Assessment Plan for the Department of Sociology
The Sociology Department attempts to achieve the competency of Valuing in all of
its courses: Introduction to Sociology, Cultural Anthropology, Marriage and
Family, Human Relations, Introduction to Social Work, and American Social
Problems.
The Learning Outcomes for the Department will be imbedded in each of the courses
taught in the department. They are:
1. The student will demonstrate the ability to distinguish between the three
theoretical perspectives: functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionism.
2. The student will distinguish between the sociological perspective and other
behavioral science perspectives.
3. The student will identify and clarify our society’s value systems and
understand how these value systems impact their personal lives.
4. The student will be able to understand the evolution of social problems and
the possible solutions available to alleviate them.
These learning outcomes have been gleaned from reviewing the syllabi of Sociology
departments at St. Louis University, University of Missouri, and Southern Illinois
University.
Assessment of Student’s Knowledge and its relevance to the student’s performance
in class.
Quantitative Measure
The instructor will administer a pre-test that will assess how much the student
knows about Sociology as a discipline and the content of the specific course offered.
This test will be administered in the first week of classes. The student’s pre-test
scores will be sent to the Institutional Researcher to correlate the student’s pre-test
score with their grades in the class. A post-test will be administered as a
comprehensive final exam. Questions will be embedded in the pre-test and post-test
to reflect the learning outcomes. Once the post-test scores are tabulated they will
also be correlated with the student’s grades to see if there is a significant correlation
between the post-test and their final grade. The intent of these measurements is to
assess the student’s acquisition of knowledge within the context of the course.
Qualitative Measure
A Classroom Assessment Technique (CAT) will be used to gain student feedback
about the course. Students will be asked to respond to the process of the course, the
textbook used for the course, the chapters or topics the student would spend more
or less time discussing. These feedback answers would be collated and reviewed by
the department to decide if changes were necessary to be made for specific courses.
Analysis of Information Collected
The instructor and other members of the department will review the student’s
scores on both pre-tests and post-tests to see if there are any areas that appear to be
deficient and need more attention in instruction. The student’s grades will be
correlated with the pre and post-tests to see if there is any significance. The CAT
responses will be analyzed to see if the student’s direct feedback should indicate
changes in the delivery of instruction in each course. All of this information will be
shared with the Division Chair and at Division meetings to validate the procedures
and findings of the Sociology Department. Recommendations for changing
instructional strategies will be encouraged. Periodic meetings with the Institutional
Research department will take place to establish cohorts, queries, and research
designs for future data collections.