OATdb Archive

2013 - 2014

Kinesiology MA

Goal
Research Skills / APA Formatting
MA Kinesiology – Sport Management students will be able to format references in scholarly works in the correct APA format.


Objective
Research Skills/APA Formatting
M.A. Kinesiology – Sport Management students will be able to format references in scholarly works in the correct APA format.  

Indicator
Research Skills/APA Formatting Mastery
A rubric developed by the program faculty will be used to assess students' research skills regarding properly formatting references using APA. Students will be distributed a comprehensive list of references. Students must follow APA format when formatting these references. Students must use the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) for proper formatting. Students must organize these sources into a 'References' page similar to what you would see at the end of an article or research manuscript.

Criterion
Research Skills/APA Formatting Assignment
Students must correctly format a comprehensive list of references in APA style, 6th edition with 90 percent accuracy on the first evaluation. This list will include references from a wide range of resources and the information provided will challenge students to seek out additional information about each resource.


Finding
Research Skills/APA Formatting
The results from the 2013-2014 Academic Year indicated that 90.0% of students achieved a score of 90 or higher on the initial submission of the APA Formatting Assignment, which represented a slight increase (1.1%) from the 2012-2013 Academic Year. As a result, the target was achieved in the 2013-2014 Academic Year.


Action
Research Skills-APA Formatting
The movement of the criterion from the 95th to the 90th percentile ranking in the 2012-2013 Academic Year appears to have been a successful change for evaluation purposes.  Given this change, there was forward progress on the students’ progress on this objective. We recommend continuing with the current assessment. Since the criterion was exactly met (18 out of 20 students) in the 2013-2014 Academic Year, we would recommend that the measurement remain steady for the coming year. If the criterion can be met again in the coming Academic Year, we would recommend that the criterion be  adjusted to the 95th percentile ranking for subsequent evaluations.




Goal
Basic Statistics Interpretation
M.A. Kinesiology – Sport Management students will be able to interpret basic statistical findings that address descriptive statistics (i.e., descriptives), group differences (i.e., analysis of variance (ANOVA), prediction (i.e., simple and multiple regression), and nonparametic statistics (i.e., Chi-square).  

Objective
Basic Statistics Interpretation
M.A. Kinesiology – Sport Management students will be able to interpret basic statistical findings that address descriptive statistics (i.e., descriptives), group differences (i.e., analysis of variance (ANOVA), prediction (i.e., simple and multiple regression), and nonparametic statistics (i.e., Chi-square).  




Indicator
Basic Statistics Interpretation Mastery
Assignments developed by program faculty will assess students’ ability to correctly interpret statistical findings that emerge from analysis conducted in SPSS. Students will be distributed a dataset and will be asked to execute different methods of analysis to address appropriate research questions. Students will then complete written assignments that address each particular type of analysis, which then be evaluated by a rubric developed by program faculty.

Criterion
Statistics Interpretation Assignments
Students must correctly complete each of the statistics assignments attached to this objective with 80 percent accuracy. There will be a total of four assignments that address descriptive statistics (i.e., descriptives), group differences (i.e., analysis of variance (ANOVA), prediction (i.e., simple and multiple regression), and nonparametic statistics (i.e., Chi-square). In each case, the expectation is that the student will achieve a minimum of 80 percent mastery on each assignment, not a cumulative 80 percent on the four assignments.


Finding
Basic Statistics Interpretation
The results from the 2013-2014 Academic Year indicated the following performance on the four assignments attached to this objective:



  • Assignment #1 (Descriptives): 75.0% at 80 percent or higher
  • Assignment #2 (Group Differences): 95.0% at 80 percent or higher
  • Assignment #3 (Prediction): 85.0% at 80 percent or higher
  • Assignment #4 (Nonparametrics): 40.0% at 80 percent or higher

Finding
Statistical Interpretation
The results from the 2013-2014 Academic Year indicated the following performance on the four assignments attached to this objective:



  • Assignment #1 (Descriptives): 75.0% at 80 percent or higher
  • Assignment #2 (Group Differences): 95.0% at 80 percent or higher
  • Assignment #3 (Prediction): 85.0% at 80 percent or higher
  • Assignment #4 (Nonparametrics): 40.0% at 80 percent or higher

Action
Statistical Interpretation
The target criterion was met on Assignments #2 (Group Differences) and #3 (Prediction), while Assignments #1 (Descriptives) and #4 (Nonparametric Statistics) saw drops in performance from 2012-2013. As indicated in the original criterion, we are targeting 80 percent mastery on each of the four assignments as opposed to a cumulative 80 percent. Since the first three assignments target parametric statistics techniques, it is possible that students are experiencing difficulty with the switch to nonparametric techniques. Thus, the Action Plan for this objective will involve an increased emphasis on nonparametric statistical techniques to improve performance in subsequent years. Additional time and emphasis will be placed on the mastery of this area.  Additionally, student performance on the Descriptives assignment also saw a noticeable drop from the prior year (25.0%). Thus, this assignment will be revisited to determine if it is meeting the objective.  Modest gains were made on the Group Differences (0.6%) and Prediction (3.7%) assignments. These assignments will be targeted for continued improvement.


Goal
Cumulative Professional Development
M.A. Kinesiology – Sport Management students will be able to use their acquired knowledge, skills, and experience in a field experience setting.


Objective
Cumulative Professional Development
M.A. Kinesiology – Sport Management students will be able to use their acquired knowledge, skills, and experience in a field experience setting.    

Indicator
Cumulative Professional Development Mastery
Students will be able to demonstrate professional competency in an applied setting. Students will engage in a variety of assignments including monthly blogs, weekly internship logs, and a cumulative reflection paper in order to demonstrate summary professional development. The cumulative portfolio is evaluated via a rubric established by program faculty. Students’ cumulative performance will also be evaluated by their internship site supervisor via a rubric established by program faculty.

Criterion
Site Supervisor Evaluation And Professional Portfolio
Students’ final internship evaluation from the site supervisor must reach a minimum of an 85 percent rating. Additionally, the professional portfolio and all accompanying assignments presented by the student must also attain a minimum of an 85 percent rating.


Finding
Cumulative Professional Development
Students’ cumulative performance on the final portfolio submission (91.3%) and the site supervisor ratings (89.5%) for the 2013-2014 Academic Year indicated that the move to a 90 percent rating in the 2012-2013 Academic Year was warranted. Performance on the portfolio submissions dropped slightly (2.1%), while the supervisor ratings improved (3.0%).

Action
Site Supervisor Evaluation And Professional Portfolio
It is recommended that the criterion remain at a 90 percent rating on both dimensions in order better develop student performance in their capstone experience. As mentioned in 2012-2013, an eventual 100 percent rating in both dimensions is the ideal goal for this objective, but it may be difficult to attain given the nature of the indicator and the involvement of external raters (i.e., site supervisor ratings). Given that both criteria would just be met (if the site supervisor ratings were rounded up), it is recommended that the 90 percent rating be maintained for the coming Academic Year. If the criteria is met in  the 2014-2015 Academic Year, the criteria should be moved to 92%.



Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement






After reviewing all of the findings, it was noted that the criteria that was revised for 2013-2014 for formatting references in APA style was attained. As indicated in 2012-2013, the development of additional common embedded assignments, projects, and exams for developing competencies in the area of research skills/APA was a targeted objective. As such, the implementation of these additional structural elements could have played a role in the enhanced performance. We will continue with the current evaluation criteria with the goal of moving forward the criterion forward if the objective is once again accomplished for 2014-2015.


The performance on the Nonparametrics assignment still requires additional attention as there was another drop in performance. The assignment will be revisited again as will the Descriptives assignment, which also saw a drop in performance from 2012-2013. The Group Differences and Prediction assignments did see a small increase in student performance, which was a goal set forth in 2012-2013. Thus, all statistics interpretation assignments will be analyzed for appropriateness and additional focus will be placed on nonparametrics, which has been an area where student performance has historically been lower.









The move to a 90 percent rating on the APA Assignment was a useful shift in the criterion. Students met the criteria for performance, but it is recommended that the criteria remain in place to determine if there is a trend that exists. After reviewing student performance on this objective for 2014-2015, it may be possible to advance the criterion to a 95 percent rating.


The statistics interpretation assignments also seem to be set at an appropriate criterion for the coming Academic Year. The 80 percent rating on the four assignments has not been met yet, but there were gains in performance on two of the four assignments. The structure will be revisited to determine how to best meet this evaluation criteria in future Academic Years.


Students’ cumulative performance on the final portfolio submission (91.3%) and the site supervisor ratings (89.5%) for the 2013-2014 Academic Year indicated that the move to a 90 percent rating in the 2012-2013 Academic Year was warranted. Performance on the portfolio submissions dropped slightly (2.1%), while the supervisor ratings improved (3.0%). The 90 percent criterion on both appears to have been a useful adjustment to advance this objective. As mentioned in 2012-2013, an eventual 100 percent rating in both dimensions is the ideal goal for this objective, but it may be difficult to attain given the nature of the indicator and the involvement of external raters (i.e., site supervisor ratings). Given that both criteria would just be met (if the site supervisor ratings were rounded up), it is recommended that the 90 percent rating be maintained for the coming Academic Year.



Plan for continuous improvement Kinesiology program faculty will seek to enhance student performance in the applied research skills portion of our objectives by continuing to focus on improved APA formatting skills. While gains were made this past Academic Year, faculty will focus on continuing to improve student performance by incorporating new methods to enhance student learning of these critical skills. No specific trends were identified with regards to trouble with formatting of certain sources. Thus, the continued use of other techniques (i.e., embedded assignments, projects, and exams) to promote student mastery of APA techniques will be utilized. Additionally, the approach to student learning of nonparametric statistics will be revisited and additional coverage will be provided by faculty. This seems to be the primary area of concern in the statistics interpretation objective. Since there was a drop in performance on two of the four statistics interpretation assignments, all four assignments will be revisited for structure and ability to achieve the learning objectives.  Finally, while student performance on the capstone experience appears to have met the new criterion that was established in 2012-2013, an additional year of data could be helpful in determining whether the criterion for that objective should be moved forward.  

Sam Houston State University | A Member of The Texas State University System