4/16/07 Assessment of the Core – Social Inquiry Charlyne L. Walker Director of Educational Research and Evaluation, Arts and Sciences

4/16/07 Assessing the Major SACS requires us to assess all degree programs bachelors through doctorate as part of Institutional Effectiveness FIU has been assessing our degree programs since Recent changes in SACS has moved us toward more direct measures Departments assess programs in a variety of ways Sample IE document

4/16/07 Social Inquiry Core Category Description In these courses students investigate  social, political, and economic configurations;  cultural and psychological features of human life;  gender, race/ethnicity, and social class;  consciousness and identity;  social interactions with the natural environment;  and local, national, and global aspects of the human world

4/16/07 Foundations of Social Inquiry Description  Students learn theories and methodologies that underlie these areas of study and enhance their research and analytic skills. Competency:  Students will be able to use research and analytic skills to evaluate and apply theories and methodologies.

4/16/07 Societies and Identities Description  Students compare societies and cultures in local, national, or international contexts and in contemporary or historical perspective. Competency:  Students will be able to compare and contrast societies and cultures.

4/16/07 Objectives and Measures There should be objectives for the courses in course syllabi As objectives are developed, we may be asking for you to include them into course syllabi As measures are developed, you might be asked to include them into course syllabi to let students know what measures are being used This is not a “short term” solution for the 2010 SACS visit The measures must be on going as part of SACS requirements beyond 2010

4/16/07 Types of Direct Measures Embedded questions  Set of locally developed questions intended to measure specific student learning outcomes  Placed within tests of all sections of the same course  Used to track cognitive or skill development through a program, sets of embedded questions, with each expecting a higher level of proficiency than the previous, may be used across sequential courses Papers or short answer questions using rubrics – a rubric is used to standardize the grading of work

4/16/07 Types of Direct Measures Locally developed exams - exams produced by faculty within a discipline Pre/Post Test - a locally developed test that measure students’ incoming and post program levels of knowledge, skills, behaviors and attitudes to measure students’ gains You can find more types of measures at

4/16/07 Examples of Objectives and Measures from UCF SYG 2000 General Sociology - To be able to gather and synthesize information from appropriate resources, and be able to evaluate information and sources for accuracy and credibility. Measures:  1.1 SYG 2000 General Sociology - Pre/Post Tests. During the first 10 days of the semester a pretest with questions designed specifically to address objective, will be administered to all sections of SYG A posttest will be administered two weeks prior to the end of the course to gauge acquisition of student knowledge of objective.  1.2 SYG 2000 General Sociology - Questions will be embedded into the last exam administered in each section of SYG2000. Item analysis of these questions will be used to gauge the acquisition of student knowledge of this outcome.

4/16/07 Examples of Objectives and Measures from UCF POS 2041 American National Government - Students will demonstrate effective written communication concerning American politics and policy. Measures:  8.1 POS 2041 American National Government - Students will be given an internet learning module to complete that requires that they write a brief essay. Student writing ability will be rated as satisfactory or not satisfactory based on identified criteria measuring writing skill. 100% of the students who pass the course will achieve a score of satisfactory.  8.2 POS 2041 American National Government - Students will watch an in depth news program (like the News Hour on PBS) and write a brief essay in response. Student writing ability will be rated as satisfactory or not satisfactory based on identified criteria measuring writing skill. 100% of the students who pass the course will achieve a score of satisfactory.

4/16/07 Examples UCF General Education Social Foundations ew_2006_07.asp?program_ID=1241 UCF Assessment Plans for asp?group=visitor