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August-October 2010

HistoryProgram

Learning Outcomes Assessment Project 2009-2010

Preamble

As a discipline that documents and interprets continuity and change through time, California State University Channel Islands’ History Program prepares students to search into the human experience, as well as to communicate and analyze historical interpretations and ideas, verbally and in the written form. An emphasis of the program is to examine events from local (i.e., the West Coast Region and North America) and global perspectives.In this regard, a defining aspect of the History Program consists of a cutting-edge series of courses that emphasize the United States’ relationship with the Pacific Rim, encompassing the Americas, the Pacific Islands, and Asia.

In support of the University’s commitment to an interdisciplinary education, the History Program affords students the opportunity to integrate into their plan of study cross-listed history courses as well subjects outside the discipline to be utilized as part of their electives. Furthermore, the History Program promotes community-based applied research by placing student interns within public, private, and non-profit institutions as part of its Capstone Course.

History Program Student Learning Outcomes

Students graduating with a B.A. in History should possess a:

  • good understanding and knowledge of the history of North America. (SLO 1)
  • good understanding and knowledge of global history in other regions of the world. (SLO 2)
  • good knowledge and problem-solving skills in analyzing contemporary and historical events. (SLO 3)
  • good communication skills in oral and written forms. (SLO 4)
  • good skills in historical research, analysis, and presentations. (SLO 5)

For the 2009-10AY, the History Program surveyed a sample of graduating seniors for their evaluation of the correlation between courses taken and History Program SLOs.

Data and Analysis

On the student survey for seniors graduating in history (see Appendix A), students were asked to associate one or more courses that they have taken at CI with each program learning outcome. A total of 16 students completed the survey (about 40% of graduating seniors in Spring 2010).

The responses were tallied into a chart (see Appendix B). For each course, the number of mentions is tallied for each outcome, as well as the total for all outcomes taken together. For each course, the number of individual outcomes associated with the course by the student cohort (maximum N=5) is noted. And for each course, the frequency with which it was offered since F07 is noted.

Appendix B shows that for the individual course level:

  • graduating seniors identified courses as meeting each outcome: HP SLO 1 (North American history) and 4 (communication skills) = 46 mentions each; SLO 5 (research, analysis, presentation skills) = 49 mentions; SLO 3 (knowledge and problem solving/events) = 50 mentions; and SLO 2 (World history) = 57 mentions.
  • 1 course was linked by students to all 5 History Program SLOs (365 Themes in World History); 7 courses were linked to 4 SLOs; 11 courses were linked to 3 SLOs; 13 courses were linked to 2 SLOs; and 15 courses were linked to 1 SLO. (see Table 1 below for breakdown by category)
  • Only 8 courses (excluding 494 Independent Research and 497 Directed Studies) were not related by students to a History Program SLO. Of these, 3 were not offered during the time that the surveyed students were enrolled. As few courses are required for the major, this lack of correlation for some courses is likely a function of the sample of students [i.e. students who did not take the History of Science (offered once), American Labor History (offered twice), Southern California Chicana/o History (offered twice), History of South Africa (offered once), or History of People and Everyday Life (offered once)] – and the low enrollment of most of these occasional sections.
  • HIST 280 Historian’s Craft was the individual course identified as contributing to achieving program SLOS the most times (N=27: 5 for SLO 3, 10 for SLO 4, and 12 for SLO5), and HIST 491 Historiography was second (N=21: 7 for SLO 3, 7 for SLO 4, and 7 for SLO 5). Both of these are required core courses offered every semester. Both Craft and Historiography were tied most by students to analytic, problem solving, communication and research outcomes.
  • Lower division U.S. history surveys were not correlated by students to SLOs 4 (communication) and 5 (historical research, analysis, and presentations) at all, and lower division World history surveys were not tied to SLO 3 (events analysis) at all.

TABLE 1. Number of SLOs identified by students for courses within Category for Major

CATEGORY / 1 SLO / 2 SLOs / 3 SLOs / 4 SLOs / 5 SLOs / Totals
North American History / 6 courses / 7 courses / 0 / 3 courses / 0 / 16
World History / 7 courses / 5 courses / 4 courses / 2 courses / 1 course / 20
Thematic History / 1 course / 1 course / 3 courses / 2 courses / 1 course / 9
Required Core (280, 491, Capstone or Internship) / 0 / 0 / 4 courses / 0 / 0 / 4
Totals / 14 courses / 13 courses / 11 courses / 7 courses / 2 courses / 49

Table 1 sorts the data from Attachment B according to the Categories of courses in the major, and shows:

  • More than half of the courses were only associated by students with one or two SLOs, especially courses in the more traditional “content” categories (North America and World);
  • Twenty courses appear to be offer students the opportunity to achieve three or more program SLOs, though this was least true for North American courses.

TABLE 2. Number of Mentions of Program SLOs for Courses Grouped by Major Required Category

CATEGORY / SLO 1: North American History / SLO 2: Global History / SLO 3: events analysis / SLO 4: oral and written communication / SLO 5: research, analysis, presentation / Total
North America / 43 / 0 / 12 / 6 / 8 / 69
World / 3 / 51 / 14 / 10 / 8 / 86
Thematic / 2 / 17 / 17 / 12 / 7 / 55
Core / 0 / 0 / 14 / 22 / 27 / 63
Total / 48 / 68 / 57 / 50 / 50 / 273

Drawing from the data in Appendix B, Table 2 reports the number of times that specific History Program Student Learning Outcomes were associated with courses in the categories required for the major. Table 2 shows:

  • Courses in the World History category were tied by this cohort of students to program-level SLOs overall more than any other Category to a significant degree.
  • This cohort of students perceived their courses as contributing significantly more to achieving SLO 2 – understanding and knowledge of global history – than any other outcome.
  • Courses in the four different required categories were about equally tied by students to SLO 3 – analysis of historical and contemporary events – with the correlation highest for the Thematic category and lowest for the North American category.
  • Not surprisingly, most courses related by students to SLO 1 are in the North American category, and most related to SLO 2 are in the World category.
  • The World and Thematic categories patterns are closely correlated.
  • More students identified core courses as contributing to their achieving SLO 4 – good communication skills in oral and written forms – than any other category.
  • Significantly more students (more than three times as many in each case) identified core courses as contributing to their achieving SLO 5 – good skills in historical research, analysis, and presentations – than any other category.

Conclusions and Implications for Program Improvement

This examination of the results of a survey in which graduating seniors were asked to identify which courses most strongly contributed to their achievement of each of the History program’s student learning outcomes suggests that the program’s curriculum consists of courses that map to program SLOs. The World History courses taken by this cohort of students are reported to correlate most to the breadth of program SLOs. Students report that the core courses of Historian’s Craft and Historiography were the most dedicated to their acquisition of the methodologies and analytic skills required of historians. This is to be expected, though upper division courses in the North America, World, and Thematic categories could also be expected to afford students the opportunity to hone analytic, communication, and research skills. This is true also for the introductory surveys. Appendix B data suggest that students got more exposure to the mechanics of doing history in the World Civ surveys taken by this cohort than in the U.S. history surveys.

The results of the survey suggest that the program has a balanced set of offerings, with no obvious holes. All of the learning outcomes are well-represented within the courses offered.

One improvement for the survey the next time it is done will be to change the prompt from “Please identify the specific courses that contributed most strongly to achieving each of the specific outcomes” to “Please identify the specific courses that contributed to achieving each of the specific outcomes in part or in their entirety.” This change will allow students to identify courses in which they used oral communication skills but not written skills, or vice versa, with SLO 4, and courses in which they did research and/or or analytic essay writing but did not give an oral presentation, and vice versa, with SLO 5.

Submitted by Marie Francois, October 2010
Attachment A: History Curriculum Analysis Worksheet

Seniors: Please identify the specific courses that contributed most strongly to achieving each of the specific outcomes. Write course numbers after each outcome in the blank cells. Pick a maximum of four (4) course numbers per outcome. Fewer than four are OK.

OUTCOMES / Course# / Course# / Course# / Course#
1. Good understanding and knowledge of history of North America
2. Good understanding and knowledge of history of global history in other regions of the world
3. Demonstrate good knowledge and problem solving skills in analyzing contemporary and historical events
4. Demonstrate good communication skills in oral and written forms
5. Command good skills in historical research, analysis, and presentations

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Required:

HIST 211 World Civilizations: Origins to 1500

HIST 212 World Civilizations: Since 1500

HIST 270 U.S. to 1877

HIST 271 U.S. Since 1877

HIST 280 Historian’s Craft

HIST 491 Historiography

Capstone Category (one required):

HIST 492 Internship/Service Learning

HIST 494 Independent Research

HIST 497 Directed Studies

HIST 499 Capstone in History

Electives to satisfy North America requirement:

HIST 333 History of Southern California

Chicana/o Art (ART)

HIST 334 Narratives of Southern California (ENGL)

HIST 335 American Ethnic Images in Novels & Film

(ART/ENGL)

HIST 349 History of Business & Economics in North

America (BUS/ECON)

HIST 350 Chicano History and Culture (CHS)

HIST 351 History of African Americans

HIST 369 California History and Culture

HIST 370 United States Colonial History

HIST 371 The Founding of the United States

HIST 372 U.S. Industrialization & Progressivism

HIST 373 American Labor History

HIST 374 United States Since 1945

HIST 401 United States Immigration History, 1840-1945

HIST 402 Southern California Chicana/o History and

Culture (CHS)

HIST 403 The American Intellectual Tradition

HIST 420 History of Mexico

HIST 421 Revolutionary Mexico, 1876-1930

HIST 470 People and Everyday Life in Early America

Requirement satisfied depends on topic:

HIST 490 Special Topics

Electives to satisfy World History requirement:

HIST 310 History of the Mediterranean

HIST 319 European History, 1871-1945

HIST 320 European History, 1945 to the Present

HIST 330 History of Science: Non-western Origins and the

Western Revolution (CHEM)

HIST 339 Business in China: Heritage and Change (BUS)

HIST 340 History & Psychology of Nazi Germany (PSY)

HIST 342 Environmental History (ESRM)

HIST 360 History of Colonial Latin America

HIST 361 History of Modern Latin America

HIST 365 Themes in World History

HIST 366 Oceans in World History

HIST 380 History of the Pacific Islands

HIST 391 Traditional China

HIST 392 Modern China

HIST 393 Contemporary China

HIST 394 Traditional Japan

HIST 395 Modern Japan

HIST 396 East Asia: Then and Now

HIST 436 Psychology and History of East Asian Warrior

Cultures (PSY)

HIST 442 The African Diaspora (ANTH)

HIST 451 History of Africa Since 1600

HIST 452 History of Southern Africa Since 1600

Electives to satisfy Thematic History requirement:

HIST 330 History of Science: Non-western Origins and the

Western Revolution (CHEM)

HIST 338 Theatre in History (PA)

HIST 342 Environmental History (PA)

HIST 365 Themes in World History

HIST 366 Oceans in World History

HIST 412 Law and Society

HIST 413 World Religions & Classical Philosophies

HIST 414 Women in History

HIST 415 Society and Radicalism

HIST 430 Tradition and Transformation: Literature, History,

and Cultural Change (ENGL)

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Appendix B
Prompt: "Seniors: Please identify the specific courses that contributed most strongly to achieving each of the specific outcomes. Write course numbers after each outcome in the blank cells. Pick a maximum of four (4) course numbers per outcome. Fewer than four are OK.”
1. Good understanding and knowledge of history of North America
2. Good understanding and knowledge of history of global history in other regions of the world
3. Demonstrate good knowledge and problem solving skills in analyzing contemporary and historical events
4. Demonstrate good communication skills in oral and written forms
5. Command good skills in historical research, analysis, and presentations
Course / Title / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / Totals / # outcomes associated / offered (since F06)
211 / World Civ to 1500 / 4 / 1 / 2 / 7 / 3 / every semester
212 / World Civ since 1500 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 6 / 3 / every semester
270 / US survey to 1877 / 2 / 1 / 3 / 2 / every semester
271 / US survey since 1877 / 4 / 1 / 5 / 2 / every semester
280 / Historian’s Craft / 5 / 10 / 12 / 27 / 3 / every semester
310 / Mediterranean / 2 / 1 / 3 / 2 / F08; S10
319 / European 1871-1945 / 3 / 1 / 4 / 2 / S 07; S08; F09
320 / European 1945+ / 7 / 7 / 1 / S09
330 / Science / 0 / 0 / S08;
333 / History of Chicana/o Art / 3 / 1 / 4 / 2 / Every semester
334 / Narratives SoCal / 1 / 1 / 1 / F07; F08;F09
335 / Ethnic Images / 0 / 0 / No
338 / Theatre / 1 / 3 / 1 / 5 / 3 / S08; S09; S10
339 / China business / 0 / 0 / not yet
340 / Nazi / 2 / 1 / 3 / 2 / F07; S09; S10
342 / Environmental / 2 / 3 / 1 / 6 / 3 / S08; S09
349 / North Amer Business/Econ / 4 / 2 / 1 / 1 / 8 / 4 / Every semester
350 / Chicana/o / 3 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 6 / 4 / F06; S07; F07; S08; F08; F09
351 / African American / 2 / 3 / 5 / 2 / F08; F09
360 / Col Lat Am / 1 / 1 / 1 / 3 / 3 / F07; S09
361 / Mod Lat Am / 1 / 1 / 2 / 4 / 3 / S08; F09
365 / Themes / 1 / 6 / 3 / 2 / 1 / 13 / 5 / Every semester
366 / Oceans / 1 / 3 / 2 / 1 / 7 / 4 / F07; F09
369 / California / 8 / 2 / 10 / 2 / Every semester
370 / US Colonial / 5 / 5 / 1 / F09
371 / Founding US / 1 / 1 / 1 / F08; S10
372 / US Industrialization Progr. / 2 / 2 / 1 / S 07; S09
373 / Am Labor / 0 / 0 / S08; F08
374 / US 45+ / 6 / 2 / 8 / 2 / F06; F07; F08; S09; S10
380 / Pacific Islands / 2 / 1 / 3 / 2 / F07; F08
391 / Trad China / 0 / 0 / No
392 / Mod China / 1 / 1 / 1 / F06; F08
393 / Cont China / 1 / 1 / 1 / S07; S09
394 / Trad Japan / 2 / 1 / 3 / 2 / F09
395 / Mod Japan / 3 / 3 / 1 / F07; S10
396 / East Asia / 1 / 1 / 1 / S08
401 / US Immigration / 1 / 1 / 1 / S08
402 / SoCal Chicana/o / 0 / 0 / S09; S10
403 / Am Intellectual / 1 / 1 / 2 / 2 / F06; S07; S08; F09
412 / Law/Society / 3 / 1 / 1 / 5 / 3 / S10
413 / World Religions / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 4 / 4 / F06; S07; S09; S10
414 / Women/Gender / 1 / 2 / 3 / 2 / S08; F09
415 / Society/Radicalism / 4 / 3 / 3 / 1 / 11 / 4 / F07; F08; F09
420 / Mexico / 1 / 1 / 1 / F06; F07; F08
421 / Mexican Revolution / 1 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 7 / 4 / S07; S10
430 / Tradition/Transformation / 1 / 1 / 1 / F08
436 / East Asian Warrior / 1 / 1 / 1 / S08;F09
442 / African Diaspora / 4 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 8 / 4 / S08; S09;S10
451 / Africa / 2 / 2 / 1 / F09
452 / South Africa / 0 / 0 / F08
470 / People/Everyday Life / 0 / 0 / S09
490 / Special Topics / 1 / 1 / 1 / F06; S07; F07; S08
491 / Historiography / 7 / 7 / 7 / 21 / 3 / every semester
492 / Internship / 1 / 2 / 4 / 7 / 3 / every semester
494 / Independent Research / 0 / 0
497 / Directed Studies / 0 / 0
499 / Capstone / 1 / 3 / 4 / 8 / 3 / every semester
46 / 57 / 50 / 46 / 49 / 248
total respondents: 16 seniors Spring 2010