PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT
FOR
Bachelor of Arts with a major
in English
Degree Program Name
Fall 2004
Assessment Period Covered Date
Created 14 January 2005
Revised 7 March 2005
Finalized
22 March 2005
Dr. Kevin Lindberg
Submitted by
Expanded
Statement of Institutional Purpose Linkage:
Institutional Mission
Reference:
Texas A&M International
University, a Member of The Texas A&M University System, is committed to
the preparation of students for leadership roles in their chosen profession and
in an increasingly complex, culturally diverse state, national, and global
society … Through instruction, faculty and student research, and public
service, Texas A&M International University is a strategic point of
delivery for well-defined programs and services that improve the quality of
life for citizens of the border region, the State of Texas, and national and
international communities.
College/University
Goal(s) Supported:
To increase “(1) students’ ability
to communicate through the use of the written and spoken word; (2) their
knowledge and appreciation of culture, fine arts, social integration; and (3)
self realization. The College [COAS] also prepares students for a variety of
professions and roles by providing a broad-based liberal arts education.”
Intended Educational (Student) Outcomes:
1. Graduates will be able to write a documented essay that is free of distracting errors and that demonstrates the ability to integrate secondary sources appropriately into the essay.
2. Graduates will demonstrate a knowledge of literature that compares favorably to that of graduates from similar programs in the nation.
3. Graduates will be successful in obtaining admission to graduate or professional programs.
PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT
FOR
Bachelor of Arts with a major
in English
Degree Program Name
Fall 2004
Assessment Period Covered
Intended Educational (Student) Outcome:
1. Graduates will be able to write a documented essay that is free of distracting errors and that demonstrates the ability to integrate secondary sources appropriately into the essay.
First
Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
1a. Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
The research papers of English
majors classified as seniors will be sampled from 3000-4000-level classes
initially and then later exclusively from English 4399, Senior Seminar. Using
the Analytical Rubric for English Papers (1) developed by the department, a
team of faculty members will evaluate the papers for errors and for use of
secondary sources. At least 85% of the seniors will receive scores of
“satisfactory” or higher.
1a. Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
Only one student paper fitting the assessment criteria was produced. Two
professors read and scored this paper. Using a four-point scale (with 4 being
excellent, 3 acceptable, 2 unacceptable, and 1 totally inadequate), they
arrived at the following results (3).
Overall: The student scored a 3.5.
Analysis: In addition to the overall score, the paper was evaluated for six qualities. These were as follows:
Organization & focus (3.88), Development (2.9), Logic & Coherence (3.34), Syntax & Style (3.7), Mechanics (1; in this category only, the lowest score is the best), and Documentation (3.69).
1a. Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
While the one paper examined is at a relatively high level, it does not represent enough evidence to affect current programmatic practice. More senior papers should be available for assessment according to the current method during the Spring semester.
PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT
FOR
Bachelor of Arts with a major in English
Degree Program Name
Fall 2004
Assessment Period Covered
Intended Educational (Student) Outcome:
2. Graduates will demonstrate a knowledge of literature that compares favorably to that of graduates from similar programs in the nation.
First
Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
2a. Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
Graduates will obtain an overall
score at the 50th percentile or above on a norm-referenced subject
test of literature (MFAT).
2a. Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
Two undergraduate senior English
majors took the Major Field Assessment Exam (MFAT) published by ETS. The MFAT
for Literature in English was revised in 2003, and thus MFAT does not yet have
national norms. Overall, English graduating seniors scored an average of 132.0
(Scale: 120-200). Although a test sample of two students provides data of
negligible significance, this is 7.5% lower than the 142.8 scored by last
year’s sample of seven testing students. The four analytical categories
producing sub-scores (Scale: 20-100) follow (4):
Literature before 1900 33.0 Av.
Literature after 1900 33.5 Av.
Literary Analysis 31.0 Av.
Literary History and Identification 32.0 Av.
Additional “Assessment Indicators” are normally provided for eight key areas. Unfortunately, ETS does not provide the breakdown for these areas in situations involving fewer than five testers, so we do not have these data for the current test samples. The areas and overall results for last year’s sampling follow, ranked from high to low by percentage of questions answered correctly:
British & American Lit. 1901 – 1945 52.8%
Literature in English since 1945 51.5%
American Literature to 1900 48.2%
Identification 41.3%
British Literature pre-1660 39.5%
Literary Theory 35.8%
British Literature 1660-1900 34.0%
Literary History 32.8%
The G.P.A. of undergraduates did not seem to be a good indicator of MFAT results.
2a. Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
Without national norms with which to compare our students’ performance, and without a significant number of testers, it is difficult to draw conclusions about what the current results mean. These must await the emergence of patterns over a few years of testing. Nevertheless, provisional conclusions drawn from last year’s tests still seem justified – for the seniors tested to date, at least. First, the narrow range of difference on sub-scores for this year (31.0 to 33.5), while lower than the range from last year (41.3 to 48.7), suggests that our students continue to perform with uniformity in the broadest divisions of our discipline. Second, while this range is even narrower than last year, since we do not have the “assessment indicators,” which score narrower categories, there is no reason to assume a significant change from earlier data that suggest that our current graduates are stronger in 20th century literature than in pre-20th century literature; that they are slightly stronger in American than in British literature; and that they are weakest in literary history, British literature from 1660-1900, and literary theory. The English faculty adopted a new degree plan for the B.A. in English for 2003-2004, which requires that students take courses in each of the major historical areas of British and American literature, to insure that each graduate had a balanced knowledge of these areas. Last year’s results indicate some success in that there was an increase in the British and American Literature Assessment Indicator from 48.4% in 2003 to 52.8% in 2004. The previous year we had predicted that our students’ low scores in British Literature 1660-1900 would rise since we offered two courses in that area, but the scores did not go up (34.0% in spring 2004 and 38.8% in 2003). The faculty’s plan, following meetings in spring and summer 2004 to place greater emphases on literary history, British literature 1660-1900 and literary theory, remains in place. Two courses in British literature are scheduled for fall 2005.
PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT
FOR
Bachelor of Arts with a major in English
Degree Program Name
Fall 2004
Assessment Period Covered
Intended Educational (Student) Outcome:
3. Graduates will be successful in obtaining admission to graduate or professional programs.
First
Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
3a. Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
60% of graduates who seek entrance
into graduate programs in English will be admitted. A post-graduate survey
conducted yearly will be used to collect this information.
3a. Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
We will conduct the annual survey in spring 2005.
3a. Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
Results for this means of assessment will not be available until spring 2005. In line with previous assessments, program faculty continue to advise all graduating seniors to continue their education at the graduate level.