Exiting seniors should exhibit comprehensive knowledge of key concepts provided during their educational experience
Objective
Exhibit Comprehensive Knowledge
Graduating seniors will exhibit comprehensive knowledge of core criminal justice course work.
Indicator
Senior Exit Exam
Each semester, all graduating seniors are asked to complete an exit exam, on the SHSU Blackboard academic support system, that provides faculty a means of assessing students' comprehension and retention on key concepts provided to them during their educational experience. The 60-item Exit Exam, created by faculty, assesses learning in seven core areas.
Criterion
70% Average Score On Each Competency Area
The average on each competency area: (1) Criminal Law; (2) Corrections; (3) Law Enforcement; (4) Courts; (5) Theory/Criminology (6) Research Methods/Statistics, and (7) Diversity within the Criminal Justice System will be at least 70% for graduating seniors taking the exit exam at the end of their capstone course. We will be paying special attention on the Criminology/Theory score as this was low for our first administration in 2010-2011.
Finding
Overall Average Of 77% Achieved On Exit Exam
Graduating seniors achieved an average of 77% on the overall exit exam and between 66% and 89% on the component areas representing the undergraduate curriculum.
Senior exit exam scores for the 2011-2012 academic year indicated that students had the following averages across the six core competency areas:
Criminal Law - 84%
Corrections - 89%
Policing and Law Enforcement - 72%
Courts - 74%
Criminology/Theory - 66 %
Research Methods/Statistics - 74%
Crime, Justice, and Social Diversity - 77%
Results indicated that the graduating seniors scored above 70% on all competency areas except for Criminology/Theory.
Action
Improve Students' Overall Knowledge And Comprehension Of Core Competency Areas.
This was our second administration of the senior exit exam that represents our newly developed undergraduate curriculum. We will collect this exam data through 2012-2013 to obtain a higher N before we make changes to the exam or coursework. We will be watching each competency score carefully, with special attention on the Criminology/Theory score as this was low for our first two administrations.
Goal
Development Of Writing And Research Skills
Development of Writing and Research Skills
Objective
Competence In Writing And Research Skills
Students will demonstrate competence in their writing and research skills.
Indicator
Development Of Scholarly Research Proposals
Undergraduate criminal justice students will develop a scholarly research paper proposal in their core required Research Methods course (CRIJ 3378). Writing and research skills will be scored by a rubric agreed upon by a faculty committee. Each professor will utilize this rubric when grading the student research paper proposals. These guidelines include areas of organization, content, quality of proposed research, hypothesis construction and writing.
Criterion
The Majority Of Students Will Score At 75% Or Above On The Research Paper Proposal Scoring Rubric.
The majority of students will score at 75% or above on the research paper proposal scoring rubric.
Finding
Students' Outcome Of 75% Met
The students who were assessed by the scoring rubric met the criterion of scoring an overall average of 75%. However, most sections of the Research Methods course (CRIJ 3378) did not utilize the rubric.
Action
Increase Quality And Quantity Of Writing Skills
Increase the quality and quantity of the writing and research skills of our undergraduates. We will also meet with the Research Methods instructors to discuss and ensure the use of the developed scoring rubric for the ongoing assessment of our students' writing and research skills.