OATdb Archive - Sam Houston State University

OATdb Archive

2013 - 2014

Psychology BS

Goal

Core Concepts In Psychology

The Bachelor of Science Program in Psychology will provided students with a broad base of essential knowledge in the various subfields of psychology.

Objective

Students Demonstrate Broad Knowledge Base

Students who complete the Bachelor of Science Program in Psychology will demonstrate knowledge of core concepts in the various sub-disciplines of Psychology.

Indicator

PSY 1301 Exit Examination

Students' knowledge of the diverse areas within the field of psychology will be assessed using a common comprehensive final exam in PSY 1301 - Introductory to Psychology

Criterion

70% Of Students Will Pass Specific Areas Of Exit Exam

Criterion for success is to have 70% of the students respond correctly (70%) in the following areas: Science of Psychology; Research Design; Physiological; Learning; Sensation/Perception; Developmental; Abnormal; Memory/Cognition; Personality; and Social Psychology.

Finding

Common Final Exam

In the fall 2013 semester, 737 students took the common Introductory Psychology final exam. The overall percentage of correct scores was 64.1%. We had a sample of 448 students (one instructor inadvertently destroyed the answer sheets for her section) who took the common final in spring 2014 with an overall percentage of correct scores of 64.0.

Within the test, percentage correct for the fall (first number) and spring (second number) semesters for each of the aforementioned areas was:
Science of Psychology-69; 65%
Research Design-73%; 72%
Physiological-53%; 57%
Learning-69%; 68%
Sensation/Perception-61%; 61%
Developmental-62%; 61%
Abnormal-68%; 65%
Memory/Cognition-61%; 62%
Personality-60%; 53%
Social Psychology-75%; 73%

Action

Common Final Exam

The scores between the fall and spring semesters did not fluctuate much. Criterion was reached in Research Design and Social Psychology and almost reached in the Science of Psychology. The Learning section was slightly down as was the Personality section of the test. The Abnormal section was up from the previous semester but we still have work to do with all of the sub-areas of the course.

During the 2012-13 academic year, we reinstituted a computer-based portion for the course, LearnSmart, and we continued to use that during the 2013-2014 academic year. One of the issues that came up was that, even though the LearnSmart component was required, some students were not partaking in that portion of the class. After several meetings, we came to the conclusion that we could not force students to buy the component, as we cannot force them to buy the text or go to class. This may have had an effect on the students' performance this past academic year.

In addition, we reviewed individual questions in each section and, in some cases, changed the wording or replaced the questions to make them more understandable. This may have had a slight effect and we will continue to do this this upcoming year to see if this strategy can have a lasting impact. If there was nothing wrong with the questions, the mentor for the introductory psychology sections will devise plans to make the information more comprehensible during the lecture presentation of those materials.

One other issue is that every academic year the TAs for the introductory sections change and we have to start from scratch each fall. The department chair again will meet with the TAs and stress to them the need to present the material in ways that are germane to the students and are linked with real-world experiences.

Goal

Generate, Apply And Communicate Scientific Findings

The Bachelor of Science program in Psychology will provide students with opportunities to apply and communicate the scientific findings of their discipline.

Objective

Generate, Design, Apply And Communicate Scientific Knowledge

Students who complete the Bachelor of Science Program in Psychology will be able to generate, design and apply the results of scientific investigations and communicate their implications.

Indicator

Common Final Exam In PSYC 3101 (Statistics Lab)

The ability of students to conduct and understand research as well as apply and communicate results is assessed by means of a common faculty-developed instrument which is a portion of the final exam for Psychology 3101 (Statistics Lab). The instrument requires students to: 1) choose research designs, compute statistics, and interpret outcomes. (Objectives 1 and 2); and interpreting results of scientific data, making decisions using the results based upon statistical probabilities, and making recommendations for follow-up work, either in the scientific or social environment. (Objectives 3 and 4). We're basically asking what do these data mean and why are they important?

Criterion

1. Minimum 25 Points - Objectives 1 And 2

80% of psychology majors will receive a score that is deemed "acceptable" (25 or higher) according to faculty-developed departmental rubric. To perform at an acceptable level in "Generating Scientific Knowledge," the student must have a minimum mean of 25 points on Criteria 1 and Criteria 2.

Finding

Objectives 1 And 2

Crriterion for the ability to generate scientific knowledge was set ata having at least 80% of the students in Psychology 3101 (Statistics Laboratory) receive a score that is acceptable (25 or higher) according to the departmental rubric that was developed by departmental committee.

Embedded assessment of the sample of the Psychology 3101 final exam indicated that 83% attained a score of 25 or higher. Therefore, criterion was reached.

Criterion

2. Minimum 25 Points - Objectives 3 And 4

80% of psychology majors will receive a score that is at least acceptable (25 or above), according to departmental rubric. To perform at an acceptable level in "Communicating Scientific Knowledge," the student must have a minimum mean of 25 points on Criteria 3 and Criteria 4. A copy of the score sheet for the rubric is attached to the "Indicator" portion of this objective. Although in 2010-2011, we made the 80% handily, we did not reach the goal both semesters the previous year. If we are able to sustain the higher level again this year, we will raise the standard next year.

Finding

Objectives 3 And 4

Sixty-four percent of those taking the embedded questions measuring Communicating Scientific Knowledge scored at an acceptable level. Thus, we did not meet criterion on this measure in this academic year. This finding is quite worrisome as we have dipped from 79% last year and 88% the year before.

Action

Generate, Apply And Communicate Scientific Knowledge

Criterion was met for "Generating" scientific knowledge but not for "Communicating" scientific knowledge. The chair was a little mystified by this and is meeting with the instructors to try to determine why the second criterion has decreased over the past 2 years. In the upcoming academic year, the course will be taught by a different instructor than has taught the course over the past several years and the chair will meet with the new instructor to explain various goals of the course. In addition, the chair will stress the need to critically analyze and interpret scientific data to instructors teaching content courses in the department.

Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement Broad Knowledge Base: this academic year we reached criterion in two areas of the Psychology 1301 course and came very close in two other areas. Obviously, there is much continued room for improvement. Considering the "Previous Plan," we did require all of our instructors to attend the annual teaching conference, which they did. The coordinator for the sections actually did not meet bi-weekly with the instructors and met with them when problems arose. This was perhaps an error but it was difficult to schedule times when all instructors were free and when the chair was free. The coordinator did review questions on the final exam and made appropriate changes to questions that were worded enigmatically or were misleading.

Generating and Communicating Scientific Knowledge: The chair met with the instructor for the course to discuss issues and problems with the students' abilities to absorb the material. I am happy to say that there was a large improvement in Generating scientific knowledge but distressed to see a reduction in Communicating scientific knowledge.

Plan for continuous improvement Broad-based knowledge:
We seem to be maintaining where we were in the previous academic year which is unsettling. The numbers for the Social Psychology section are improved from previous years as are the numbers for Research Design. The problems remain in the Physiological Psychology section and the Personality section.
For those areas not reaching criterion, the coordinator for the Introductory sections will:
1. send out very specific guidelines for what their students should take away from the course;
2. examine the performances for those areas on each pertinent exam during the course of the semester;
3. the TAs will be instructed to make the materials for these areas more germane to student interest;
4. the instructors will be encouraged to utilize more on-line materials that the students can access.
Assessments will be ongoing and will consist of comparing performance on each area exam with performance on past and current final exams.
In addition, it is the goal that the 70% criterion that is striven for on the final exam be in place for all the areas on the area exams.
This should allow us to identify problems as the semester goes along.

Generating and Communicating Scientific Knowledge: The chair will meet with the new instructor for the statistics course and lab and impress upon him the need to make the material more understandable to the students. He also will review the current types of embedded questions that are asked and attempt to update those with specific, real-life examples.
Specific points will be to consistently, throughout the semester, assess how students generate and communicate scientific knowledge.
For both areas:
1. questions will be embedded in each exam, and addressed on each laboratory exercise, to assess the students' abilities to determine and explain statistical findings and effects;
2. the 80% criterion will continue to be used;
3. if criteria is not met at each level of assessment further remedial tasks will be given;
4. assignments including design selection (between vs. within, single factor vs. factorial, etc.) will be required of the Psychology 3101 class with an 80% criterion being used to determine effectiveness;
5. assignments with hands-on SPSS/Excel based calculations will be required of the Psychology 3101 class with an 80% criterion being used to determine effectiveness;
6. hypothesis formation, testing, and interpretation will be required of the Psychology 3101 class with an 80% criterion being used to determine effectiveness;
7. students will be tasked on three separate research papers to analyze mock data and report decisions in APA-style results and Discussion sectons. An 80% criterion will be used to determine effectiveness of the course to instill the ability to generate and communicate scientific data.