AY 2003-2004
Degree and
Program Name:
Submitted By:
What are the learning objectives?
1. Students will demonstrate mastery of the established narratives in their chosen area of concentration (e.g.,
European, or US history)
2. Students will demonstrate mastery of the basic methodological and substantive issues involved in the research and writing of history, or what is commonly called historiography
How, where, and when are they assessed? Committee/person responsible?
In coursework and/or thesis preparation in the student’s area of concentration; In class participation and paper assignments in elective coursework; In comprehensive written and oral examinations upon completion of coursework; and finally, in an exit interview with the Graduate Program
Coordinator
In required course, HIS 5000
(Historiography), through a combination of class participation of assigned readings, and paper assignments;
Upon completion of all coursework, all students must successfully pass comprehensive written and oral exams that test both basic historical knowledge and historiography; and finally, in exit interviews with Graduate
Please complete a separate worksheet for each academic program (major, minor) at each level (undergraduate, graduate) in your department.
Worksheets are due to CASA annually by June 15 . Worksheets should be sent electronically to cskjs@eiu.edu
. For information about assessment, visit the Assessment webpage at http://www.eiu.edu/~assess/ .
What are the expectations?
Students are expected to maintain a minimum of a 3.00 gpa as they work to complete their degree; All students will receive pass, high pass, or pass with distinction on written and oral examinations, held, again, after completion of all coursework; All students satisfied with preparation
Students are expected to achieve a “B” or better in HIS
5000, or they must take it again; All students will receive pass, high pass, or pass with distinction on written and oral examinations; all students satisfied with preparation
What are the results?
Last year, @95% of students maintained minimum gpa;
Two of eight students failed their oral examination, but one has successfully re-taken the exam and passed;
@100% of students expressed satisfaction with preparation during exit interview
Last year, @100% of students received in HIS
5000 received a “B” or better; two of eight students failed their oral examination, but one has successfully retaken the exam and passed;
@100% of students expressed satisfaction during exit interview
How will/have the results be used? Committee/ person responsible?
Annual Review of curriculum by Graduate
Committee; Consultation with Faculty Mentor(s);
Committee/Person
Responsible: Graduate
Coordinator, in consultation with
Graduate Studies
Committee
Annual Review of curriculum by Graduate
Committee; Consultation with Faculty Mentor(s);
Committee/Person
Responsible: Graduate
Coordinator, in consultation with
Graduate Studies
Committee

3.
Students will demonstrate skills of independent analysis of historical problems in area of concentration
4. Students will demonstrate competency in formulating, conducting, and presenting original research
Program Coordinator
Through their chosen coursework, students design and execute numerous research projects and seminar papers;
Successful completion of a
Master’s Thesis
Through their chosen coursework, students design and execute numerous research projects and seminar papers; successful completion of a
Master’s Thesis
Seminar paper of “B” or better quality accepted by graduate committee prior to written and oral examinations; or thesis successfully defended before thesis committee
Seminar paper of “B” or better quality accepted by graduate committee prior to written and oral examinations; or thesis successfully defended before thesis committee
Last year, @100% of students successfully completed requirements of major seminar paper or
Master’s Thesis
Last year, 100% of students successfully completed requirements of major seminar paper or Master’s
Thesis
Annual Review of curriculum by Graduate
Committee; Consultation with Faculty Mentor(s);
Committee/Person
Responsible: Graduate
Coordinator, in consultation with
Graduate Studies
Committee
Annual Review of curriculum by Graduate
Committee; Consultation with Faculty Mentor(s);
Committee/Person
Responsible: Graduate
Coordinator, in consultation with
Graduate Studies
Committee
(Continue objectives as needed.)
: Summarize changes and improvements in curriculum, instruction, and learning that have resulted from the implementation of your assessment program. How have you used the data? While this section should focus on the current academic year, some departments may find it useful to discuss trends in longitudinal data.
In past years, as noted in previous Program Assessment Summary forms, the History MA program has undertaken major program improvements, including adding HIS 5000 (Historiography) as a required course, and the formal addition of faculty mentors for all graduate students. Feedback as measured in exit interviews with the Graduate Program Coordinator remains very positive. To clarify, in response to questions raised in last year’s comments, HIS 5000 is taken in the student’s first semester, and the written/oral comprehensive exams are taken only after the student has completed his/her coursework pursuant to the MA degree. Thus, HIS 5000 is designed to introduce students to the discipline of professional history, and prepare them for the methodological and conceptual rigor that will be expected of them during the course of their graduate studies. As such, the emphasis in the course is on directed critical readings and several historiographical paper assignments in which the student hones her ability to identify methodological and theoretical assumptions underpinning historical writing,

and hones her ability to utilize methodology and theory more self-consciously in subsequent coursework. On the other hand, the written and oral examinations are analogous to a “capstone” experience, in which three faculty, chosen by the student in consultation with the Graduate Program Coordinator and Faculty
Mentor, assess the student’s overall competency in the above categories. We recognize the need for a grading rubric in the written and oral exams, but this work remains as yet incomplete. In general, we have decided that “Pass” reflects a bare minimum standard of competency; “High Pass” a normative outcome for most students; and “Distinction” a superior outcome that substantially exceeds standard performance levels (e.g., reserved only for the best students likely to proceed and excel in top-shelf PhD programs). Last year, four students received “Pass,” while four received “High Pass.” Finally, at the urging of the Graduate
Coordinator and the Graduate Studies Committee, three new elective courses were added to the US curriculum, HIS 5390 (Civil War Era); HIS 4940 (The Early
Republic); and HIS 5370 (Colonial and Revolutionary America). These courses substantially improve and update our offerings on the US side, while necessarily adding balance to the study plans of students concentrating in US history. Students concentrating in European history have long been able to design study plans that provide a balance of 5000 level seminars in the Medieval, Early Modern, and Modern periods. With the addition of HIS 5390 and HIS 5370, now students concentrating in US will be able to take a similar balance of Colonial, 19th century, and 20 th century seminars.