SJSU Annual Assessment Report
Academic Year 2012-2013
Electronic Copy of Report Due July 1, 2013
Send to Undergraduate Studies (Kim.Huynh@sjsu.edu), with cc: to your College
Associate Dean and College Assessment Facilitator
Department/Program: MA in Research & Experimental Psychology_ Date: 7/2/13_
Contact Person _Gregory J. Feist; greg.feist@sjsu.edu_ Phone 408 924 5617_
Program Accreditation (if any) ___________________________________________
Please refer to expanded instructions for each item. The narrative portion of the
report should not exceed four pages. Appendices should be included as part of
the report.
1.
Overview and Context:
For the AY 2012-2013 the MA program carried out the following assessments:
a. collected data from 1st and 2nd year MA students on their evaluation of the
program achieving its PLO goals
b. collected data on MA outcomes (graduation rate, PhD acceptance rates, and job
rates) in the service of PLO 3 (career enhancement)
As a reminder, here are the Program PLOs:
MA PLOs
1. Knowledge Base: Students completing the MA in Psychology program
will understand the major theoretical perspectives and research
methods across areas of experimental psychology, i.e., Developmental,
Social, Cognitive, and Physiological.
2. Research Skills: Graduates of our program will possess an advanced
level of competence in research methods, statistical techniques, and
technical writing skills.
3. Career Enhancement: Students completing the MA in Psychology
program will achieve career enhancement through placement in a
doctoral program or acceptance of a position requiring a master’s in
psychology in the public or private sector.
Moreover, we should note the program has just this year undergone a name
change to be more in line with its mission: we went from “MA in Psychology” to
“MA in Research and Experimental Psychology.” This name change was
necessitated by the program focus not being captured by the previous name and
it needing to be made clear that our focus is on research and experimental
psychology.
2. Use of Prior Assessment/Closing the Loop:
The one initiative we implemented based on previous assessment was to better
advertise the PLOs to the students by including them in the syllabi of graduate
seminars and the MA Student Handbook.
There is evidence that the individualized feedback to students—implemented in
2010-- at the end of each year is having an impact on graduation rates. The last
two cohorts who did not receive these letters were the classes of 2009 and 2010
and they have graduation rates of 46% and 36% respectively. In contrast the first
two classes to receive individual feedback have graduated at rates of 83% (class
of 2011) and 70% (class of 2012). This feedback therefore has enhanced the
career/training outcomes of the students.
3. Assessment Data:
a. Data from MA students on PLO satisfaction
At the end of the 2012-2013 as part of our end of year student evaluation, we
included a survey for the students to provide feedback on how well they feel the
MA program has met its Program Learning Objectives in their experience (see
Appendix A. Out of the 20 students in the 1st two years of the MA program we
received responses from 15 (75%). Overall, there is widespread satisfaction with
the MA and achieving its PLOs. On a 1-5 rating scale (5 being completely
satisfied), the mean satisfaction score across all PLOs was 4.39 (see Figure 1).
Students have means of nearly 4.5 out of 5 on all PLOs except career
enhancement (Mean = 3.83). They believe the program has helped them
understand theory and research in psychology, learn to design and implement
creative research studies, helped them be competent consumers and users of
statistical information, and helped their oral and written communication skills.
b. Career and Educational Outcome Data (Career Enhancement, PLO3)
Graduation rates for the last three cohorts in the MA program are 83% (class of
2011), 70% (class of 2012) and 33% (class of 2013). In Figure 2 are results.
Because the class of 2013 is just finishing its 2nd year and we have always had a
majority of students take 2.5 to 3 years to finish, the graduation rate for the class
of 2013 is somewhat artificially low. The other noteworthy outcome is the
relatively few who enter PhD programs (2 of 25 or 8%). On the positive side, our
graduates seem to be well prepared for jobs in research or more recently
teaching. Across the 3 cohorts we have:
 40% not yet finished
 08% in PhD programs
 16% in teaching jobs
 16% in research jobs
 25% unknown jobs
Given that our mission is to prepare students for PhD programs or research and
teaching careers, our success rate is moderate, with 40% of the students
successful in those areas. We would like to increase these figures however.
4. Alignment of Course and Program Learning Outcomes:
Course learning objectives for the MA program are more specific instantiations of the
PLOs. They include:
CLO1: describe the major claims of dominant theoretical positions within ….
psychology.
CLO2: describe the strengths and weaknesses of the various research methods
used to investigate ….
CLO3: describe major points of theoretical disagreement and controversy within
… psychology.
CLO4: describe current empirical knowledge about specific … phenomena within
such areas as cognition, language, social, and personality development;
appreciate the role of certain factors (e.g., culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic
status, and gender) on the process of … in the areas of empirical study.
CLO5: demonstrate deep understanding of the theoretical and empirical issues
within a specific, narrow area of current research in … psychology.
5. Recommendations for Student Learning:
Initiative to increase awareness of PLOs among students
Instituted a new program policy in 2012 of including the PLOs on all graduate
seminar syllabi to enhance “the student experience” as well as include the PLOs
in the Handbook for the MA Program.
One clear result from our career outcome data (PLO3) is the small percentage of
students who enter PhD programs from our MA program. Over the last three
finished cohorts only 2 of 25 (8%) have been successful in entering PhD
programs. Granted, only 5 of the 25 even applied to PhD programs, so that is
40% of those who have applied have been accepted. Given this outcome, the
MA committee will discuss ways to enhance student training and preparation
such that perhaps 40-50% of our students are applying to PhD programs after
leaving our program and perhaps 20-25% being accepted.
6. Plans 2013-14 Academic Year:
Given the outcome data, our plan for the 2013-2014 year will be to focus on PLO
3 by developing material in the General Seminar (Psychology 280) geared
toward applying to PhD programs, such as how to write a statement of
purpose/intent and how to select programs to apply to. Our MA program needs to
do a better job of preparing students for PhD program training.
Figures
MA Program PLO Student Satisfaction Survey: 2013
Figure 1
4.700
S
a
t
i
s
f n
a
c
t
i
o
4.300
3.900
3.500
1.1
2.1
2.2
2.3
PLO Category
2.4
3.1
Total
PLO Codes
1.1
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
3.1
Understand the major theoretical perspectives and research methods across areas of experimental psychology
demonstrate creative problem-solving in the design, implementation of empirical research
demonstrate project management skills in the implementation of empirical research
demonstrate advanced competency in the statistical analysis and interpretation of empirical research findings.
be able to communicate (oral and written) their research findings at a professional level.
achieve career enhancement through placement in a doctoral program or acceptance of a position requiring a master’s in
psychology in the public or private sector
MA Career Outcomes as of July 2013 for last 3 Cohorts:
Figure 2
100%
90%
80%
70%
Unknown Job
60%
Research Job
50%
Teach Job
PhD
40%
Not Yet MA
30%
20%
10%
0%
Class 2011 (n=6)
Class 2012 (n=10)
Class 2013 (n=9)
Appendices
Appendix A
PLO Student Survey
MA End-of-Year Survey: May 2013
SJSU MA Experimental Psychology Program
Dr. Gregory J. Feist, Coordinator
Name:
Year Started in MA Program:
Major Advisor:
Courses taken:
1st semester:
2nd semester:
3rd semester:
4th semester:
Thesis Topic:
Thesis Title:
If working on thesis, where are you in the process (check one)?
Design-Proposal_______
Data Collection_______
Data Analysis_______
Writing Up________
Ready to Defend_______
Defended (date)_________________________
Expected/Targeted Graduation Date:
What are your plans for the summer?
If finishing, what is your next step:
Job (if so, where)________________________________________________
Apply to PhD Programs (If so, when)__________________________
Evaluation of MA Program:
Below are the Program Goals and Learning Objectives adopted by the MA committee
and spelled out in the Handbook. Please take a few minutes to evaluate your
experience in either your first year or your first and second year as they relate to these
objectives. Please rate each learning outcome on a 1-5 Likert scale of satisfaction:
1 = completely dissatisfied
3 = neutral
5 = completely satisfied
2 = dissatisfied
4 = satisfied
You can either email this back to me or if you would rather remain completely
anonymous, you can print out this page, complete it, and put it in an envelop in my
(Feist) departmental mailbox. Please return no later than by Thursday afternoon, May
9.
Program Goals & Learning Outcomes

Goal 1. Advanced Knowledge – Graduates of our program will have advanced understanding
of the major theoretical perspectives in psychology. Students completing the MA in Psychology
program will...
o Outcome 1.1 – Understand the major theoretical perspectives and research methods
across areas of experimental psychology, i.e., Developmental, Social, Cognitive, and
Physiological. Rating_______

Goal 2. Research Methods & Scholarship – Graduates of our program will possess an
advanced level of competence in research methods, statistical techniques, and technical writing
skills. Students completing the MA in Psychology program are required to complete a thesis. The
thesis will...
o Outcome 2.1 – demonstrate creative problem-solving in the design, implementation of
empirical research. Rating_______
o Outcome 2.2 – demonstrate project management skills in the implementation of
empirical research. Rating_______
o Outcome 2.3 – demonstrate advanced competency in the statistical analysis and
interpretation of empirical research findings. Rating_______
o Outcome 2.4 – be able to communicate (oral and written) their research findings at a
professional level. Rating_______

Goal 3. Career Enhancement – Graduates of our program will experience career enhancement
resulting from the receipt of a master’s degree in psychology. Students completing the MA in
Psychology program will…
o Outcome 3.1 – achieve career enhancement through placement in a doctoral program
or acceptance of a position requiring a master’s in psychology in the public or private
sector Rating_______
Please feel free to elaborate (or not) any of your ratings. Make sure to be clear on which
program goal or learning outcome you are discussing. In so doing, you can make your
own suggestions as to how you think the MA program could improve in meeting these
goals and learning objectives (use back if necessary)
1. List the key elements of the MA program that you are most pleased with:
a. __________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________
c. __________________________________________________________
d. __________________________________________________________
2. List key elements of the MA program that you are most displeased with (see
most need of improvement)
a. ___________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________________________
d. ___________________________________________________________