STUDENT LEARNING ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
SUMMARY FORM AY 2005-2006
Degree and
Program Name:
Submitted By:
MA in English
Dana J. Ringuette
Please complete a separate worksheet for each academic program
(major, minor) at each level (undergraduate, graduate) in your
department. Worksheets are due to CASA this year by June
15, 2006. Worksheets should be sent electronically to
kjsanders@eiu.edu and should also be submitted to your college
dean. For information about assessment or help with your
assessment plans, visit the Assessment webpage at
http://www.eiu.edu/~assess/ or contact Karla Sanders in CASA at
581-6056.
PART ONE
What are the learning
objectives?
How, where and when are they
assessed?
What are the expectations?
What are the results?
1.
English graduate students
will develop and refine
their critical thinking and
written communication
skills.
Random selection of master’s
theses and exams. Required
student study-plans. Oral
defense for thesis and
examination completion. Direct
assessment of first-semester
students via ENG 5000
presentations. Alignment of
graduate course syllabi with
learning objectives.
Students are expected to
complete all graduate work,
thesis or examination, and oral
defense with a minimum of a
3.00 GPA, but we expect 90%
will complete graduate work
with a higher than minimum
GPA.
2.
English graduate students
will acquire focused
understanding of
particular literary works
within their appropriate
contexts.
Random selection of master’s
theses and exams. Required
student study-plans. Oral
defense for thesis and
examination completion. Direct
assessment of first-semester
students via ENG 5000
presentations. Alignment of
graduate course syllabi with
learning objectives.
Students are expected to
complete all graduate work,
thesis or examination, and oral
defense with a minimum of a
3.00 GPA, but we expect 90%
will complete graduate work
with a higher than minimum
GPA.
End-of-semester
presentations in ENG 5000
indicate this introductory
course is preparing students
for success in critical
thinking and advanced
exposition. Random
sampling of theses, exams,
and oral defenses provide
evidence of refined critical
thinking and research skills
at both written and oral
levels. GPA expectations
fulfilled.
End-of-semester
presentations in ENG 5000
indicate this introductory
course is preparing students
for success in critical
thinking and advanced
exposition. Random
sampling of theses, exams,
and oral defenses provide
evidence of refined critical
thinking and research skills
Committee/ person
responsible? How are
results shared?
Graduate Coordinator and
Graduate Studies
Committee. Ongoing
monitoring of program is
being shared with
department faculty.
Graduate Coordinator and
Graduate Studies
Committee. Ongoing
monitoring of program is
being shared with
department faculty.
3.
English graduate students
will develop appropriate
research and
bibliographic skills.
Random selection of master’s
theses and exams. Required
student study-plans. Oral
defense for thesis and
examination completion. Direct
assessment of first-semester
students via ENG 5000
presentations. Alignment of
graduate course syllabi with
learning objectives.
Students are expected to
complete all graduate work,
thesis or examination, and oral
defense with a minimum of a
3.00 GPA, but we expect 90%
will complete graduate work
with a higher than minimum
GPA.
4.
English graduate students
in the Creative Writing
concentration will gain
skill in creative
expression.
Random selection of master’s
theses and exams. Required
student study-plans. Oral
defense for thesis and
examination completion.
Alignment of graduate course
syllabi with learning objectives.
5.
English graduate students
in the Composition and
Rhetoric concentration
will acquire focused
understanding of
particular areas and
problems within the
theory and practice of
composition studies.
Random selection of master’s
theses and exams. Required
student study-plans. Oral
defense for thesis and
examination completion. Direct
assessment of first-semester
students via ENG 5000
presentations. Alignment of
graduate course syllabi with
learning objectives.
Students are expected to
complete all graduate work,
thesis or examination, and oral
defense with a minimum of a
3.00 GPA, but we expect 90%
will complete graduate work
with a higher than minimum
GPA.
Students are expected to
complete all graduate work,
thesis or examination, and oral
defense with a minimum of a
3.00 GPA, but we expect 90%
will complete graduate work
with a higher than minimum
GPA.
6.
English graduate students
will prepare for further
advanced study in
literature or for
educational, professional,
and other careers.
Random selection of master’s
theses and exams. Required
student study-plans. Oral
defense for thesis and
examination completion. Direct
assessment of first-semester
Students are expected to
complete all graduate work,
thesis or examination, and oral
defense with a minimum of a
3.00 GPA, but we expect 90%
will complete graduate work
at both written and oral
levels. GPA expectations
fulfilled.
End-of-semester
presentations in ENG 5000
indicate this introductory
course is preparing students
for success in critical
thinking and advanced
exposition. Random
sampling of theses, exams,
and oral defenses provide
evidence of refined critical
thinking and research skills
at both written and oral
levels. GPA expectations
fulfilled.
Random sampling of theses
and defenses indicate
students in creative writing
develop inventive poetry and
prose engaged with current
aesthetic concerns and
movements. GPA
expectations fulfilled.
End-of-semester
presentations in ENG 5000
indicate competence in
current problems in the field.
Random sampling of theses,
exams, and defenses indicate
more honed engagement
with problems in the field.
GPA expectations fulfilled.
End-of-semester
presentations in ENG 5000
indicate this introductory
course is preparing students
for success in critical
thinking and advanced
Graduate Coordinator and
Graduate Studies
Committee. Ongoing
monitoring of program is
being shared with
department faculty.
Graduate Coordinator and
Graduate Studies
Committee. Ongoing
monitoring of program is
being shared with
department faculty.
Graduate Coordinator and
Graduate Studies
Committee. Ongoing
monitoring of program is
being shared with
department faculty.
Graduate Coordinator and
Graduate Studies
Committee. Ongoing
monitoring of program is
being shared with
department faculty.
students via ENG 5000
presentations. Alignment of
graduate course syllabi with
learning objectives.
with a higher than minimum
GPA.
exposition. Random
sampling of theses, exams,
and oral defenses provide
evidence of refined critical
thinking and research skills
at both written and oral
levels. GPA expectations
fulfilled.
PART TWO:
As a result of ongoing feedback and assessment, the following revisions were initiated effective Fall 2005.
We eliminated the petition in favor of more emphasis on the prospectus. This change has encouraged graduate students to prepare more carefully considered and
developed prospectuses that have given their Thesis Directors, Thesis Committee members, and the Graduate Studies Committee more insight into the
prospective theses. Said professors have been able to give students more carefully considered feedback regarding the needs they see for revision and
development. The result, as measured by the GSC’s review of prospectuses and completed theses, has been more mature scholarly writing in the theses.
We added an Oral Defense to our thesis procedures. We did so to introduce a final examination of a thesis’s content and to provide MA candidates the
opportunity to speak and present themselves publicly as accomplished scholars or creative writers. Undergoing an Oral Defense provides a capstone experience
for our MA candidates and help prepare them for other public speaking experiences in their professional careers. The Oral Defense also provides department and
community members the opportunity to learn more about an MA candidate’s work, thus enhancing the scope of dissemination of scholarship and creative work
produced in our department. Defenses completed during the 2005-06 academic year have been well-attended and have indicated our candidates’ advanced
scholarship and creative work.
We added an Oral Examination component to the written MA examination. Students need both oral and written skills, and different students demonstrate their
accomplishment more effectively in oral and written settings. The addition of an oral exam provides students the opportunity to present their knowledge in the
two different situations and ensure that they are able to do so.
PART THREE:
ENG 5000, Introduction to Methods and Issues of Graduate Studies, provided another avenue for determining measures for assessment, building upon what in
place. Because this course is designed to provide an intensive initiation into advanced, sophisticated study at the graduate level, it functions as a baseline
measure of student preparation and ability at the beginning of their graduate careers. Measured against the capstone thesis or MA examination, ENG 5000
provides another measure of the learning objectives and goals of the program. Furthermore, the more structured and carefully designed mentoring programs—in
the teaching of composition and literature and in the internships—which are primary elements of the second year of the two-year program is providing evaluated
data that can be used in outcomes assessment.