2012-2013 Assessment ReportSchool of TAHSS

Department: English, Undergraduate

Chair: Jennifer Haytock

Date of Presentation: 1 October 2013

Student learning outcomes :The following Learning Outcomes are the central objectives for teaching and

learning in the English Department. Upon graduating from the major, students should be able to:

• Analyze the relationship between literary form and meaning, taking into consideration literary techniques and devices. Applicable for all English majors and minors.*

• Construct arguments about literary works using historical contexts. Applicable for all English majors and minors.

• Identify reputable and relevant sources, and incorporate the words and ideas of others without misrepresentation and with appropriate documentation practices. Applicable for all English majors and minors.

SLOs, continued• Write in conformity with standard usage and grammar. Applicable for all

English majors and minors.

• Argue with a command of the rhetorical strategies, terms, and major interpretive methods characteristic of academic writing in the Humanities. Applicable for all English majors enrolled in the Literature Track.

• Apply basic elements of creative writing craft, including such elements as control of form and figurative language. Applicable for students in the Creative Writing program.

How was the assessment accomplished?

• Student work assessed: Essays from all sections of ENG 303, ENG 323, and other courses in close reading (ENG 304-349)

• Measurement strategy: rubric• Sample size: 97 essays (sample)

Assessment results: ENG 303, all sections

Total number of students assessed in the course – all sections (n):_73__ Results based on sample of 35 essays, each scored by two instructors, for

a total of 70 scores Percent exceeding: 11%Percent meeting: 39%Percent approaching: 42%Percent not meeting: 8%

Assessment results: ENG 323, all sections

Total number of students assessed in the course – all sections (n):_42_ Results based on sample of 27 essays, each scored by two instructors, for

a total of 54 scores Percent exceeding: 10%Percent meeting: 40%Percent approaching: 38%Percent not meeting: 12%

Assessment results: Other Courses in Close Reading (ENG 326, 329, 336)

Total number of students assessed in the course – all sections (n):_69__ Results based on sample of 35 essays, each scored by two instructors, for

a total of 70 scores Percent exceeding: 10%Percent meeting: 38%Percent approaching: 45%Percent not meeting: 7%

Assessment results: What have the data told us?

• We did not meet our benchmark of 85% of students performing at the “meets criteria” level: only ~50% of students performed at this level.

• We need to do a better job teaching close reading skills.

• We need to do a better job teaching students to write close reading essays.

Data-driven decisions: “close the loop”Our proposed course of action focuses on• teaching strategies for cultivating student’s

capacity for critically rigorous close reading • making assessment of student learning a more

effective tool for student learning (making assessment more transparent, making students more active participants in defining assessment rubrics, etc.)

Decisions, cont’dIdeas for immediate implementation: • set up banks on the English Faculty ANGEL page with

• exercises in close reading• examples of rubrics• examples of work that exceeded expectations

• organize a collaborative workshop on strategies for teaching close reading (scheduled for Oct. 29)

• consider instituting a curricular skill-set for ENG 303

What resources were used or have been requested to close the loop?

• Stipend for instructors to score essays (paid last year from Provost’s fund)

• Faculty participation in Teaching and Learning Workshops

• Faculty participation in curriculum committee discussion

• Time for assessment of essays