Division of Academic Affairs
Annual Assessment Report AY 10-11
Annual Assessment Plan AY 11-12
For Undergraduate & Graduate Degree Programs
Program Information
Name of Program:
Prepared By:
Psychology
College:
CoAS
(Department Chair/Program Coordinator)
Marie Thomas/Sharon Hamill
Date:
6/26/11
Email Address:
mthomas@csusm.edu
Extension:
4157
PART A: Annual Assessment Report AY 10-11
Due by May 27, 2011
Please note: Should you need additional time to analyze data gathered in Spring 2011, please send an email requesting an extension
to Jennifer Jeffries (jjeffrie@csusm.edu).
1) Please describe:
A. the program student learning outcomes you focused on for assessment this year.
B. the assessment activities you used to measure student learning in these areas.
Jennfier
C. Jeffiresto
the results of your assessment(s).
D. the significance of your results.
During AY 10-11, the Psychology Department redid its course by SLO matrix (separate document) and chose to
examine the following undergraduate SLO:
Apply APA guidelines for the ethical treatment of human research participants or IACUC guidelines for the
ethical treatment of non-human subjects to the various phases of psychological research (e.g., data collection,
data analysis, reporting of research findings).
The proposed project was to consist of two parts: a faculty survey and a student assessment. The faculty survey
was completed and the results are reported below. The student assessment has been pilot-tested in two sections of
an upper-division research methods class and will be administered to students in several classes in the fall.
Faculty Survey
A faculty survey was developed by the department's assessment committee and feedback was sought from the
entire department. The survey (administered by SurveyGizmo) consisted of items assessing whether and how
ethical guidelines are addressed in classes, but also included items about other ethical issues in the classroom, i.e.,
plagiarism and falsification of data.
The survey link was emailed to all 31 psychology faculty teaching during the spring 11 semester; 21 faculty
responded, describing a total of 39 courses. The one graduate course included in the data was removed. Below is
a summary of the data; the data are described in terms of percent of courses, not percent of faculty. Department
faculty will discuss the survey results at the annual retreat in August; therefore, this report will not contain an
analysis of the data.
Plagiarism
How do you address issue of plagiarism in your class?
 100% of classes have a statement about plagiarism in the syllabus.
 In 72% of classes, faculty lecture about plagiarism.
 In 26% of classes, faculty facilitate a class discussion about plagiarism.
 5% of classes have an activity about plagiarism.
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In 56% of classes, Turnitin software is used to check for plagiarism. In most (82%) of the classes where Turnitin is
used, it is set so that students receive an originality scores; in 53% of the classes, students are allowed to selfcorrect, using the information from the originality score.
Students have been caught plagiarizing in 69% of the classes reported in the survey. In every case, the faculty
member did something about the plagiarism.
If you discover that a student has plagiarized, what do you do?
 In 82% of the cases, the faculty member asked to meet with the student to discuss the plagiarism.
 A student's grade on the assignment that contained plagiarism was lowered in 67% of the classes.
 The student failed the assignment that contained plagiarism in 56% of the classes.
 In only 4% of the classes was the offending student failed.
 In 56% of the classes, the student was reported to the Office of the Dean of Students.
 One faculty member reported that the penalty depended on the extent of the plagiarism.
Falsification of data
Of the 39 classes described in the survey, students collect data in 11 (28%) of them. The data reported in this
section refer only to these classes.
How do you address issue of falsification of data in your class?
 In one class, falsification of data isn't addressed, even though data are collected.
 18% of class syllabi contain a statement about falsification of data.
 I n 91% of the classes, the faculty member lectures about falsification of data.
 In one class, students are assigned a required reading about falsification of data.
 In 36% of the classes, faculty facilitate a class discussion about falsification of data.
 Other ___________________________
What safeguards do you have in place to minimize data falsification?
 In 27% of the classes, the faculty member is personally present when all data is collected.
 In 18% of classes, the faculty member asks students to report incidents that may occur within their groups.
 In 55% of classes, faculty scan data to look for suspicious responses
 Students in 55% of classes are required to turn in consent forms for every person who participates in the study,
even if the IRB does not require it.
 One class uses HPP, and students in one class work on the same project and their data are combined.
A student was caught falsifying data in only one class. The faculty member asked the student to meet to discuss
the issue, the student was failed on the assignment, and was reported to the Office of the Dean of Students.
Informed consent and debriefing
Of the 39 classes described, students in 8 (21%) classes need to obtain informed consent and debrief participants.
The data reported in this section refer only to these classes.
How do you address issue of informed consent and participant debriefing in your class?
 25% of classes have a statement about informed consent and debriefing in the syllabus.
 Faculty in 75% of the classes lecture about informed consent and debriefing.
 A required reading about informed consent and debriefing is assigned in 25% of the classes.
 In 38% of the classes, faculty facilitate a class discussion about informed consent and debriefing.
 In 25% of the classes, students go to the IRB website and learn how to develop an informed consent form and
debriefing.
 Students in one class role play before collection data. Students in one class are required to use informed
consent forms developed by the instructor.
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How do you know that your students understand the concepts of informed consent and participant debriefing?
 88% of classes use multiple choice questions.
 13% of classes use essay questions.
 In 63% of classes understanding is assessed through submitted lab papers.
 38% of classes used IRB protocols as a measure of understanding.
APA guidelines for human subjects
Of the 39 classes assessed, 24 (62%) address APA guidelines for human subjects. The data reported in this
section refer only to these classes.
How do you address APA guidelines for human subjects in your class?
 In 96% of classes, faculty lecture about APA guidelines for human subjects.
 A required reading about APA guidelines for human subjects is assigned in 38% of classes.
 In 25% of the classes, faculty facilitate a class discussion about APA guidelines for human subjects.
 13% of classes have a lab assignment that requires students to work with the APA guidelines.
 In one class, APA guidelines come up in the introduction to HPP participation. In one class, there is a
discussion of whether classic experiments follow ethical guidelines.
IACUC ethical treatment of animals
Six (15%) of the 39 classes address IACUC ethical treatment of animals. The data reported in this section refer
only to these classes.
How do you address IACUC ethical treatment of animals in your class?
 33% have a statement about IACUC ethical treatment of animals in the syllabus.
 In 50% of the classes, faculty lecture about IACUC ethical treatment of animals.
 In one class, students are assigned a required reading about IACUC ethical treatment of animals.
Additional training on ethical standards
In one class, students role-play data collection before they are cleared to collect actual data.
Student Assessment: Ethics
A short 10-item ethics quiz was developed in fall 2010 by the department’s assessment committee. Feedback was
obtained from the entire department prior to pilot testing in spring 2011. The 10 items reflect key ethical
considerations in psychological research: harm to participants, confidentiality, informed consent, handling data,
vulnerable populations, plagiarism, and use of animals in research.
Two sections of Psychology 395: Research Methods in Developmental Psychology took the quiz at the end of the
spring 2011 semester. Students were given the opportunity to earn extra credit for their participation; all students
opted to take the quiz (N = 44)
Key Findings
1. Mean score of Tuesday Lab = 7.90 (SD = 1.04)
Mean score of Thursday Lab = 7.74 (SD = 1.14)
2.
The percentage of students who answered each question correctly was calculated.
Most Commonly Understood Concepts:
 Most students (81.8%) understood that participants must be protected from harm when participating in
research studies.
 Most students (81.8%) understood that confidentiality means that researchers should never reveal
participants’ names when reporting results.
 There were three questions regarding informed consent as this is seen as a fundamental principle in
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conducting research with human participants.
 100% of students reported that participants must be told of their right to withdraw from studies.
 Only 84.1% understood that students at a university are not required to participate in research.
 84.1% understood that researchers must inform participants about stressors prior to participating in a
study.
Almost all of the students (95.5%) understood that when handling data, researchers may not delete results
from a research project just because they are different from other results obtained.
Almost all of the students (95.5%) recognized plagiarism as (1) taking information from an article and
presenting it as your own idea, (2) copying some sentences directly from an article without citing the author
and (3) putting your name on a project even though you didn’t contribute.
81.8% of students understood that research with animals should minimize the number of animals used in
the study, minimize the pain and distress experienced by the animal participants, and avoid using animal
participants if inanimate systems (e.g., computer programs) are available
Less Commonly Understood Concepts:
 Fewer students (70.1%) understood that when working with children or adolescents as a vulnerable
population, researchers may not use large incentives to gain their participation.
 Only 3 of 44 students (.07%) recognized that research proposals that involve the use of animals are
required to be submitted to the IACUC.
3. Item analyses were conducted on the ethics quiz (separately for each class). These analyses provided good
information on items that failed to discriminate between higher scoring and lower scoring students in the classes
(e.g., IACUC’s role in animal research). Department faculty will discuss this data at a department meeting in the
fall 2011 semester, prior to administering the quiz to other classes.
2) As a result of your assessment findings, what changes at either the course- or program-level are being
made and/or proposed in order to improve student learning? Please articulate how your assessment
findings suggest the need for any proposed changes.
We have not discussed the assessment results with department faculty but will do so at our August retreat and
during the fall semester. We will report next year about modifications that are proposed/made.
3) If you used the resources that were given to you as stated in your plan, please check here.
If you used them differently, please provide specifics.
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PART B: Planning
for Assessment in 2011-2012
Required by October 3, 2011
1) Describe the proposed PSLO activities for AY 2011-12. (Note that assessing PSLOs can take many forms.
Programs may find the attached list of sample assessment activities helpful. Please check the Assessment
website for additional resources at www.csusm.edu/assessment/resources/).
We will continue studying the ethics SLO:
Apply APA guidelines for the ethical treatment of human research participants or IACUC guidelines for the
ethical treatment of non-human subjects to the various phases of psychological research (e.g., data collection,
data analysis, reporting of research findings).
2)
What specific assessment activities will you conduct this year in order to measure student
achievement of these outcomes?
Faculty survey: We will discuss the survey results at our August retreat.
Student survey:
1. Department faculty will discuss the pilot test at a faculty meeting in fall. Specific issues to consider:
 Students understand the general concept that informed consent is important, but may not understand the
various aspects of informed consent. Do we want additional questions?
 Do questions need to discriminate between the high and low performers? Or are we interested in
establishing the minimum level of understanding for all students?
 Are there additional concepts that faculty want to consider?
 Do faculty want to adjust any of the questions prior to conducting the assessment?
2. Identify courses that will be included in the assessment (and number of sections):
 Psyc 100 Intro to Psyc
 Psyc 230 Research Methods
 Core courses (e.g., Social, Biopsych)
 Lab courses
3. Coordinate data collection. The ethics quiz will be made available through Cougar Courses for easy scoring.
We will need to determine how the data will be collected in courses that don’t have access to computer labs.
4. Work with IITS to have responses downloaded to a common file.
5. Complete data collection in Fall 2011.
6. Analyze data Spring 2012.
7. Report to faculty Spring 2012.
3) Please describe how the assessment support of $750 will be used.
The $750 in assessment support will be used as faculty development funds. Recipients will be identified in the fall.
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