Discipline Philosophy
Stage 4
Assessment Activities
| Assessment Methods | Quizzes, exams, or homework items linked to specific learning outcomes |
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| Assessment Description | We conducted end of semester quizzes for all sections. These tested outcomes we had agreed upon at the beginning of the semester. Here is an example of one such quiz: Major Learning Outcomes Assessment Philosophy 4 The following outcomes have been identified as major for this course. As a means of determining your proficiency in these outcomes, we are administering the following short quiz. This quiz is to be taken anonymously and will not count for or against your grade. It’s purely a means for us to determine how these outcomes are being taught. Outcomes Assessed F. Demonstrate a fluency with philosophical argumentation, both in writing and in oral contexts, including, but not limited to the presentation and evaluation of arguments in explicit premise/conclusion form A. Demonstrate the ability to identify and evaluate the major moral theories of sustaining influence For each of the following items, bubble in on your Scantron the correct choice. The following passage is from David Hume: A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined. Why is it more than probable, that all men must die; that lead cannot, of itself, remain suspended in the air; that fire consumes wood, and is extinguished by water; unless it be, that these events are found agreeable to the laws of nature, and there is required a violation of these laws, or in other words, a miracle to prevent them? Nothing is esteemed a miracle, if it ever happen in the common course of nature. It is no miracle that a man, seemingly in good health, should die on a sudden: because such a kind of death, though more unusual than any other, has yet been frequently observed to happen. But it is a miracle, that a dead man should come to life; because that has never been observed in any age or country. There must, therefore, be a uniform experience against every miraculous event, otherwise the event would not merit that appellation.... The plain consequence is (and it is a general maxim worthy of our attention), 'That no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavours to establish....' When anyone tells me, that he saw a dead man restored to life, I immediately consider with myself, whether it be more probable, that this person should either deceive or be deceived, or that the fact, which he relates, should really have happened. I weigh the one miracle against the other; and according to the superiority, which I discover, I pronounce my decision, and always reject the greater miracle. If the falsehood of his testimony would be more miraculous, than the event which he relates; then, and not till then, can he pretend to command my belief or opinion. 1. The conclusion of this passage is a. Miracles are impossible b. Miracles are possible, but we can prove they don’t happen c. Miracles are less likely than false reports of them d. If Miracles did happen, we’d hear more about them than we do 2. Which of the following, if true, would pose a serious threat to Hume’s argument? a. People are generally unreliable in their reports b. People are generally reliable in their reports c. Miracles are, by definition, rare d. The rarer something is, the more accurate people are about it |
| Learning Outcomes | From Philosophy 4: F. Demonstrate a fluency with philosophical argumentation, both in writing and in oral contexts, including, but not limited to the presentation and evaluation of arguments in explicit premise/conclusion form A. Demonstrate the ability to identify and evaluate the major moral theories of sustaining influence From Philosophy 2: F. Demonstrate a fluency with philosophical argumentation, both in writing and in oral contexts, including, but not limited to the presentation and evaluation of arguments in explicit premise/conclusion form A. Demonstrate the ability to identify and evaluate the major moral theories of sustaining influence From Philosophy 40: The following outcomes have been identified as major for this course. As a means of determining your proficiency in these outcomes, we are administering the following short quiz. This quiz is to be taken anonymously and will not count for or against your grade. It’s purely a means for us to determine how these outcomes are being taught. Outcomes Assessed: A. Demonstrate a grasp of the concepts of validity, soundness, as well as inductive strength and weakness in the evaluation of arguments as a whole. B. Identify the common informal fallacies and diagnose their occurrences in both written and oral contexts. Quiz On your Scantron sheet, bubble in the correct answer to each of the following questions: 1. If you have a valid argument with a false conclusion then you know that: a. all of the premises must be true b. none of the premises can be true c. at least one of the other premises must be false d. none of the above 2. Which of the following is true of any inductively strong argument? a. it can be made valid with the addition of a single premise b. it is necessarily valid c. it’s conclusion must be true d. it’s conclusion must be false 3. The passage below commits which informal fallacy? "The belief in God is universal. After all, everyone believes in God." a. Ad Hominem b. Appeal to Authority c. Begging the Question d. Slippery Slope 4. An ‘ad hominem attack’ is just a fancy way to say someone was insulted a. True b. False From Philosophy 25c: B. Demonstrate an ability to read critically: i.e., to actively engage a text, ferret out its arguments and assumptions and to be in a position to address those arguments either verbally or in writing. C. Demonstrate a grasp of the particular claims, theories, and arguments advanced by the philosophers studied. From Philosophy 12a: A. Demonstrate the ability to identify and evaluate both the components of arguments (premises and conclusions) and arguments as a whole. B. Demonstrate a grasp of the concepts of validity, soundness, as well as inductive strength and weakness in the evaluation of arguments as a whole. D. Demonstrate the ability to prove, within various formal systems, the entailment of one sentence from a set of sentences. |
| Number of Courses | ~8 |
| Number of Students | ~200 |
Data Analysis
| Data Shared With | Faculty and staff within the same department |
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| Data Sharing Methods |
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| Data Summary | The majority of students answered each question on the respective quizzes correctly. Nevertheless, success varied from question to question so we are looking into relatively worse results are the result of perhaps poorly phrased questions or indicative of issues in course presentation that need to be addressed. |
| Data Analysis | The majority of students answered each question on the respective quizzes correctly. Nevertheless, success varied from question to question so we are looking into relatively worse results are the result of perhaps poorly phrased questions or indicative of issues in course presentation that need to be addressed. |
| Next Steps Planned | This semester we are planning to administer the same quizzes as pre and post presentation models. We will then use the results to determine whether relative lack of success is owing to inadequately phrased questions or indicative of something in the presentation of the material that needs to be addressed. We will implement these changes next semester. |
| Learning Outcomes | ALL |
Tentative Future Assessment Plans
| Assessment Term | Spring 2014 |
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| Assessment Activities |
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| Assessment Details | See earlier responses. |
ILO Alignment and Assessment Plans
| I.A. Use reason and creativity... | Demonstrate skills of conceptual analysis and argument comprehension, construction, and evaluation. Apply conceptual analysis skills to the fundamental problems involved in building reliable theoretical knowledge or formulating sound ethical judgments. Analyze and demonstrate an understanding of the science of logic, with emphasis on the concept of proof and symbolic systems for calculating truth-value relationships. Actively examine theories of the philosophical-scientific tradition from its ancient beginnings to its contemporary developments. |
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| I.B. Apply diverse viewpoints... | Actively examine theories of the philosophical-scientific tradition from its ancient beginnings to its contemporary developments. |
| I.C. Locate, retrieve, and evaluate information... | Demonstrate skills of conceptual analysis and argument comprehension, construction, and evaluation. Apply conceptual analysis skills to the fundamental problems involved in building reliable theoretical knowledge or formulating sound ethical judgments. Analyze and demonstrate an understanding of the science of logic, with emphasis on the concept of proof and symbolic systems for calculating truth-value relationships. Actively examine theories of the philosophical-scientific tradition from its ancient beginnings to its contemporary developments. |
| Fall 2013 ILO Assessment Plans | Although our PSLOs map to these ILOs, we will not be conducting assessments of them in Fall 2013. |
SLO Details Storage Location
ELECTRONIC COPY - In my electronic filing system (hard drive or web server)