Social Sciences and Diversity Subcommittee
(Johnson, Zinser, Westrick)
Draft
Social Sciences
LSSU graduates will be able to think critically and analytically about the causes and
consequences of human behavior.
MAPP may be the best and most practical assessment tool for the social sciences
requirement. Its questions encompass all of the social sciences. Results may be
compared with results from other institutions, but administering MAPP both when
students enter and when they leave will allow longitudinal assessment as well.
The MAPP test should provide valuable data for assessing the overall success of our set
of general education courses in achieving the social sciences outcome. In addition, if it is
administered to a large enough sample of students, MAPP results could be combined with
campus data so that we could assess the effectiveness of specific courses. Controlled for
ACT scores, we would gain valuable information about the individual courses students
use in satisfying the social sciences requirement.
Diversity
LSSU graduates will be able to view the world from cultural perspectives other than their
own.
The MAPP test does not address the diversity outcome. However, we should be able to
add questions to the test to assess this outcome, assuming that both freshmen and seniors
are tested. A committee should be able to develop a set of questions in the early weeks of
the summer.