Modifications to Campus-Based Assessment Plan at SUNY Cobleskill

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

IN GENERAL EDUCATION

STRENGTHENED CAMPUS-BASED ASSESSMENT

COMBINED PLAN1 - 2007

State University of New York

College of Agriculture and Technology

Cobleskill

1. The objectives for student learning in General Education relate directly to the student learning outcomes defined in the Implementation Guidelines of the Provosts Advisory Task Force on General Education.

As can be seen in the document below, we have adopted the language of the SUNY General Education Requirements for all the mandated areas. As a College, we are requiring evidence of competency in seven of the ten required areas for the AA and AS degrees, eight of the ten required areas for the BT degrees and ten of the ten required areas for the BS degrees. The faculty has developed either grading rubrics or objective exams for the knowledge areas and competencies not addressed by the Strengthened Campus-based Assessment mandate. A summary of learning objectives and measurement tools is listed below. Section 3 contains a comprehensive description of measurement details; rubrics are listed in the Appendix.

A.American History Learning Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

Knowledge of a basic narrative of American history: political, economic, social and cultural, including knowledge of unity and diversity in American society;

Knowledge will also be demonstrated of the common institutions in American society and how they have affected different groups;

Understanding of Americas evolving relationship with the rest of the world.

Measure: objective exam developed by the Social Sciences Department

B.The Arts Learning Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

Understanding of at least one principle form of artistic expression and the creative processes inherent therein.

Measure: rubric developed by the Humanities Department

Evidence may include examinations, graded papers, visual artifacts, special projects, and/or a performance evaluation.

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1. This combined plan incorporates the following documents submitted to SUNY: Campus Based Assessment Plan (submitted 2005); Strengthened Campus-Based Assessment Plan (submitted 2006); Modifications to Campus-Based Assessment Plan Moving from Rubrics to Exams (submitted 2006); and Modifications to Campus-Based Assessment Plan In Response to Assessment Plan review of July 19, 2005 (submitted 2006).

C.Communication Outcomes

Students will:

Produce coherent texts within college level written forms. This includes generating a thesis and supporting it with appropriate detail as well as an understanding of written organization, focus, and grammar.

Demonstrate the ability to revise and improve such texts;

Research a topic, develop an argument, and organize supporting details;

Develop proficiency in oral discourse; and

Evaluate an oral presentation according to established criteria.

Measure for oral communication: rubric developed by the Humanities Department

Measure for written communication: rubric developed by SUNY

Evidence may include at least one paper with a draft and final revision and an assignment that is the result of research with cited references. (ENGL 101 or an equivalent course is required of all SUNY Cobleskill students and this course does include all these elements.)

D.Foreign Language Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

Basic proficiency in the understanding and use of a foreign language; and

Knowledge of the distinctive features of the culture(s) associated with the language they are studying.

Measure: objective exam developed by the Humanities Department

E.Humanities Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

Knowledge of the conventions and methods of at least one of the humanities in addition to those encompassed by other knowledge areas required by the General Education program. [This includes art, communications, drama, foreign languages, literature, music, philosophy, and religion prefixes include: ARTS, COMM, ENGL, GART, HUMS, JOUR, MUSC, and PHIL].

Measure: rubric developed by the Humanities Department

Evidence: may include graded papers, examinations, visual artifacts, and/or assessment of performances.

F.Mathematics Outcomes - Written by the Discipline Panel in Mathematics (09/08/05)

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

interpret and draw inferences from mathematical models such as formulas, graphs, tables, and schematics;

represent mathematical information symbolically, visually, numerically and verbally;

employ quantitative methods such as, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, or statistics to solve problems;

estimate and check mathematical results for reasonableness;

recognize the limits of mathematical and statistical methods.

Measure: rubric developed by SUNY

G.Natural Sciences Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

Understanding of the methods scientists use to explore natural phenomena, including observation, hypothesis development, measurement and data collection, experimentation, evaluation of evidence and employment of mathematical analysis;

Application of scientific data, concepts and models in one of the natural sciences.

Measure: objective exam developed by the Natural Sciences Department

H.Social Sciences Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

Understanding of the methods social scientists use to explore social phenomena, including observation, hypothesis development, measurement and data collection, experimentation, evaluation of evidence, and employment of mathematical and interpretive analysis; and

Knowledge of major concepts, models and issues of at least one discipline in the social sciences.

Measure: objective exam developed by the Social Sciences Department

I.Western Civilization Outcomes

Students will:

Demonstrate knowledge of the distinctive features of the history, institutions, economy, society, culture, etc., of Western civilization; and

Relate the development of Western civilization to that of other regions of the world.

Measure: objective exam developed by the Social Sciences Department

J.World Civilization Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

Knowledge of either a broad outline of world history, or

The distinctive features of the history, institutions, economy, society, culture, etc., of one non-Western civilization.

Measure: objective exam developed by the Social Sciences Department

K.Critical Thinking Outcomes (infused competency)

Students will demonstrate:

Identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments as they occur in their own work or the work of others; and

Develop well-reasoned arguments.

Measure: ACT Critical Thinking test

L. Information Management Outcomes (infused competency)

Students will:

Perform the basic operations of personal computer use;

Understand and use basic research techniques; and

Locate, evaluate, and synthesize information from a variety of sources.

Measure: objective exam to be developed by the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences

2. Programmatic activities intended to accomplish the campus objectives for student learning in General Education are described.

We have a process for creating and approving courses through our Curriculum Committee. Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty are very much aware of the guidelines for courses meeting the SUNY General Education requirement and consciously hold to them. The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences is responsible for implementing the assessment plan.

The catalogue has been updated so that each program has statements regarding the necessity for students to meet the appropriate number of SUNY General Education requirements as indicated in Section 1. There is a summary page in the catalogue that lists all of the approved courses and the category that they satisfy. In addition, all of our program progress sheets (used by advisors with students to record progress toward their degree) include a section devoted to SUNYs general education matrix.

3. The measures developed to assess student learning are designed to provide credible evidence of the extent to which students have achieved the learning outcomes or skills stated in the objectives.

Embedded assessment measures are used for all twelve identified categories. Depending on the category, one of the following measures is used to assess the student learning outcomes: locally developed objective exam, locally developed rubric, SUNY contracted nationally referenced exam, and SUNY developed rubric.

Locally developed objective exams are written by appropriate discipline-specific writing teams, generally composed of faculty teaching the courses in the General education category. For all exams, the discipline-specific teams will ensure that the assessment measures map directly to the corresponding SUNY learning outcomes and yield separate sub-scores for each learning outcome. The objective exams are course specific. For each approved course within a category, the SUNY learning outcomes are integrated into the course-specific learning outcomes. Assessment exams are administered within a class session and counted toward student grades. These steps ensure that faculty have the freedom to tailor the SUNY learning outcomes to the specific discipline and that students are in