Please fill out this template as thoroughly as possible and return it as an attachment to Dr. Russell Stone, University Assessment Coordinator, at . For further information on assessment plans and reports, see
The Executive Summary (Section 6) will be made publicly available at, while the remainder of this report (Sections 1-5) will be stored on a private site and analyzed by the University Assessment Coordinator.
1: Assignments and Assessment MethodsThis section was included in your annual assessment plan. For the purposes of this report, you need only enter any updated or changed information since the submission of that plan.
Please identify which direct and indirect assessment methods you employed during the last academic year. If you spent time discussing the implementation of new or revised assessment strategies after filing your assessment plan, see below:
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Assessment Strategiescurrently under discussion for revision or implementation:
☐Assessment plan
☐Rubrics or grading/assessment criteria
☒SLOs
☐Assignments and direct assessment methods
☐Surveys, evaluation questions, or other indirect assessment methods
☐Curriculum maps
☐Other:
2.A: Professional Accreditation Assessment ActivitiesIf your program conducted assessment for the purposes of professional accreditation (as you indicated in your annual assessment plan), please describe the results or attach any relevant information when you submit this report:
2.B: Other Assessment Activities1. If versions of your courses are offered through USAC, have USAC faculty or staff provided you with assessment data for those courses?
2. If your program conducted assessment beyond the scope of this report (as you indicated in your annual assessment plan), please describe the results or attach any relevant information when you submit this report:
3. Student Learning OutcomesOutcome #1:Students completing a Spanish major will be able to write research papers in Spanish that reflect organized literary or cultural analysis, critical thinking, and writing proficiency in the Advanced (or higher) range.
Please list all indirect and direct assessment methods used to measure this learning outcome. Refer to section 3 of your assessment plan or to the list in section 1 of this report, and provideany description of this method, as you deem necessary:Research papers at this level demonstrate familiarity with the subject matter, coherent introductory paragraphs with or without thesis statements, analytical development, critical thinking, logical conclusions, and citations that adhere to the MLA format. In accordance with the ACTFL Guidelines, writers at the Advanced level are characterized by the ability to write narratives, descriptions, and summaries of a factual nature. They can narrate and describe in the major time frames of past, present, and future, using paraphrasing and elaboration to provide clarity. Advanced-level writers produce connected discourse of paragraph length and structure. At this level, writers show good control of the most frequently used structures and generic vocabulary, allowing them to be understood by those unaccustomed to the writing of non-natives. In an anonymous manner (see Implementation Plan, below), research papers completed by graduating seniors in a 400-level Hispanic literature or culture course will be submitted to the Spanish B.A. Assessment Committee, which evaluates each paper using a WLL Writing Rubric based on 1) the literary and cultural competencies exhibited in each paper, as expressed in the Performance Measures above, and 2) the ACTFL standards for writing at the Advanced level.
Student Performance on this Outcome: Please fill out the following to total 100%, based on the commentary and benchmarks for success/failure in your assessment plan:
Fully Meeting Expectations
Partially Meeting Expectations
Failing to Meet Expectations
Outcome #2:Students completing the Spanish major will be able to converse in Spanish at the Intermediate Mid to Intermediate High (or higher) ranges.
Please list all indirect and direct assessment methods used to measure this learning outcome. Refer to section 3 of your assessment plan or to the list in section 1 of this report, and provide any description of this method, as you deem necessary:In accordance with the ACTFL Guidelines, speakers at the Intermediate High range are able to converse with ease and confidence when dealing with routine tasks and social situations. They can successfully handle uncomplicated tasks and social situations requiring an exchange of basic information related to their work, school, recreation, particular interests, and areas of competence. Speakers at the Intermediate Mid sublevel can successfully handle a variety of uncomplicated communicative tasks in straightforward social situations. On a voluntary basis (see Implementation Plan, below), graduating seniors will take part in a 15- to 20-minute automated telephonic oral interview via a third party company (Versant) to measure their speaking and listening skills in Spanish. The interview is rated by Versant and provides ACTFL-equivalent scores as outlined in the latest published ACTFL Speaking Guidelines.
Student Performance on this Outcome: Please fill out the following to total 100%, based on the commentary and benchmarks for success/failure in your assessment plan:
Fully Meeting Expectations
Partially Meeting Expectations
Failing to Meet Expectations
4. Key Findings and Engagement5. Program Modifications
6. Executive Summary
This brief paragraph will be made publicly available at . Please provide a qualitative summary of the assessment results in this report, including (1) how the measured Student Learning Outcomes collectively indicate strengths in your program or aspects of your program to be discussed for potential modification, (2) changes (completed or forthcoming) to your program and/or curriculum, and (3) the fulfillment of your mission statement. Feel free to copy text from elsewhere in this report, if you believe that you have addressed these issues in earlier sections.
SLO #1 & SLO #2: The 2015 data shows that 1) 100% of Spanish majors assessed are able to speak at the above expected level; 2) 95% of Spanish majors assessed are able to write at the above expected level (and only 5% of Spanish majors assessed partially meet the expected writing level). Most students met or exceeded expectations in the Student Learning Outcomes assessment. These strong percentages show that the combination of studying abroad and sustained oral and writing practices in all levels of Spanish have given students the contact necessary to master oral and writing proficiency in Spanish. In all 300 and 400-level courses students are required to read primary texts, write critical papers, discuss, and give presentations in Spanish.
The Spanish program encourages all students enrolled to attend Spanish Club events, which are community-based events where the Spanish language is used. The three Spanish undergraduate advisors will continue to recommend Spanish majors and minors to study abroad with USAC to enhance their language and cultural competency in Spanish. Faculty in the department have incorporated these events into their final grade calculations. In addition, the Spanish section put Practicum Spanish in the Community class through Curriculog as three-credit graded course so that more majors take it. Students participating in such events and course help improve their Spanish listening, speaking, talking and writing skills.
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