General Education Annual Course Assessment Form
Course Number/Title: KIN 101, Sport in America
GE Area
S
Results reported for AY 2011-2012
# of sections 3 # of instructors 2
Course Coordinator: Daniel Murphy
E-mail: daniel.murphy@sjsu.edu
Department Chair: Shirley Reekie
College: CASA
Part 1: To be completed by the course coordinator:
(1) What SLO(s) were assessed for the course during the AY?
Spring 2012 & Summer 2012
SLO #1: “Students will describe how religious, gender, ethnic, racial, class, sexual orientation, disability,
and/or age identity are shaped by cultural and societal influences in contexts of equality and inequality.”
Spring 2012 is the first semester of the current program planning cycle. Data are reported for all
sections.
(2) What were the results of the assessment of this course? What were the lessons learned from the
assessment?
Spring 2012 –(2 sections, 78 students)
Summer 2012 (1 section, 27students)

Assessment: One way students demonstrated mastery of SLO #1 was by successful completion of a written
research paper called “Personal Sport Autobiography” (required by all instructors). With the idea that
identity is intimately tied to issues of power and privilege, and is importantly shaped by societal forces,
students wrote critical autobiographies about how play, game, sport, and/or physical activity participation
have contributed to student identity (race, ethnicity, cultural, class, gender, sexual orientation, (dis)ability,
religious). Moreover, students were expected to relate their personal sport experiences to sociological
theories, academic peer-reviewed research, and structured issues in sport sociology. The students were
expected to incorporate at least five primary research articles, from a number of academic disciplines, in
support of their thesis. The instructor makes it clear that students are to contextualize their experiences
within larger socioeconomic and cultural discourse, in an effort to develop better understandings of how
sport participation and sport institutions play significant roles in personal, familial, communal, and national
identity formation and identity development.
In the paper, students reflect on what sport or games they played growing up, with whom they played, and
which people and institutions influenced their sport participation. Informal games or organized sport are
included, as well as any other relevant activities. Students are the experts on their stories, but they avoid
simply documenting participation in sport; rather, they pay attention to the impact, both positive and
negative, that sport participation has had on understanding of personal identities, values, and morals.
Regardless of their level of sport participation, students provide thoughtful reflections on experiences of
how sport has informed their identities.
Assessment Results: Using the Personal Sport Autobiography paper as the primary measure of successful
mastery of SLO #1; 43% of students (45 out of 105 students) demonstrated a high level of mastery of this
SLO (B+ or higher), 50% (52 out of 105 students) demonstrated average to above average mastery (B to C
grade), and 8% (8 out of 105 students, including 3 students who stopped attending class, but did not drop)
failed to demonstrate mastery (C- or lower grade). Overall, 93% of the students completed the assignment
with a grade of C or better. Early research is the key for completion of this assignment. As a GE course,
some students struggle with APA formatting and writing proper upper division level college papers. Narrow,
definable topics aid students to create more complete and organized manuscripts. In general, students
need to improve on APA citation skills and research skills; these issues are endemic in GE courses that draw
from a wide range of students across campus, many of whom have no background in scientific research and
analysis beyond introductory courses. In addition, the mechanics of solid research writing and integration of
source material are often lacking. To meet these issues, the course coordinator and instructors provide
extensive research and writing resources to students online and in person. A majority of students
demonstrated mastery of SLO #1. While challenging for a handful of students, most were able to articulate
how larger social forces have shaped sporting identities, in both positive and negative ways. Given most
students’ familiarity with sport and physical activity, the course content serves as a constructive vehicle to
explore the complexities of SLO #1.
(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.)

Throughout the semester, it seems important to discuss the expectations for the paper(s), and to highlight
how the issues that are discussed in the class are part of the student’s personal sport experiences.
Connecting these fundamental concepts to how the students’ papers should be written may be beneficial in
drawing a direct link between comprehension and communication of ideas. Another strategy the KIN 101
instructors employ is regular discussion of pedagogical techniques. Not only do these conversations serve a
practical purpose--to exchange tips and techniques about teaching the material (what works and what does
not)-but an added benefit is to foster a community of support among the instructors, thus enhancing “buyin” for working toward the larger aims of Area S. The course coordinator has created and updated an
electronic repository of resources that is available to all KIN 101 instructors. Integration of social media
platforms has extended the out-of-class dialogue, while integrating current tech tools to ensure the course
stays current with 21st century learners’ needs.
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 S Goals, SLOs, Content, Support, and Assessment.
This is facilitated by using a common green sheet and textbook. Two common assignments are required in
all sections of the course: A Critical Sport Autobiography, and the final Scholarly Research Paper. Since only
two instructors regularly teach KIN 101, coordination of the course has been fairly uncomplicated. The
instructors meet formally and informally to share teaching strategies, discuss alignment with GE objectives,
and plan assessment of the class. As new instructors begin to teach KIN 101, formal orientations are
conducted to maintain the current level of consistency. Moreover, the departmental general education
committee frequently discusses the need and value of further harmonizing course content and assessment
among instructors.