Assessment Report 2017-18

US Core Student Learning Outcome Assessment Report

Course Title: LS 101US

Author of Report: Teresa Greenwood

Outcome Being Assessed: Oral Communication

Semester and Year Fall 2017

Course Enrollment: 75

Number of Course Sections: 5

Number of Assignments Assessed: 19

Assessment Team:

Kevane, Bridget; Greenwood, Teresa; Jennifer Storment, John Townsend-Mehler

Method of Selecting Student Work:

Two members of the assessment team observed and assessed presentations delivered in the following sections of LS 101: 001, 002, 003. Section 003 was the only course we visited twice; once on November 7 and again on November 9.

Method of Ensuring Inter-rater Reliability:

Kevane, Greenwood, Storment, and Townsend-Mehler assessed the students’ work individually. At least two assessors evaluated each presentation.

Notes about Scoring:

In no case was there more than a category difference in the score of the two assessors and where there was a difference the student was scored in the lower category. So if one assessor scored a student Above Expectations (AE) and the second scored the same student at Meets Expectations (ME), the student was coded at Meets Expectations. This allows for a more conservative measure of overall student performance.

Assessments: 

Students in Section 001 are doing well and 100% of papers met at least the criteria for “Meets Expectations†while 50% performed Above Expectations.

Students in Section 003, met or exceeded expectations in most areas; however, 40% of the presentations were unorganized and students were not required to use visual or sensory aids. Furthermore, the presentations students gave were only 3 minutes long. Three minutes is insufficient given all students are expected to include in their presentations.

Section 002 is the course that requires the most attention. Only one (20%) of the presentations met expectations overall. The main problem seems to be the prompt, which requires no analytical content. As in Section 003, presentations in this section of LS 101US are limited to 3 minutes.

Results:

Recommendations for LS 101US:

Due to the differences in the rigor of assignments given to students for the oral presentation requirement, Liberal Studies plans to require instructors to follow a common set of assignment guidelines, beyond simply using the common rubric used for assessment. We will base the guidelines on those that John Townsend-Mehler used in Section 001 this semester. If faculty fail to follow these guidelines, then we will write a common prompt for the oral presentation and expect all those who teach LS 101US to use the common assignment.