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Motlow State Community College
Action Plan & Outcome Assessment Report for Institutional Effectiveness
Planning Year: July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014
Assessing Year: July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013
Unit: Social Sciences
Related Strategic Goal:
3.1 Monitor and improve the effectiveness of educational programs and services.
Action Plan #: SOSC-03
Action Plan Title: Evaluation of General Education Assessment Tool
Desired Outcome: The Department of Social Science will select the optimal method(s) for each social
science course in the general education assessment cycle and begin preparing the needed instruments
for fall 2012 implementation.
Description of Action Plan and Related Activities:
Currently, the Department of Social Science uses the following assessment methods for its general
education courses.
SOCIAL SCIENCE
GENERAL EDUCATION CORE COURSE
CURRENT ASSESSMENT
METHOD
1.
ANTH 2010 Introduction to Anthropology
2.
GEOG 1030 Cultural Geography
3.
GEOG 2010 World Geography
4.
HIST 1110 Survey of World Civilization I
5.
HIST 1120 Survey of World Civilization II
6.
HIST 2010 Survey of American History I
Pre-Test/Post-Test
7.
HIST 2020 Survey of American History II
Pre-Test/Post-Test
8.
HIST 2030 Tennessee History
9.
POLS 1030 American Government
Embedded Assessment
10. POLS 2010 State and Local Government
Embedded Assessment
11. PSYC 1030 General Psychology
Pre-Test/Post-Test
Pre-Test/Post-Test
Pre-Test/Post Test
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12. SOCI 1010 Introduction to Sociology
Pre-Test/Post-Test
13. SOCI 1020 Social Problems
Pre-Test/Post-Test
Despite the logistical advantages of online Pre-Test/Post-Test assessment, post-test scores occasionally
reflect a reduction on students successfully meeting the benchmark of 70% pass rate on the post-test.
The Department of Social Science will research the best practices for assessing social science general
education courses among TBR community colleges. The department will select the optimal method(s)
for each social science course in the general education assessment cycle and begin preparing the
needed assessment instruments for general education courses to be taught in fall 2012.
Team Members: Department chair and faculty
Timeline: June 30, 2013
Est. Cost: $0
Budgeted: Included in current budget
Evidence of Success: The Department of Social Science will have determined the optimal method(s) for
each social science course in the general education assessment cycle will have made initial steps toward
preparing the needed assessment instruments needed for fall 2012 GE assessments.
Complete the following when assessing a plan
Current Status: Completed
Describe Progress: General Education assessment for HIST 2010 and SOCI 1010 is complete. Using an
embedded assessment methodology, 26 sections of HIST 2010 were assessed with the following results
obtained. Each SLO was achieved at the specified effectiveness standard of 70%.
Using pre-test/post-test assessment methodology, 14 sections of SOCI 1010 Introduction to Sociology
taught by two full-time and four part-time instructors participated in the assessment via online
administration. Evidently, the version of the pre-test/post-test used online had only 11 questions. That
would indicate that one question used to assess SLO 6 (question 12) and both questions (13 and 14)
used to assess SLO 7 were omitted for some reason. Based on the results, SLOs 1, 2, and 3 were
achieved at the specified effectiveness standard while SLOS 4, 5, and 6 were not. SLO 7 evidently was
not assessed. Generally there were fewer students completing the post-test as compared with the pretest. Questions 10 and 11 actually showed a decline in percent correct from pre-test to post-test.
Describe Needed Changes:
No changes necessary for HIST 2010.
Changes are needed for SOCI 1010. These results were examined and discussed by the full-time
sociology faculty. One faculty member thought that the SLOs were too narrow and should focus on
larger sociological concepts. The wording of the questions was considered to be narrow and confusing
by one faculty member and questions on important topics such as conflict theory and symbolic
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interaction were omitted. The faculty did not consider the course content or the teaching
methodologies as responsible for the poor results. It was the consensus of opinion among the faculty
that the results were severely confounded by methodological problems associated with student
compliance with the pre-test/post-test approach. These included relying on students to voluntarily
complete the pre-test/post-test online outside of class and ensuring that every student who completed
a pre-test also completed a post-test. Another factor discussed was that because the score on both the
pre and post-test had no bearing on the student’s actual grade, many students may not have felt that
answering the questions correctly was important to their actual grade. While the online pre-post-test
method offers some advantages, its validity and reliability is suspect.
The following recommendations were made:
1. The full-time sociology faculty should meet to revisit the articulation of the student learning
outcomes and conduct a redesign of assessment questions and methodology for this course.
Specifically, switching to an embedded assessment approach was recommended.
List of Supporting Documentation:

GE Use of Assessment Results for Fall 2012 – shown in body
Date Last Updated: August 22, 2013