity
and Disparities:
Explain major cultural,
historical, and
geographical issues that
shape the diversity of
perceptions and
behaviors in one’s own
society or communities.
Application of
Knowledge: Apply the
knowledge of diversity
issues to understand,
adapt, and effectively
interact with people
from different
backgrounds at work,
school, and in their
community.
Revised February 2007.
Inadequate
Score = 1
Unaware and
does not
recognize
differential
treatment of
people.
Adequate
Score = 2
Identifies biases, etc but does
not discuss causes or results.
Proficient
Score = 3
Analyzes potential
reasons why biases exist
and how this effects
people and results in
differential treatment.
Exemplary
Score = 4
Evaluates and applies their
knowledge of biases to both
their own life and the life of
others.
Unaware of any
cultural,
historical or
geographical
issues affect
human cultural
diversity.
Recognizes that cultural,
historical or geographical
issues shape people’s
behavior & viewpoints.
However, they do not analyze
how or why these issues have
an impact nor do they
recognize that they have
been personally impacted.
Acknowledges that cultural
differences affect personal
interactions but doesn’t
understand why or how.
Analyze how these issues
alter people’s perceptions
of the world and how
their own cultural
perceptions have been
affected.
Evaluates, and applies their
knowledge of how various
causes of diversity and
disparities affect their own
and other’s behaviors.
Limited recognition of
how & why diversity
issues affect interactions
between people.
Can utilize their knowledge
of diversity issues to
evaluate how these affect
personal interactions and to
create positive interactions
between people with
different backgrounds.
Fails or denies to
acknowledge
that cultural
differences affect
personal
interactions.
13
Primary Traits
Description of skills
and competencies
State of the Planet
Global Dynamics/
Systems
Human Choice
Inadequate
Score = 1
unaware
does not
adequately
recognize a
global
perspective
Liberal Arts Global Perspective Rubric
Adequate
Proficient
Score = 2
Score = 3
knowledge/
analysis/synthesis
comprehension
separate, order, connect,
know specific facts, list,
classify, compare, select,
define, state, recall,
explain, infer, break
summarize, describe, explain, down, outline, combine,
distinguish, estimate,
differentiate, illustrate,
identify, understand,
recognize, question,
generalize.
prioritize, include.
unaware of or
demonstrates no
comprehension
of any issues
affecting our
planet
identifies and recalls specific
facts, some knowledge of
significant global issues,
understands basic
information.
connects plausible global
issues facts/theories with
related information,
synthesizes information,
examines assumptions,
differentiates and
prioritizes information.
unaware of
global systems
and dynamics,
does not
recognize
concept of global
change
identifies knowledge of
interaction and
interconnections in a global
system, recognizes concept
of global change.
examines and
differentiates the concept
of global interdependence
and dynamics, recognizes
global connections,
illustrates global change.
unaware of
human choices
and feels
disempowered to
act
constructively
understands and describes
that human choices exist and
influence outcomes, knows
that individual actions create
change, describes human
choices.
prioritizes and
differentiates ways
choices may be enacted,
explains and illustrates
process of choice
selection, compares and
contrasts choice options,
recognizes opportunities
for choice.
Exemplary
Score = 4
evaluate/application
integrate, evaluate, modify,
create, design, invent,
compose, assess, measure,
convince, judge, support,
value, compare and
contrast, critique, apply,
develop, solve, project,
show, transfer, relate,
examine.
applies and evaluates
reliable information to
issues within wider context,
shows openness to larger
scope, compares and
contrasts complex ideas
and information, designs
creative and reflective
ideas.
integrates, applies, and
evaluates global change
theories and concepts,
critiques mechanism of the
world system, develops and
connects theories to real
life situations, creates and
designs solutions to global
issues
creates and designs ways
choices can be activated,
solves problems, creates
solutions, evaluates
multiple ways human
choices may be enacted,
applies information learned
to execute a task.
Revised February 2007.
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Liberal Arts Academic Inquiry Rubric
Primary Traits

Posing Questions


Locating Resources




Evaluating Information



Citing Resources



Drawing Conclusions
Inadequate
Score = 1
Formulates question(s) that
is inappropriate in scope to
the assignment
Formulates question(s) that
is inappropriate in content
to the assignment


Fails to understand the
range of resources available
Exhibits no search strategy
Examines a narrow variety
of resources
Is unable to evaluate the
quality of resources

Unable to identify valid
criteria to be used in
evaluating information
Is careless and imprecise in
observation of information
Is unable to note dominant
characteristics and
relationships among
information components
Evaluation of information
lacks detail

Commits plagiarism
Produces many citations
that do not adhere to the
chosen or required citation
format
Conclusions are incomplete









Limited
Score = 2
Formulates academically adequate
question(s) that is appropriate in
scope to the assignment
Formulates academically adequate
question(s) that is appropriate in
content to the assignment


Has a limited understanding of the
range of resources available
Exhibits a limited search strategy
Examines a limited variety of
resources
Demonstrates a limited ability to
evaluate quality of resources

Is limited in ability to identify valid
criteria to be used in evaluating
information
Is not consistently careful and
precise in observation of information
Is not consistent in ability to note
dominant characteristics and
relationships among information
components
Is not consistent in ability to
describe details with clarity and
focus
Fails to cite some pieces of
information that require citation
Produces some citations that do not
adhere to the chosen or required
citation format
Conclusions are illogical or are not
well-supported










Proficient
Score = 3
Formulates academically
stimulating question(s) that is
appropriate in scope to the
assignment
Formulates academically
stimulating question(s) that is
appropriate in content to the
assignment
Draws from the range of
resources available
Uses a methodical, knowledgeable
search strategy
Examines a wide variety of
resources
Purposefully examines and
evaluates quality of resources
Uses valid criteria in evaluating
information
Uses careful and precise
observation of information
Notes dominant characteristics
and relationships among
information components
Describes details with clarity and
focus
Recognizes all pieces of
information that require citation
Produces citations according the
chosen or required citation format
Draws logical and complete
conclusions that are wellsupported
Revised July 2007.
15