SJSU Annual Program Assessment Form
Academic Year 2013-2014
Department: HUMANITIES
Program: LIBERAL STUDIES BA
College: H&A
Website: <SJSU.EDU/HUM>
Program Accreditation (if any): NONE
Contact Person and Email: Susan Verducci (susan.verducci@sjsu.edu)
Date of Report: June 1, 2014
Part A
1. List of Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
1. Demonstrate the ability to frame questions and pursue answers to aesthetic, social, cultural and
global issues in education using interdisciplinary methods
2. Demonstrate the ability to describe and compare the roles, impacts and ethical implications of
ideas, texts, social movements, contemporary situations, and creations of the human imagination
3. Demonstrate skill in written and verbal communication, including argumentation.
4. Identify, select, use and cite information sources appropriately
5. Demonstrate understanding of how to engage and support all K-8 students in learning
6. Demonstrate understanding of how to create and maintain effective learning environments for K8 students
7. Demonstrate understanding of how to plan instruction and assess student learning
8. Demonstrate content and pedagogical knowledge in subjects taught in K-8 schools
Faculty decided on PLO content and criteria for assessing levels of mastery during the 2011-12
Program Planning process. In the case of courses offered within the department, ongoing
assessment of levels of mastery is monitored by the Liberal Studies Program Coordinator, Susan
Verducci, who teaches several such courses. However, there are many courses that Liberal Studies
majors take in other departments. Therefore, at the beginning of the current program planning
cycle, the Program Coordinator initiated a project of recording grades of Liberal Studies majors in
subjects ranging from the arts to the physical and life sciences to the social sciences. In other words,
since it is not possible to require participation in Liberal Studies BA assessment of instructors in art
history, biology, chemistry, geography, and so forth, we felt we should at least get a sense of the
overall performance (measured by grades) of Liberal studies majors in their classes.
x
x
x
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x
x
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Social and Global
Responsibilities
x
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Applied Knowledge
Intellectual Skills
Broad Integrative knowledge
PLO/ULG
1. Integrate resources across disciplines
2. Integrate resources across range of
types
3.
Demonstrate understanding -dialogues
4. Demonstrate understanding -ethics
5. Identify multicultural perspectives
6. Construct a persuasive argument
7. Present across multiple modalities
8. Exhibit critical perspective
For Teacher Prep:
9. Successfully plan lessons
10. Successfully Implement lessons
Specialized knowledge
2. Map of PLOs to University Learning Goals (ULGs)
x
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3. Alignment – Matrix of PLOs to Courses
See Liberal Studies Program Assessment Schedule (University assessment website).
4. Planning – Assessment Schedule
See Liberal Studies Program Assessment Schedule (University assessment website).
5. Student Experience
We are at an early stage in changing the way PLOs and the ULGs are communicated to students as well
as in the way student feedback is considered in the creation of the PLOs. We are placing all of this
information on the department website, but that is a mere starting point. What instructors do in their
courses is more important. The department curriculum committee has determined that the ULGs need
to be introduced and integrated into class activities in the two core courses students in this major all
take, Hum 85 and Hum 101. Upon consultation with the Liberal Studies Coordinator when she returns
to campus in Fall 2014, we would plan to introduce the Liberal Studies BA PLOs to student majors in
those courses at that time as well. In the future, perhaps a reflective activity related to the relevant
PLOs can be added for the Senior Seminar students in HUM 190 also, as it is a capstone experience.
Part B
6. Graduation Rates for Total, Non URM and URM students (entire department)
7. Headcounts of program majors and new students (per program and degree)
8. SFR and average section size (per program)
9. Percentage of tenured/tenure-track instructional faculty (per department)
Fall 2013
Humanities
% Tenured/Prob
Tenured
Probationary
Temp Lecturer
47.8%
7.918
8.653
0
Part C
10. Closing the Loop/Recommended Actions
As the Liberal Studies Coordinator, a mentor and academically trained authority on the
pedagogical uses of assessment herself, has been out of the country in Latin America on a
research project this past academic year, and as she is the sole tenure track person formally
assigned to overseeing these materials, having noted that her Assessment Schedule for this
five year cycle (see A4 above) has the flexibility to allow us to use this time to reflect and
discuss on the data already collected, the department curriculum committee awaits her
return in Fall 2014 before taking any formal steps or action with regards to tweaks or
modifications to the Liberal Studies Assesment plan and schedule, or the major itself.
11. Assessment Data
The data for this cycle was all collected prior to the Liberal Studies Coordinator’s departure
for Latin America, and the subsequent steps of Analyze, Discuss, Formulate Plan, and
Implement Plan, as thoroughly laid out in the posted Liberal Studies assessment schedule,
will be taken up by the Liberal Studies Coordinator along with the department curriculum
committee when she returns next semester.
12. Analysis
Please In analyzing this data, the liberal Studies Coordinator will consult with faculty
teaching the relevant courses and the department curriculum committee. It should be
noted that for PLO 5, in the next academic year of 2014-2015 the Coordinator will review
grades of her majors in teacher prep courses in departments across campus, and will be in
dialogue and discussion on this topic with those faculty as well.
13. Proposed changes and goals (if any)
It is expected that in Fall 2014 the Liberal Studies Coordinator will not only support our plan
to integrate ULGs and PLOs directly into classroom activities for students in our introductory
courses of HUM 85 and HUM 101 in the coming academic year, but that she might have
some advice and guidance on effective ways to do that in our other department majors—
Humanities BA, Creative Arts BA, and Creative Arts Teacher Prep BA as well.