SLO TEACHING/LEARNING IMPROVEMENT PLAN IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS
Course: Psychology 200 Semester_ Fall 2014______ Date: 12/5/14 Report Author: Stan Bursten, Joshua Ramirez
1-3 Key
Improvement
Findings
Possible
Causes,
Reasons
1. As of Spring
2014, 43% of
students failed to
meet standard
performance on
SLO 200.1:
Describing basic
methods and
research methods
in Psychology.
1. Some students
may not
complete or
effectively
process
readings, nor
complete
exercises on
time.
2. Some students
do not contribute
equitably to
group work—
this may affect
their
comprehension.
Possible Solutions
Implementation
Strategies
1.
1.
2.
Introduce preliminary
writing assignments
to assess students’
writing and reading
comprehensions skills
as part of an early
semester assessment
of potential reading
skill problems. Refer
students to LRC
tutors accordingly.
Already implemented
and augmented:
Closer monitoring of
student efforts during
group work--Require
more student group
work to increase
cohort building in the
course; require
periodic confidential
self-assessments and
peer group
evaluations regarding
individual
contributions to group
2.
Develop
observation
guidelines
for
instructor
and LTA
that will
enable
earlier
identificatio
n of
students
who do not
effectively
contribute
to group
work.
Evaluate
lab
assignments
for
relevancy.
Timeline
Implement
ed some
changes
during
current
semester,
continuing
through
Spring
2015;
evaluate
effectiven
ess during
Fall 2015.
Scope (all or
some
sections; all
or some
faculty)
Only section
offered.
Person(s)
Responsible
Resource
needs/Training
Support
Joshua
Ramirez,
with
feedback
from LTA.
Independent
evaluation of
assignments by
colleagues at
FRC and/or
other
institutions.
3.
4.
2.85% of students
performed at
exemplary levels
SLO 200.3:
Evaluating
ethical standards
and the
appropriateness
of conclusions
from
psychological
research.
The assignments
and exam
questions used
to assess this
SLO are too
lenient; We seek
to increase the
rigor of
assessments to
ensure a
regression
towards the
mean in student
scores.
1.
2.
3.
4.
work; reassign group
work as individual
assignments when
individual students do
not contribute
satisfactorily (as
determined by
instructor, LTA, and
student peer
evaluations)
Require students to
maintain a lab journal
or an on-line blog
equivalent so that
students can
“invoice” their
weekly contributions
to exercises and
reflect accordingly.
Already
implemented:
Reduce number of
required assignments.
Rethink items used to
assess SLO 2.
Develop 1-2
assignments which
more directly relate to
SLO 1.
Include 1 additional
lecture focusing on
ethics and research.
Require students to
participate in the
National Institutes of
Health Human
Subjects Protections
1.
2.
Evaluate
lectures and
assignments
which cover
SLO 2 for
relevance.
Already
implemente
d and
currently
being
modified:
Develop
exercises
Implement
ed some
changes
during
current
semester
and
continue
through
Spring
2015;
evaluate
effectiven
Only section
offered.
Joshua
Ramirez,
with
feedback
from LTA.
FRC advice on
DLAs and
rubrics.
3. From Fall
2011 to Spring
2014, there has
been an
inordinate
reduction in the
proportion of
students failing
to meet standard
(80% down to
0% ) on
performance on
SLO 200.2:
Designing,
conducting,
Standards for
grading the
research papers
are too lenient.
We seek to
increase the
rigor of
assessments to
ensure a
regression
towards the
mean in student
scores.
Tutorial; assess
accordingly via
written assignments
and exams.
5. Require student group
members to serve as a
“mock institutional
review board” for
their peers and to
apply content learned
through the NIH
Human Subjects
Protections Research
Tutorial to evaluate
the ethical
considerations of
their peers’ proposed
research projects
(e.g., protocols and
informed consent
documents). Evaluate
accordingly.
1. Develop more rigorous
rubric definitions.
2. Require students to conduct
a thorough data base search
and to develop a literature
review for lab reports that
integrate the information
acquired from no less than 25
sources.
3. Require students to design
studies for which at least 4
types of inferential statistical
1.
2.
that address
ethical
issues in
research.
ess during
Fall 2015
Communica
tion
between
instructor
and LTA
regarding
grading
procedures.
As part of a
first lab
meeting,
request that
library staff
provide
students
Implement
some
changes
during
Spring
2015 and
evaluate
effectiven
ess during
Fall 2015
Joshua
Ramirez,
with
feedback
from LTA.
None
analyzing and
communicating
the results
derived from
psychological
research.
analyses are required of the
acquired data.
3.
4.
5.
with a
tutorial on
database
searches
and an
introduction
to
interlibrary
loan.
Require
students to
take a
climate
survey to
assess
students’
proficiency
with
statistics;
refer to Psy
150
Gateway
tutor or
LRC tutors
accordingly
.