OATdb Archive - Sam Houston State University

OATdb Archive

2011 - 2012

Spanish BA

Goal

Skills Proficiency

Graduating majors will demonstrate skills proficiency.

Objective

Oral Proficiency

Graduating majors will demonstrate oral proficiency.

Indicator

Capstone Presentation

Individual graduating majors will each give a 10" capstone presentation with 5" of questions, all in the target language, during the final semester before graduation.

Criterion

Graduating Majors' Participation

Three faculty members will evaluate each capstone presentation, using the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language (ACTFL) levels, each student averaging intermediate mid or higher.

Finding

Capstone Presentations

In Spring 2011, all students were assessed to be at intermediate-mid or higher. Graduating seniors in Spring 2011 averaged 7.34 which is categorized as advance-low. As last year, grammar errors were the most prevalent weakness.

Indicator

ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI)

All graduating majors will complete an ACTFL OPI during the final semester of classes.

Criterion

OPI Evaluation

A Department of Foreign Language's officially trained ACTFL OPI Evaluator will interview each graduating major during the final semester. Students will be scored at intermediate, mid, or higher.

Finding

OPI Evaluators

The OPI average for Spring, 2011, was 8, which is categorized as advance-mid. In Spring, 2012, it was 7.5, which is categorized as advance-low. We did decrease in average, which again is due primarily to grammar and other minor errors.

We need another OPI evaluator among our faculty to meet the need of evaluating our graduating majors.

We have problems getting more than the minimum number of faculty participants for the capstones, especially during the summer when many are off-campus.

We have problems publicizing the Department requirements to the students for their timely completion of same, although the chair sends repeated emails to majors, the Department advisor tells students, the policies are on our website, etc. In many cases, these students are double majors who are advised in their other major and do not come to our Department for advising.

Action

Ratings Of Student Capstones And OPI By Faculty

Although we exceeded the criterion for oral proficiency, we still need to work with students on mastering grammar rules in Spanish. As more OPI evaluators are trained, we will be able to do an even better job of interviewing our students in a standardized manner. Another faculty member has scheduled training for November.

Objective

Writing Proficiency

Graduating majors will demonstrate writing proficiency.

Indicator

Portfolio

During the final semester, all graduating majors will submit a portfolio of class assignments from SHSU classes to demonstrate writing proficiency.

Criterion

Portfolio Contents

Portfolio will contain 3 assignments: one paper, one grammar exam, and one of student's choice. The portfolio is scored by a faculty member teaching the course from which the assignment comes. Portfolios will be scored as meeting expectations or exceeds expectations.

Finding

Portfolio Collection

The portfolios have been collected; however, there is an issue with the standardization of the type of documents included due to students / professors not saving the work over semesters.

All students met expectations in Spring 2012. Again, however, there is an issue of standardization and measuring the same / similar products.

Native speakers frequently do not use diacritic marks; non-natives make many grammar errors. Few students edit their work; very many submit first drafts.

Action

Portfolios

We are at work with IT to set up electronic portfolios, in which the majors will upload their work by the semester over the student's time on campus.

Graduating majors' portfolios of three particular written assignments will be submitted before their graduation. The criterion is to meet expectations.

We need to stress with native speakers the importance of diacritical marks and with non-native speakers grammar rules in Spanish.

Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement

Plan for continuous improvement Grammar for non-native speakers continues to be a major issue. For the native speakers, the diacritical markings tend to be lacking in their writing. Thus, we have to stress more intensively grammar rules and diacritical markings. We have a faculty member slated to be trained as an OPI evaluator in November. That should lessen the load for faculty. We are hoping that electronic portfolios will lesson the problem of standardizing the assignments submitted for the portfolio. We also need to standardize our response when first drafts are submitted rather than the final product.

We are consistently having all graduating Spanish majors complete the capstone presentation, the OPI evaluation, the portfolio and the questionniare every semester, with at least the minimum three faculty participants, usually more, and using the ACTFL national standards for evaluation across students. Unfortunately, these are frequently done at the last minute to the inconvenience of the faculty due to students waiting until the last minute of their last semester to complete the requirements. We have now established one date per semester for the capstones. Part of the problem is that students do no declare their graduation plans until the last minute. We may need to consult with students regarding how to remedy these failings.