POLS 1: American Government
Stage 5
Timothy Killikelly
Basic Information
| Number of Outcomes | 6 |
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| Number of Outcomes Assessed | 3 |
| Assessment Frequency | Every semester |
| Analysis Frequency | Every semester |
| Detail Link | Link |
Course Information
| Number of Course Sections | 30 |
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| Number of Instructors | 9 |
Improvement Details
| Details | Political Science had conducted pre and post surveys with both knowledge and attitudinal elements in this course. This Fall we implemented what we agreed on at our May 2013 meeting: that a refinement of our Assessment Tools to make them more substantive was a top priority. This was a major shift in our thinking about SLO’s from the previous year. We all agreed at our meeting in May 2013 that the way we were proceeding with pre and post knowledge and attitudinal surveys of self perceptions of students’ knowledge base was inadequate. Furthermore, we developed a consensus that assessing how well students understood the concept of power was the direction we should take. Trying to find the Assessment Tools and other data that would provide us with valuable and transformative information was, and continues to be, our goal. We developed new Assessment Tools for POLS 1. We created a new pre and post Knowledge Acquisition Assessment survey and an in-class essay Assessment Tool to assess the Cognitive Skill of Critical Thinking. We developed a Rubric modified from the Association of American Colleges and Universities and created a pre and post in-class essay Assessment Tool to assess the Explanation of Issues component of Critical Thinking. We used the definition of Critical Thinking developed by the AACU. We implemented these this Fall 2013. We also discussed ways to refine our outcomes to make them in line with the CCC C-ID Statewide Descriptors for courses. We have refined the outcomes. In determining which SLO’s to assess we also made sure that we are also assessing CCC C-ID Statewide Descriptors for this course. This is part of transitioning to our refined outcomes for this course. |
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Assessment Methods
| Methods | We used new Assessment Tools for POLS 1. We created a pre and post Knowledge Acquisition Assessment survey and an in-class essay Assessment Tool to assess the Cognitive Skill of Critical Thinking. We developed a Rubric modified from the Association of American Colleges and Universities and created a pre and post in-class essay Assessment Tool to assess the Explanation of Issues component of Critical Thinking. We used the definition of Critical Thinking developed by the AACU. We implemented these this Fall 2013. We also used external data to create refined outcomes by using the CCC C-ID Statewide Descriptor for this courses. The outcomes assessed were: - Identify and evaluate institutions and political processes of the U.S. Constitution and the California constitution. - Discuss and analyze contemporary political issues and operations in the United States and in California. - Analyze the role of culture, diversity and ideology in shaping public opinion and public policy in the United States and California. |
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Assessment Data Discussion and Analysis
| Term | Summer 2013, Spring 2013 |
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| How and With Whom | Teachers discussed the data among themselves in the department. |
| Number Assessed | 1185 |
| Data Summary | Data from Fall 2013 will be discussed at the Spring 2014 January Flex Day. |
| Planned Improvements | We plan to continue to implement our more substantive Assessment Tools. We hope that the data with provide insight into what is working and what can be improved. In particular, we will continue to evaluate how well students understand the concept of power. Next discussion will occur at January 2014 Flex Day |
| Program Review Link | Yes, the above future improvements require resources that will be requested during the next annual PROGRAM REVIEW cycle. Examples: additional staff, equipment, software, consulting services, etc. |
Future Plans
| Term | Spring 2014 |
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| Activities | Revision of outcomes and assessment methods (measurements), Assessment (measurement) of outcomes, Analysis and discussion of assessment data and next steps, Implementation of planned changes and reassessment |
| Details | We plan to continue to implement our more substantive Assessment Tools. We hope that the data with provide insight into what is working and what can be improved. In particular, we will continue to evaluate how well students understand the concept of power. |
| Highlights | No answer |