General Education Annual Course Assessment Form
Course Number/Title KIN 69 – Stress Management: A Multidisciplinary Perspective
GE Area : E
Results reported for AY 2011-2012 # of sections: Spring 2012 7 sections # of instructors: 6
Summer 2012 - not offered
Spring 2012 is the first semester of the current program planning cycle. Data are reported for all sections.
Course Coordinator: Peggy Plato
E-mail: Peggy.Plato@sjsu.edu
Department Chair: Shirley Reekie
College: CASA
Instructions: Each year, the department will prepare a brief (two page maximum) report that documents the
assessment of the course during the year. This report will be electronically submitted, by the department
chair, to the Office of Undergraduate Studies, with an electronic copy to the home college by September 1 of
the following academic year.
Part 1 -To be completed by the course coordinator:
(1) What SLO(s) were assessed for the course during the AY?
Spring 2012: SLO #1 – Students will be able to recognize the physiological, social/cultural, and
psychological influences on their well-being.
(2) What were the results of the assessment of this course? What were the lessons learned from the
assessment?
SLO #1: 50% of students demonstrated achievement of this SLO at a high level (B+ or higher), 32%
at an above average to average level (B to C), and 18% at a marginal level, or failed to demonstrate
achievement of this SLO (C- or lower).
All sections of KIN 69 require a stress log. For this assignment, students record stressors they
encounter during one week, their psychological and emotional reactions to these stressors, how
they responded physically to the stressors (physiological stress response), and how they coped, or
could have coped with each stressor (application of interventions, including use of appropriate
university and community resources). Students then write a 2-3 page summary of their log,
analyzing patterns of stressors, responses, and coping methods. This analysis helps students
identify stressors, including social stressors (e.g., interpersonal conflicts), cognitive and emotional
stressors (e.g., financial concerns, overcommitment, poor grades), and physical stressors (e.g., lack
of sleep). They also learn to identify how stress affects them physiologically, emotionally, and
cognitively (e.g., GI distress, fatigue, anxiety, fear). Their analyses often reveal the need to make
perceptual, social, or personal changes in how they deal with stress to enhance their well-being, as
well as the need to implement behavioral interventions (e.g., better communication skills, time
management, releasing stress through physical activity, specific relaxation techniques). Additional
assessment methods included targeted questions on quizzes, midterm, and final exams, as well as
addressing one or more physiological, social/cultural, or psychological influences on human wellbeing in the required research paper.
(3) What modifications to the course, or its assessment activities or schedule, are planned for the
upcoming year? (If no modifications are planned, the course coordinator should indicate this.)
Faculty teaching the course feel that the Stress Log assignment is effective for helping students
recognize physiological, social/cultural, and psychological influences on their well-being. Most
faculty relied solely on this assignment to assess student achievement of this SLO; one faculty
member used multiple methods to assess student achievement. Reporting of assessment data can
be refined when using the Stress Log. Points are typically higher on the content and analysis
aspects of the assignment, and lower on the writing skills (organization, syntax, grammar, and
spelling) aspect. Thus, reported assessment data may be influenced by students’ writing skills, or if
points were deducted for late assignments. In the future, we will ask faculty to report assessment
data using only the content and analysis points from the assignment. One faculty member, who
typically teaches 2 or 3 sections per semester, indicated that she plans to start using a biofeedback
lab to show students how they can bring about positive change to their physiological stress
response. Other faculty have been, and will continue to use the biofeedback equipment so that
students can actually see how their thoughts impact their physiological responses.
Part 2 - To be completed by the department chair (with input from course coordinator as appropriate):
(4) Are all sections of the course still aligned with the area Goals, Student Learning Objectives (SLOs),
Content, Support, and Assessment? If they are not, what actions are planned?
Yes, all sections of the course are aligned with the Area E goals, SLOs, content, support, and
assessment. This is facilitated by using a common green sheet and textbook. Three assignments,
Stress Log, Occupational Stress or Mini-Review Paper (requiring use of library resources), and
University Resources, are linked to the SLOs and required in all sections of the course. New faculty
meet with the course coordinator before teaching this course, and faculty teaching the course
meet regularly during a duty day to discuss and share best practices, resources used (e.g., videos,
biofeedback), teaching methodologies, assignments, and assessment.