OATdb Archive

2010 - 2011

Political Science BS

Goal
Develop Students' Skills
Develop students' analytic, writing, speaking, and professional skills

Objective
Develop Students' Skills
Throughout their enrollment, students must complete extensive writing assignments that require the following abilities: analyze scholarly writing, interpret empirical data, understand argumentation, express well thought out opinions, and write clearly and correctly.

Indicator
Faculty Committee Review Of POL 379 Research And Writing Papers
Faculty members teaching POL 379 Research and Writing will randomly select 5 papers from each course. All papers will be reviewed by the faculty members who teaching Research and Writing. Faculty members will evaluate the papers using a grading rubric designed and agreed said faculty. Papers will be scored on a scale of 1 - 5 with 5 being the highest.

Criterion
Develop Students' Skills
We expect that: (1) Faculty scores will not vary in the vast majority of cases and when there is a difference in scores the difference will not be greater than a single point. If faculty scores do differ beyond a single point, faculty will be asked to review the grading rubric and discuss its application. (2) At least 70% of the papers will score a 3 or above. (3) Faculty members teaching POL 379 will expand their syllabi section addressing theory development and hypothesis testing compared to 2008-2009 where the findings indicated that although scores were consistently over a 3, students were losing a point related to theory and hypotheses development. (4) By the end of 2009-2010 we will have completed and assessed the pilot program consisting of a writing assignment that will require multiple drafts. We expect that the changes made in (3) and (4) will result in improvements in this area of the rubric.

Finding
Develop Students' Skills
Faculty teaching #379 used a scoring system of 1 - 5 to evaluate 5 randomly selected papers from each section of #379. Faculty scores differed in 7 out of the 10 papers sampled. However, the difference in scores never exceeded a single point.  The average score was 3.5, a higher average than last's year's average. In 2009 - 2010 the department identified a set of actions designed to increase students' writing skills and knowledge of theory and hypothesis testing. Since that time the average scores have continued to increase. Although the findings indicate that we continue to exceed our expectations for this particular goal, faculty teaching #379 courses believe student performance needs to be improved in the area of research design and literature review.


Action
Develop Students' Skills
All faculty teaching #379 will meet prior to the Fall 2011 semester to discuss the most effective strategies for increasing students' knowledge of research design and literature review. The strategies, once identified, will be implemented consistently across all #379 courses beginning in fall 2011

Goal
Develop Students' Knowledge Of Government And Politics
Build students' knowledge of government and politics, citizenship skills, and civic engagement

Objective
Develop Students' Knowledge Of Government And Politics
Throughout their enrollment, students will explore the following themes in a national and international context: the structure and operation of various forms of government, political philosophies, informal and formal political organizations and actors, public policies, and political behavior

Indicator
Faculty Committee Review Of Upper Division Course Papers
Each field of study will be assigned a team of 2 faculty members who have expertise in the particular field. Each semester the individual teams will receive and review 5 randomly selected papers from an upper division course in their respective fields. Faculty members from each subfield will evaluate the papers using a grading rubric designed and agreed upon by faculty in each subfield. Papers will be scored on a scale of 1 - 5 with 5 being the highest.

Criterion
Development Students' Knowledge Of Government And Politics
We expect that: (1) Faculty scores will not vary in the vast majority of cases and when there is a difference in scores the difference will not be greater than a single point. If faculty scores do differ beyond a single point, faculty will be asked to review the grading rubric and discuss its application. (2) At least 70% of the papers will score a 3 or above. . However, the findings of the 2008-2009 analysis indicated that although scores were consistently over a 3, students were losing a point related to analytical and theoretical development.(3) By the end of 2009-2010 we will have completed and assessed the pilot program consisting of a writing assignment that will require multiple drafts. We expect that the changes made as a result of the pilot program will result in improvements in this area of the rubric.

Action
Develop Students' Knowledge Of Government And Politics
All faculty teaching core courses in the subfields will meet prior to the Fall 2011 semester to discuss the most effective strategies for improving students' writing skills and students' ability to conduct literature reviews. The strategies, once identified, will be implemented consistently across all core courses beginning in fall 2011


Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement

Plan for continuous improvement The department's primary focus remains on student learning outcomes and professional development. We strive to improve student skills in terms of general knowledge regarding the different subfields of political science as well as in terms of research and writing within the discipline. We continued improving student learning in the areas of theory and hypotheses development in the research and writing component of the program as well as in conceptual reasoning and writing skills across all upper division courses. However, faculty have identified areas of student learning in need of further improvement, specifically: knowledge of research design, ability to conduct literature reviews, and writing skills. Faculty will take actions by fall 2011 to improve student learning in these areas.

In terms of professional development, the internship program continues to be an effective and rewarding experience for students. We have identified a need to further expand the diversity of placement options as well improve our methods o measurement when it comes to the longer term opportunities that the internship program provides for our students.