ASSESSMENT REPORT

FOR

 

 

Bachelor of Arts with a major in Mathematics with Grades 8th -12th Certification (BA)
Instructional Degree Program

Spring 2003
Assessment Period Covered

June 9, 2003
Date Submitted

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 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:
The faculty and administrators of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences are committed to providing a scholarly environment in which students prepare for productive lives in a dynamic world and in a changing global and technologically advancing environment.

Intended Educational (Student) Outcomes:

1. Students will demonstrate their mastery of formulating and solving problems in various areas of mathematics as related to the program of study.

2. Students will be able to communicate mathematics in well-structured sentences.

3.  Students will be able to develop a variety of examples to illustrate mathematical concepts and to present several ways to solving a problem as related to the program of study.

 

ASSESSMENT REPORT

FOR

 

 

Bachelor of Arts with a major in Mathematics with Grades 8th -12th Certification (BA)
Instructional Degree Program

Spring 2003
Assessment Period Covered

June 9, 2003
Date Submitted

Intended Educational (Student) Outcome:
NOTE: There should be one form for each intended outcome listed.  The intended outcome should be restated in the box immediately below and the intended outcome number entered in the blank spaces.

1. Students will demonstrate their mastery of formulating and solving problems in various areas of mathematics.

First Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
_1a._
  Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
Two content-specific questions will be designed by the course instructor and reviewed jointly by the mathematics faculty and included in an examination (more suitably the final examination) for each senior (4000-level) mathematics courses every semester. The mathematics faculty will review jointly the data and comments received from the course instructor for answers to the problems. This will occur in accordance with a course-specific rubric to determine the degree to which the stipulated criteria for success are met. An average of 2.5 on a 4-point scale will be considered satisfactory. A guideline for development of the course rubric is: 1) Understanding o the questions—25%; 2) the right approach to the solutions—25%; 3) Presentation of the solutions—25%; and 4) Accuracy of the reasoning and solutions—25%.

_1a._  Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
The average for data collected from three courses is 3.0 on a 4-point scale. The benchmark established was met.

 
_1a._  Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
The following will be discussed through departmental meetings to beconsidered for implementation: Students’ grasp of the concept of mappings (functions, transformations, correspondences, operators) is very weak at this point. As a tool for understanding and solving problems, the mapping concept should be emphasized more throughout the curriculum. In fact, since “mapping” is such a central concept in mathematics and it is so ubiquitous, it can be used both as a guideline for instruction as well as a benchmark for assessment: by incorporating the mapping concept as much as possible in the instruction, we can improve students’ overall proficiency in mathematics, and by measuring how well students can use the mapping concept, we can assess. Partially how well we are doing in this program.

Second Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
_1b._  Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
Students in 3000- and 4000-level courses will be required to keep a portfolio and turn it in to their course instructors. The mathematics faculty will review the data, as well as comments received from course instructors, in accordance with the rubric. An average of 2.5 on a 4-point scale will be considered satisfactory. A guideline for development of the course rubric is: 1) Organization of portfolio—25%; 2) Understanding of problem statements —25%; 3) Presentation of the solutions—25%; and 4) Accuracy of the reasoning and solutions—25%.

_1b._  Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
Only partially implemented this semester. One course used a collection of ten homework problems for this purpose. The average score for the semester was 3.5; from this data, the benchmark was achieved.

_1b._  Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
Program faculty will take a more systematic approach to implementing this instrument. Data too limited to make additional recommendations for program change.

Third Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
_1c._  Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
Graduating students will be required to take part in a pilot study program towards the end of their final semester of studies by taking the Major Fields Test in mathematics by ETS; 70% of the students taking the standardized examination will score at or above the national 50th percentile.   

_1c._  Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
The pilot program was postponed because of changes in mathematics administration.

_1c._  Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
Program faculty members could not make recommendations at this time.

 

ASSESSMENT REPORT

FOR

 

 

Bachelor of Arts with a major in Mathematics with Grades 8th -12th Certification (BA)
Instructional Degree Program

Spring 2003
Assessment Period Covered

June 9, 2003
Date Submitted

Intended Educational (Student) Outcome:
NOTE: There should be one form for each intended outcome listed.  The intended outcome should be restated in the box immediately below and the intended outcome number entered in the blank spaces.

__2__ Students will be able to communicate mathematics in well-structured sentences.

First Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
_2a._
Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
Two content-specific questions will be designed by the course instructor and reviewed by the mathematics faculty and included in a final examination. This will occur in accordance with a course-specific rubric to determine the degree to which the stipulated criteria for success are met. An average of 2.5 on a 4-point scale will be considered satisfactory. A guideline for development of the course rubric is: 1) Understanding o the questions—25%; 2) the right approach to the solutions—25%; 3) Presentation of the solutions—25%; and 4) Accuracy of the reasoning and solutions—25%.

_2a._  Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
The average for data collected from three courses is 3.0 on a 4-point scale. The benchmark was achieved.  
 
_2a._  Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
The faculty makes no recommendations at this time.

Second Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
_2b._  Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
Exit survey will be conducted with graduating seniors. The survey will include questions asking the students’ perception of their own achievement pertaining to the intended outcomes; each response will be in a scale of 0 to 4, and average of 3.0 points or better for the responses to the relevant questions will be considered satisfactory.

_2b._  Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
This was partially implemented this semester. One course used a collection of ten homework problems for this purpose. The average score for the semester is 3.5. The benchmark is achieved.

_2b._  Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
Because there were no graduates in the program during this assessment period, the program faculty members cannot make a recommendation at this time. But they do recommend a more systematic implementation of means of assessment.

Third Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
_2c._  Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
Graduating students will be required to take part in a pilot study program towards the end of their final semester of studies by taking the Major Fields Test in mathematics by ETS; 70% of the students taking the standardized examination will score at or above the National 50th percentile

_2c._  Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
Recommended for Fall 2003 implementation.

 _2c._  Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
No recommendations for program change in this means of assessment at this time.

 

ASSESSMENT REPORT

FOR

 

 

Bachelor of Arts with a major in Mathematics with Grades 8th -12th Certification (BA)
Instructional Degree Program

Spring 2003
Assessment Period Covered

June 9, 2003
Date Submitted

Intended Educational (Student) Outcome:
NOTE: There should be one form for each intended outcome listed.  The intended outcome should be restated in the box immediately below and the intended outcome number entered in the blank spaces.

__3__ Students will be able to develop a variety of examples to illustrate mathematical concepts, to present several ways of solving a problem, and to illustrate applications of mathematical ideas to real situations.

First Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
_3a._ Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:

Pre-service teachers (students) will take the Texas Examinations of Educator Standards (TExES) in mathematics for grades 8–12. A pass rate of 70% for a cohort of students in a particular semester on TExES Mathematics 8–12 (test 135) will be considered satisfactory.

_3a._  Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
One student took TExES, and passed (100% pass rate).
 
_3a._  Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
Because of the small data sample, program faculty could not make recommendations for this means of assessment at this time.

Second Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:

_3b._  Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
Exit survey will be conducted with graduating seniors. The survey will include questions asking the students’ perception of their own achievement pertaining to the intended outcomes; each response will be in a scale of 0 to 4, and average of 3.0 points or better for the responses to the relevant questions will be considered satisfactory.

_3b._  Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
Some questions were not included in the survey. They will be included in the survey for the Fall 2004 semester.

_3b._  Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
Program faculty members could not make recommendations for this means of assessment at this time.

Third Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
_3c._  Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success: T
he students will be required to complete the mathematics capstone course (MATH 4390) in the final year of their program of study. The mathematics faculty will review jointly the evaluations of the student performance (including the final classroom presentation) received from the course instructor, to determine whether the students have achieved the intended outcome. An average of 2.5 on a 4-point scale will be considered satisfactory.

_3c._  Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
Average point was 1.7 in 4-point scale.

_3c._  Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program: 
(1) To develop students’ ability to apply mathematical ideas to real situations, we recommend that each mathematics instructor incorporates some modeling problems or projects in the courses.

(2)To enhance students’ ability to develop a variety of examples to illustrate mathematical concepts, we recommend that each mathematics instructor presents a variety of examples to illustrate mathematical concepts within the instruction of the courses.  In Math 4390 we recommend that students be required to complete a project in which they develop a particular mathematical concept using verbal, numerical, graphical, and symbolic representations, along with a variety of examples.  This project should include a class presentation.

(3) To develop students’ ability to present several ways of solving a problem, we recommend that each mathematics instructor incorporates the presentation in several ways of solving a problem within the instruction of the courses.  In Math 4390 we recommend that students be required to complete a problem solving project which includes a class presentation in several ways of solving a particular problem.