Final Reports for SLOAT Fall 2010 Courses
AFE 083 Troy Hamilton, Center for Academic Foundations
AFM 083 Violeta De Pierola & Arturo Vera, Center for Academic Foundations
ART 100 Barbara Pogue, Humanities
BIO 121 Jill Stein, Biology & Chemistry
BUS 101 Nate Himelstein, Business
ENG 096 Eileen De Freece, Humanities
ENG 101 Richard Bogart, Humanities
MTH 092 Eman Aboelnaga & Barbara Satterwhite, Mathematics & Physics
MTH 100 Carlos Castillo & Soraida Romero, Mathematics & Physics
MTH 127 Susan Gaulden, Mathematics & Physics
SOC 101 Akil Khalfani, Social Sciences
Members of the Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Team (SLOAT) at ECC are assigned the task of determining the level of student mastery of various SLOs (i.e., Course Goals and all associated MPOs, General Education Goals if applicable, and Program Goals if applicable) specific to their SLOAT course. This book is a compilation of the Fall 2010 SLOAT Final Reports, which each contain course-specific findings. These final reports, along with other SLOAT course assessment documents, may be found on the ECC SLO Assessment website http://sloat.mathography.org, which is maintained by Professor Ron Bannon, Mathematics & Physics.
Abstract – 1
AFE 083 Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Team (SLOAT)
Fall 2010 Final Report by Troy Hamilton
Introduction
Academic Foundations English 083 (AFE 083) is a non-General Education course that focuses on writing, reading, and study skills. This course is designed to emphasize fluency, the writing process, sentence structure, editing and revision, paragraph and essay development, the comprehension and analysis of texts, and effective study habits and skills. The reading skills will be applied to selections of fiction and non-fiction including essays reflecting the various rhetorical modes. Study skills instruction includes emphasis on listening, note taking, following directions, understanding texts, goal setting, time management, and test taking. Special emphasis will be placed on helping students to overcome the anxieties of testing, reading, writing and studying. The following are the listed course goals for AFE 083:
Upon successful completion of the course students should be able to:
1. Write a five-paragraph essay.
2. Utilize proper research techniques necessary to write a fully-cited research paper using Modern Language Association (MLA) style format.
Purpose
This assessment of student learning outcomes (SLOs) conducted by Troy Hamilton seeks to assist the English instructors working for the Center for Academic Foundation to better understand exactly what topics/skills students are mastering. More than just engaging in information gathering, the desired intention of this study is to analyze and understand students’ progress for the purpose of modifying and refining how they are being taught. The hope and expectation is that after the data is shared, each instructor will be encouraged to alter and/or modify their teaching approach to meet the needs of their individual students.
Methodology
The student learning outcomes (SLO) analysis implemented in Fall of 2010 for AFE 083 was used to assess course goal 1. Each of the 5 AFE 083 instructors that participated in this assessment analyzed students’ essays to see, among other things, how well students were able to develop and sustain arguments throughout their essays. The sample population of students selected to participate in the assessment were twenty five, in total, from AFE 083 sections 001, 002, 003, DE1 and DE2. Instructors were asked to identify the first five students listed on their class roster to be part of the data collection. This approach helped prevent instructors from picking only their best students to be part of the assessment. The essays reviewed in the assessment were the two essays students submitted right before the midterm and final exams were administered. The checklist rubric used for the essay assessment is given below.
Essex County College – Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Survey
AFE 083/Fall 2010
English Assignment Survey
Assignment due Date______Section Number______
Assignment Topic______
For each of the following outcomes identified for inclusion in a paper assigned in AFE 083, please indicate their occurrence or lack of occurrence in your student’s writing:
1. The essay includes an appropriate introductory paragraph.
ð Yes ð Somewhat ð No
2. There is an appropriate topic sentence with the author’s name and the title of the essay.
ð Yes ð Somewhat ð No
3. A clear thesis statement was incorporated within the introductory paragraph.
ð Yes ð Somewhat ð No
4. A relevant three-point sentence was established.
ð Yes ð Somewhat ð No
5. Body paragraphs were well-structured.
ð Yes ð Somewhat ð No
6. Body paragraphs were related to each other in a logical structure that supported the thesis.
ð Yes ð Somewhat ð No
7. Proper in- text citation was utilized.
ð Yes ð Somewhat ð No
8. The essay contained an appropriate concluding paragraph.
ð Yes ð Somewhat ð No
9. The paper demonstrates an acceptable level of mechanics and language usage.
ð Yes ð Somewhat ð No
The Measurable Course Performance Objectives (MPOs) associated with course goal 1 are as follows:
1.1 write an appropriate introductory paragraph;
1.2 compose an appropriate topic sentence;
1.3 construct a clear thesis statement;
1.4 establish a three-point sentence;
1.5 compose an appropriate topic sentence for each body paragraph;
1.6 utilize in-text citation;
1.7 write a concluding sentence for each body paragraph;
1.8 write an appropriate concluding paragraph; and
1.9 use correct grammar and syntax throughout the essay
Student achievement of MPOs 1.1 through 1.3 provides evidence of how well students are able to develop an appropriate introductory paragraph, whereas achievement of MPOs 1.4 through 1.7 and 1.9 and MPO 1.8 were used to assess the body paragraphs and the conclusion paragraph respectively.
Assessment Results for Midterm Exam:
60% of the students were able to develop an appropriate introductory paragraph (i.e., achieved MPOs 1.1 – 1.3) before the midterm exam (both the mid-term and the final exams were designed by the Humanities Division). The first three questions on the checklist rubric were formulated to assess the introductory paragraph.
63% of the students were able to develop an appropriate body paragraph utilizing MLA in-text citation (i.e., achieved MPOs 1.4 – 1.7 and 1.9) before the midterm exam. Questions 4 through 7 and 9 on the checklist rubric were formulated to assess the body paragraphs.
61% of the students were able to develop an appropriate concluding paragraph before the midterm exam. Question 8 on the checklist rubric was designed to assess student ability to develop an appropriate concluding paragraph.
Diagram 1
These findings as displayed in Diagram 1, indicate that by the Fall 2010 midterm exam only 60% (introductory paragraph), 63% (body paragraphs), and 61% (concluding paragraph) of the sampled students attained the corresponding Measurable Performance Objectives (MPOs). For this study, if 70% of the students are able to accomplish a given objective, it is considered ‘achieved.’ In this particular study conducted prior to midterm, none of the MPOs were achieved. This implies that by the eighth week of the semester students were not performing/writing at the expected, desired level. It seems that, based on anecdotal information gathered in discussions with students after the midterm assessment, a number of factors contributed to their lack of achievement. Some of the factors reported by students were external, such as employment, financial difficulties, and child rearing. It is safe to conclude that these factors prohibited students from attending class regularly, which directly impacted their academic performance. In spite of this and based on the study findings, it is clear that AFE English instructors and Supplemental Instructors (SIs) need to come up with more effective pedagogical strategies in an effort to enhance their students performance preferably exceed 70% MPO achievability before the midterm exam.
Assessment Results for Final Exam:
By the Final Exam MPOs 1.1 thru 1.9 were achieved by the AFE students. However, this achievement might be accepted with hesitance the level of success was certainly by the narrowest of margin, especially when you factor in that AFE 083 is a developmental course.
71% of students were able to develop an appropriate introductory paragraph before the final exam, which is a small but considerable improvement from the midterm assessment (60%).
75% of students were able to develop an appropriate body paragraph utilizing MLA in-text citation before the final exam, which is a small but considerable improvement from the midterm assessment (63%).
71% of the students were able to develop an appropriate concluding paragraph before the final exam which is a small but considerable improvement from the midterm assessment (61%).
Diagram 2
Summary
As indicated in Diagrams 1 and 2, which are based on the information gathered from the assessment, AFE 083 instructors in the CAF department need to spend more time developing their students’ writing skills before the midterm exam if 70% or more of the students are to be able to achieve the course MPOs by the eighth week of the semester. This will definitely improve the writing skills of the students within CAF. When students can develop a good introductory paragraph, it is more likely that the overall structure—tone, diction and structural arguments—of the essay will be adequate as well. These are some of the strategies English instructors can implement in order to improve their student’s success:
· spend more class time on the pre-writing process
· have student engaging in timed writing drills
· require that the supplemental instructor (SI) spend more time with struggling students
· offer more collaborative learning opportunities
AFE 083 – 6
MTH 083 Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Team (SLOAT)
Fall 2010 Final Report by Violeta De Pierola and Arturo Vera
*Introduction
Academic Foundations Math AFM 083 is a beginning mathematics course designed to take students from concrete arithmetic ideas to the more abstract algebraic forms of these ideas. One of the instructional components of AFM 083 is two mandatory sessions (one hour each) of tutoring per week and the required completion of ALEKS (computer software) assignments. AFM 083 course outline lists the following goals:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental concepts and theories from arithmetic, algebra and geometry.
2. Utilize various problem-solving and critical-thinking techniques to set up and solve real-world applications.
3. Communicate accurate mathematical terminology and notation in written and/or oral form in order to explain strategies to solve problems as well as to interpret found solutions.
*Purpose
The purpose of the SLOAT was to determine if the students enrolled in AFM 083 are learning the goals set in the course outline. It was also meant to help the Math instructors understand how the students enrolled in the Center for Academic Foundations learn and what different teaching techniques they can use. This assessment was conducted by Violeta De Pierola and Arturo Vera and it was done based on 32 students.
*Methodology
For the Fall 2010 SLOAT the two goals that were assessed were goals 1 and 2 from the course outline.
1. Demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental concepts and theories from arithmetic, algebra and geometry:
1.1 perform arithmetic operations on signed numbers;
1.2 perform arithmetic operations on fractions;
1.3 perform arithmetic operations on decimals;
1.4 perform arithmetic operations on percents;
1.5 determine the perimeter and area for simple geometric figures;
1.6 determine whether a ratio is a proportion;
1.7 convert from one unit of measure to another;
1.8 simplify basic algebraic operations; and
1.9 solve simple linear equations involving one operation
2. Utilize various problem-solving and critical-thinking techniques to set up and solve real world applications:
2.1 apply arithmetic to solve application problems encountered in daily life
*Population
We decided to use a total of 32 students as a sample size selected from 4 sections of AFM 083; i.e., even though we gave all of the students in the 4 sections the pre-test, questionnaire, and post-test we sampled only 32 of those students for this SLOAT study.
Since one of the purposes for this assessment was to help determine whether students taking AFM are achieving the Measureable Performance Objectives (MPOs) for this course, we decided to start by blueprinting the pre-test given to all students. From there we randomly chose 8 students from each section and kept track of those students’ questionnaire responses, quiz and test scores, and Aleks (an online homework software) statistics.
*Instrumentation
For this study we used data from 3 sources:
- Blueprinted multiple-choice questions*
- Questionnaires*
- Statistics from Aleks
*Copies of these assessment instruments used are included in Appendix A of this report.
*Results
Pre- and Post-test Results
Graphs comparing the scores the 32 sampled students received on the pre- and post-tests are below.
Pre- and Post-test scores
Pre- and Post-test scores (continued)
The pre- and post-tests were given by the instructors in class. The pre-test was given on the first day of class. Students were told to try their best and were not allowed to use calculators. The post-test was also given by the instructors and, by looking at the graphs above, we can see how remarkably the students’ scores changed.
In section CW1, the average score on the pre-test was 30% and 79.8% on the post-test indicating an increase of 49.8%. In section 003, the average score on the pre-test was 35.6% and 81.7 % on the post-test indicating an increase of 46.1%. In section 005, the average score on the pre-test was 20.6% and 79.1% on the post-test indicating an increase of 58.5%. In section 014, the average score for the pre-test was 28.1% and 77.5% on the post-test indicating an increase of 49.4%.
By looking at the graphs we can also see that the students scored low as they entered this course. Many different factors could have influenced this result; for example, not expecting the test, coming back to school after many years, and not being well prepared. These are just a few reasons given by the students explaining why they did not perform that well on the pre-test.
Questionnaire Results
The students were given two questionnaires, the first one was conducted before they took the midterm and the second one was administered before the final. Average student responses to both questionnaires are given in Appendix B. From looking at the average responses of students’ answers to the survey, we can conclude that the students still need extra help when working on the following MPOs:
1.4 Perform arithmetic operations on fractions;