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University Assessment

Curricular Initiatives: College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Biological Sciences
Each year, the Department of Biological Sciences has each senior biology major complete an outcome assessment form which involves a number of multiple choice questions related to content in required and elective courses. Instructors are provided with aggregate data from the assessments so they can learn how well students are retaining information from their courses and make adjustments in coverage of certain concepts. Many of the biology alumni go on to take standardized tests for admission to medical, veterinary, or dental school. The department works with the Director of the Pre-Health Program to identify particular areas of difficulty students have in these tests. Numeracy has been identified as an area of difficulty. This has led to discussions among chairs of Biology, Chemistry and Physics on how to address this concern. The Biology department increased the number of lab-based numeracy problems into the four required courses. As of Fall 2010, the Math SAT requirement for admission into the Biology major was raised from 550 to 580 in response to these findings.

Department of Communications and The Arts
Students in Graphic Design from the Department of Communications and the Arts are required to submit a final portfolio in front of faculty and external evaluators. Students are assessed on presentation skills, portfolio assembly, creative design, technical expertise, and overall portfolio quality. Following assessment of the Class of 2011, the faculty reviewed the portfolio results and suggested a number of program modification based on the data which will be considered by the department:

Introduce presentation skills into earlier courses to foster confidence and improve communication;
Put greater emphasis on visual presentation skills in the senior practicum seminar course;
Merge the interactive media, computer graphics, and animation concentrations with the graphic art and design program;
Assure that the typography courses address print and web production issues; and
Enable students to develop artwork that is more fully original and digitally crafted to improve the quality of the imagery in the print and web mediums.

English Department
Each Spring and summer for about five years, a team of English first-year writing faculty and instructors have reviewed student writing assignments according to a departmental rubric and focused on a modified set of skills based in part on the assessment from the previous year. Assessment has expanded from first-year writing to the English major, for which seniors are required to submit a portfolio. In a pilot assessment in fall 2010, the department focus was on the student writer's ability to develop an argument, with particular focus on three skills drawn from a list of Learning Outcomes endorsed by the Department:

Close reading and interpretation of texts
Sustained development of an argument
Non-perfunctory use of sources and citations

18 portfolios were analyzed in Spring 2011 and the evident skill in select learning outcomes was classified as "Incompetent", "Marginally Competent", "Competent", "Strong" or "Masterful". The weakest results were in use of sources and citations, in which only 4 artifacts exceeded "competent". In a followup, faculty were surveyed on the extent to which these topics are covered in their sections; the coverage of use of sources appeared adequate, so the department will continue this summer to strategize how to strengthen this skill in students taking English.

Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Faculty in the Chinese language program in the Department of Languages and Culture use both formative and summative assessments to evaluate student learning. A critical outcome for students in the major is meaningful, fluent communication. Therefore the department integrates the annual Chinese speech contest and the oral interview into assessments. For the speech contest, three external Chinese language teachers are invited to judge students' speaking performance, and for the oral interview, native speakers are brought in to converse with students. Although these assessments pose a real challenge for students, they are greatly enjoyed by them, as they experience a sense of achievement in using the language by interacting with natives. The faculty also use activities such as a skit performance at China Night, a video production task, and the language exchange project to evaluate student learning. The Japanese program has adapted Digital Storytelling for Japanese Writing as an assessment activity. In collaboration with the Department of Informational Technology, students submit essays using digital storytelling software. Some of these are published on SHU Tube. Beginning with the spring 2010 semester, the program began to survey students about their digital storytelling experiences as a self-assessment tool. The results, Applying Digital Storytelling into the Beginner's Level Japanese Writing, were published in the proceedings of the 25th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Association of Teachers of Japanese, Duke University, August, 2010. These data confirmed the decision to include digital storytelling in the writing curriculum. Student outcomes were improved by modifying grading rubrics, and having students review their product in advance with peers, colleagues, teaching assistants and native speakers. To further improve outcomes, the program has enabled students to receive additional tutoring through the academic resource center and interactive course experiences.

Physics Department
Data from annual surveys of Physics alumni indicated that one of the most important factors for students' future success is participation in research under the supervision of a faculty member. Therefore, in 2008 the department increased its efforts to involve all students in research (with presentation/ publications) as a component of their educational program. Currently, 90% of current Physics students are involved in research projects and present their results in regional, national, and international conferences. The department keeps tracks of the outcomes for its majors as one way to track effectiveness of the program. All of the graduates for 2009 and 2010 were either accepted to Ph.D. programs with full scholarships or found employment in the high-tech industry. SHU engineering students perform well at NJIT and the majority of them make the NJIT's Dean's List. According to the Dean of the College of Engineering at NJIT, these students are well prepared to study at their competitive level. In recent years seniors have gone on to graduate program in physics at NJIT and Michigan State University, and to graduate program in Biomedical Engineering at NJIT. In 2011, graduating seniors were accepted to graduate programs such as the Mechanical Engineering program at Princeton, the Physics Department at Vanderbilt University, and to Drexel University, the University of Connecticut, Northwestern University, and Northeastern University.

Department of Political Science and Public Affairs
A new Senior Survey was conducted in Spring 2011 by Political Science, with responses from 22 seniors. Strongest positive responses were for the opportunity to interact with professors (95.4% of responses were "Excellent" or "Above Average") and for Quality of teaching (100% of responses were "Excellent" or "Above Average"). Least satisfaction was for Availability of Outside of Class activity (59.1% rated "Average" or less) and Career Counseling (50% rated "Average" or less). Department responses to these data and any subsequent action items will be part of the first Departmental meeting in the Fall 2011 semester. As part of their ongoing commitment to assessment, the department created an Assessment Task Force, chaired by Dr. Robert Pallitto, with Drs. Anne Hewitt and Jeffrey Togman as additional members. This task force is charged with considering the creation of an entrance survey, recommending improvements to the existing exit survey, and studying the possibility of creating a writing portfolio for political science majors.

Psychology Department
The Psychology Department engaged in a multi-level exercise to explore the alignment of the undergraduate curriculum with recently developed curricular guidelines from the American Psychological Association. Curricular changes in response to this assessment included the proposal and approval of a new BS degree in Psychology. Both students and faculty were surveyed in different ways on the appearance of the APA's 10 categories of psychological learning outcomes in courses at different levels of the curriculum. . One finding was that the APA guidelines related to career planning and development were among the least covered in the department's course offerings. In response, official links between SHU Office of Career Services and the Psychology Internship course were created. The department also initiated a one-credit Orientation to the Major course that will be required of all psychology majors. This course will outline the field of psychology in the context of students' future careers and academic training.

Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work
A new assessment of basic knowledge of Sociology was devised by the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work and administered in Spring 2011. The survey included objective questions and two essay questions which have been analyzed for the level of sophistication exhibited. The Department will review the results at its first meeting in the Fall 2011 semester. Also within this department, the Social Work major was assessed by a survey to students in all Social Work classes calibrating the courses in the curriculum in which students reported encountering basic outcomes and skills of the major. As a result of new (July 1, 2010) requirements from the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), faculty members in the Social Work Program have recently engaged in a thorough analysis of their curriculum via the creation of a skills/course matrix, in which specific competencies, required by the CSWE, were inserted into each course syllabus in the program. As a result of this review, all syllabi and many courses have been reworked. Each syllabus within the Social Work Program now includes a three part process to assist in assessment efforts: specific objectives, learning outcomes, and evidence of learning. The Program is required to maintain records demonstrating that specific competencies are integrated, cumulative, and well-placed. These are reviewed periodically by the Council on Social Work Education.

Curricular Initiatives

Co-Curricular Initiatives