ASSESSMENT PLAN
A full formal review of the department assessment program is scheduled to occur in
conjunction with the 5-year academic program review. |
2000-2001 ASSESSMENT
We are adding a new component to our objective, standardized measures: an alumni survey
published by ETS. This will allow us to compare our level of post-graduate student ratings
of the program to that of over 7000 college alumni across the United States. Ratings will
address the same ten areas as our current ETS student survey (see above). Other aspects of
the assessment program will remain in place as they are.
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1999-2000 ASSESSMENT
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1998-99 ASSESSMENT
We no longer administer the "Comprehensive Exam" because the ACAT provides us
with the same information: how well our students do in a given area contingent upon
whether or not they had the relevant coursework. Further, the ACAT is more
representative (than the Comprehensive Exam) of the knowledge-base expectations of
American psychologists in general. Junior/Senior-Level Laboratory Courses, Student
Presentations at State/Regional Conferences and Studies of Student Learning have been
replaced with Undergraduate Student Scholarship. Other components of the assessment
program are providing useful feedback regarding the effects of the curriculum on writing
ability and retention of knowledge, with the consensus that in general we should
"stay the course." |
1997-98 ASSESSMENT
A new standardized test, the ACAT, has been added. The five-year academic program review
team expressed a concern that students may be insufficiently motivated to do well. We
addressed this by expanding and standardizing the pre-exam instructions and rationale, and
by making it easier for students to receive feedback on their performance. Beginning
Spring 1998, students taking the comprehensive exam are given a full description of how
both the department will use both the ACAT and local questions too evaluate itself. They
are informed that outstanding, positive results can be used by faculty to enhance the
student's letters of recommendation to employers and graduate schools. Students who desire
to see their exam results indicate this in writing just before taking the exam and provide
their addresses. Results are then forwarded as soon as they are available. Also, the
necessity of the comprehensive exam is now written into the departmental requirements of
the university catalog, so graduating students will not be surprised in their last
semester in being asked to take the exam. Exam times are scheduled several weeks in
advance, and students who cannot be at the scheduled administration are accommodated. The
review team also suggested that in-depth interviews with graduating psychology majors and
student portfolios would capture valuable information that standardized approaches miss.
Plans are underway to develop procedures along these lines. |
1996-97 ASSESSMENT
The plan to conduct a full formal review of the assessment program in conjunction with the
5 year academic program review remains. Each year, we have added additional assessment
instruments or processes to our plan. This past year, we assessed the teaching endorsement
which included a survey of peer institutions, recent graduates, etc. Also, we prepared a
survey to go to Graduate Schools where we have frequently placed UNK graduates to assess
the degree to which our students are prepared for graduate study. |
1995-96 ASSESSMENT
The plan to conduct a full formal review of the assessment program in conjunction with the
5 year academic program review remains. Each year, we add additional assessment
instruments or processes to our plan. This past year, we assessed the teaching endorsement
which included a survey of peer institutions, recent graduates, etc. Currently, we are
preparing a survey to go to Graduate Schools where we have frequently placed UNK graduates
to assess the degree to which our students are prepared for graduate study. |
1994-95 ASSESSMENT
We still plan to conduct a full formal review of the assessment program in conjunction
with the 5 year academic program review. The Department is currently working with the College of Education to
conduct an assessment of our teaching endorsement. An assessment instrument designed to
evaluate the extent to which teachers are able to meet the learning objectives of the
endorsement is planned. |
1993-94 ASSESSMENT
We still plan to conduct a full formal review of the assessment program in conjunction
with the 5 year academic program review. |
