LS 498 Assessment in Liberal Arts Spring 2015
Instructor Contact Information
Instructor: Stacy Bodus
Office: West Faculty #151
Office hours: Mondays 3:45-5:00pm and by appointment
Phone: 760-996-3732 (cell)
Email: sfurrer@mail.sdsu.edu
NOTE: I do not respond to emails or phone calls inquiring about policies outlined on syllabus or on Blackboard, nor do I respond to
requests for exceptions to policies. Questions requiring elaborate explanations should be asked in class or posted in the correct forum in
Blackboard.
Section and Enrollment Information
Class meeting: 6 Fridays: 30 Jan/13 Feb/20 Feb—2:00-4:00PM
27 Feb/13 March/8 May—3:00-4:00PM
Class location: A003
Schedule number: 60023
Section 1
From the SDSU website:
LS 498 is the class that all Liberal Studies students take as their Senior Assessment (note
that a portfolio is no longer required of Liberal Studies majors).
Currently, LS 498 requires:



a three-part capstone project on the nature of one or two of the disciplines,
a reflection connected to a specific artifact (sample from a course) on one of two
possible subject areas OR a test on one subject area, and
an in-class essay (a reflection on some aspect of the student's experience in the major or
specialization).
The capstone project tells the program faculty how well Liberal Studies seniors have
mastered the ability to do focused research, to support or refute--or modify--a
proposed thesis, and to write clearly and effectively with minimal distracting grammar
and punctuation errors.
CAPSTONE PROJECT (THE BIG PICTURE):
INTRO & CONCLUSION
2. ESSAY (has an intro and conclusion, like all essays do; this should be understood)
Essay should be 8-10 pages long, including Bibliography/Works Cited
3. LESSON PLAN Length varies.
1.
It is understood that your essay will have an intro and conclusion. These are apart from the
INTRO and CONCLUSION noted for the Capstone as a whole. You are to see your Capstone
as a whole, something that demonstrates your ability to research a topic and then integrate
that knowledge as needed into your lesson plan, whatever it may be. You are showing that
you can zero in on a specific topic, yet also understand that that topic connects in different
ways to the standards you are teaching. So your INTRO to the project is apart from your
intro for the essay, and the same goes for the CONCLUSION for the project.
Meeting Dates:
Session #1
Intro/syllabus
Friday, Jan 30
2:00-4:00 PM
Room A-3
Session #2
Friday, Feb 13
2:00-4:00 PM
Writing workshop.
Bring proof of payment.
Bring empty binder w/ proper tabs for my approval.
Room A-3
Session #3
Friday, Feb 20
in-class essay for main campus
Room A-3
2:00-4:00 PM
Session #4
Friday, Feb 27
3:00-4:00 PM
Room A-3
In-class reflection over a previous assignment.
Bring an English assignment that impacted you (positively or negatively) to class. You will attach it
to your reflection.
BRING BIBLIOGRAPHY (WORKS CITED) FOR MY APPROVAL
Session #5
Friday, Mar 13
3:00-4:00 PM
Room A-3
Brief: turn-in only (PART I) IN BINDER
*Turn in PART II 1 week later at my office between 4-5pm (Mar 20) NO CLASS SESSION
RESUBMITTERS: SEE NOTE AT END OF SYLLABUS
Session #6
Friday, May 8
Portfolio Review and return.
3:00-4:00 PM
Room A-3
NOTE: You will turn in your assignment in two waves.
PART I: Mar 13
PART II: Mar 20 (no class session. Turn in at my office.)
YOU MUST EITHER ASK YOUR QUESTIONS IN CLASS OR POST YOUR QUESTIONS TO
THE BLACKBOARD DISCUSSION.
CHECK BLACKBOARD FOR COURSE DOCUMENTS AND THE SYLLABUS. YOU ARE
RESPONSIBLE FOR READING THE SUBJECT AREA STATEMENT BY BEASLEY.
Portfolio Assessment Fee:
The portfolio assessment fee is $25, payable to the Cashier’s Office. Bring the duplicate
receipt to Session #2. (If you have submitted your portfolio during a previous semester, you do not
have to pay the fee again.)
Note Regarding Assessment and Plagiarism:
All work submitted for LIB S 498 is equivalent to a test. It is a final assessment of your
learning as an undergraduate in the Liberal Studies major. As such, all work must be your own.
Others may give advice, but you should be responsible for your own proof reading and editing.
Fully document any resources, quotations, or ideas of others that you use. Evidence of
plagiarism will result in no credit for the course and referral to SDSU’s judiciary office (San Diego.)
Assessment Results: The materials you submit in LIB S 498 this semester constitute your final
Liberal Studies Assessment Portfolio. If it passes, you will not be turning in any further portfolio
work.
If you fail the content portion of the assessment, you will need to repeat LIB S 498 next semester.
If you fail the writing-skills portion of the assessment, you will need to repeat LIB S 498 next
semester, also. You may need to consider taking an additional upper-division writing course or
provide other evidence of satisfactory effort to improve your writing to be determined by
arrangement with the portfolio coordinator.
Directions for the In-Class Essay:
You will receive the essay prompt at the beginning of the session. This is not something you
will need to research or document, but you can prepare ahead of time by thinking back over your
learning experiences in the various disciplines, even prior to your college enrollment.
The essay will be scored for general organization and response to the prompt, use of
examples, and grammar and punctuation. It will be one of several writing evaluations included in
your total writing score. Be sure to write in cohesive paragraphs, use an introduction and
conclusion (a title, too), and support your points with appropriate examples.
You will with a goal of about 900 words. This is about 3 or 4 pages. You will have most of
the entire class session to write, though it shouldn’t take you more than 90 minutes to do some
planning and a sketchy outline of your ideas, write your essay, and have time to proofread your
work. This assessment is meant to be thoughtful, personal, and organized, not rushed or
oppressive. Everyone should do well.
Resubmission of the Portfolio:
RESUBMITTERS ONLY: WRITING SAMPLES DUE MAR 13 WITH PART I AND BINDER
Students who began with the old portfolio style (Fall 2014 back to 2002) may submit the
rewrite in the same format in which they began; that is, they may continue with the older style if
they choose. You will simply re-do the assignment as originally assigned. Keep in mind that help
with the previous format is limited because the previous instructor is no longer available. If you think
you will need additional assistance, it is recommended that you follow the new format and go with
option #2 below.
Option 1: If you are submitting your portfolio for the second time, label all original score
sheets, the capstone essay, and the reflection essay and samples with ORIGINAL SUBMISSION to
distinguish them from any rewrites you may do. Keep the original items and score sheets in the
folder and place the new rewrites or new items on top of them.
Students will need instructor permission to register for the LIB S 498 class beyond two
times.
RESUBMITTERS, THIS IS OPTION #2
In an envelope, also put:
a) your score sheets, capstone, and reflection/sample (if you did a reflection) from your
previous submission or from Lib St 300;
b) a paper from ENGL 306W; and
c) two other papers from ENGL 306A, HIST 411, HIST 413, or LING 452 that show how well
you wrote and what type of feedback you got from instructors. Place this envelope in the
binder behind the two copies of your capstone.