Date Received______

Spring Semester 2007 Assessment Report Form

Dance BA

1. Program Information

Program / Undergraduate BA Program
Department / Dance Department
College / Fine Arts
Program Assessment Coordinator / Cathy Allen
Semester Data was collected / Spring 2007
Program Submitted by / Cathy Allen
Phone/email / 895-4470
Date Submitted / October, 2007

2. Assessment Activities

Which outcomes for this program were measured? / How did you measure the outcomes / What results did you expect? If the student performed well what would their performance look like, i.e.: percentages, means, or comparisons to a national standard.
#1
BA dance majors will be able to exhibit competency in developing strategies for marketing and maintaining oneself in the professional arena. / No measuring device has been determined. / Students receive instruction on strategies and marketing ones career in three of the assigned courses; Seminar, Production I and Jazz III.
#2
BA dance majors will be able to apply dance technique standards within professional practice and performance. / Jury panel comprised of five technique faculty using a rubric scale 1-5—5 being the highest.
Course Percentages of technique classes 300 and 400 will be evaluated.
Exit surveys on outcome #2 will be reviewed / Program group mean will be at or above a 3.0 in all three areas jury assessment in ballet, modern and jazz technique.
If the student performs well, a 3.0 average or above in the BA 300-400 level technique classes will be rated.
Shows progress towards mastery of department level.
#3
BA dance majors will be able to organize and apply principles of research and critical thinking through choreographic and pedagogic environments. / Choreography and Pedagogy scores/percentages.
Exit surveys on outcome #3 will be reviewed / Scores in the two composite areas should be at or above a 3.0 average.
#4
BA majors will be able to understand the application and use of music and voice within the dancers performance and choreographic needs / Music Theory, Accompaniment and Mus Literature course scores/percentages.
Exit exam scores
Exit surveys (Likert Scale) on outcome #4 will be reviewed / 100% of students will receive a passing score.
#5
BA majors will have a knowledge of the dance art in a liberal arts framework/environment. The students will understand the dance from the practical, production and historical aspect. / Achieve outcomes through history and production course scores/percentages.
Exit exam scores
Exit surveys (Likert Scale) on outcome #5 will be reviewed / 80% of students will receive a grade of B or higher.
Scores will be rated with a mean of 3.0 or above.

3. Results

Program Outcome #2
The dance technique standards within professional practice and performance were assessed by using a jury exam taken at the final week of the last semester of the students degree program. Four technique faculty were represented in the juries this Spring. The jury is given in Rubric format 1-5 with 5 being the highest score. Areas of content evaluation are divided into three areas of technique, ballet, modern and jazz dance. In the three techniques, three divisions are assessed. They are Technique, Alignment and Performance/Quality.
BA Students composite scores from the Spring 2007 juries show that the mean score is:
Ballet
2.54
Technique Ballet 2.48
Alignment Ballet 2.50
Performance Ballet 2.63
Modern
2.70
Technique Modern 2.65
Alignment Modern 2.65
Performance Modern 2.82
Jazz
2.85
Technique Jazz 2.83
Alignment Jazz 2.78
Performance Jazz 2.94
Based on these Spring 2007 jury scores the BA students so not meet the expected average of 3.0 or above in all areas of outcome #2 assessment.
In the BA majors technique courses (300-400 levels) the following break down and percentages of grades were given in Spring 2007:
Ballet 235 Ballet 335 Ballet 435
23% -A 60% - A 89% - A
76% -B 33% - B 11% - B
3% - C
3% - D
Modern 238 Modern 338 Modern 438
70% - A 72% - A 75% - A
24% - B 22% - B 25% - B
6% - F 3% - C
3% - F
Jazz 232 Jazz 332 Jazz 432
85% - A 76% - A 79% - A
9% - B 14% - B 14% - B
6% - F 6% - C
2% - D
2% - F
Percentages are about 10 points off from Modern to Jazz with Ballet being much lower.
Percentages on Juries and course grades have tapered and seem to be equalizing.
It is still clear that the overall jury scores show the strength of our department is in the Jazz area, then the modern area and finally the Ballet area. Most of our students come into the program with an advanced ability in Jazz over the other two disciplines. We expect this trend to continue because there are few Jazz programs nationally and UNLV will attract those students interested in that area of concentration.
Program Outcome #3
The demonstration of research and critical thinking through choreographic and pedagogic environments was assessed by semester scores and exit surveys.
The area of choreography for BA graduating seniors is assessed by the choreography courses taught the semester of assessment. The courses Dan 288 and 488 were taught this semester. While grades from the advanced choreography 488 class exceed the expected outcome of 3.0 average or above, the intermediate course 288 barely met the 3.0 outcome for 80 0.% of students. However, most students are performing on at a B or 3.0 grade point level with a few showing accelerated ability and less showing a satisfactory to unsatisfactory ability.
The area of pedagogy for all students is assessed by the pedagogy course percentages. The pedagogy course is not offered in the Spring.
This semester the use of research in this degree is facilitated by the creative process. It is developed and presented by way of performance at the end of the semester. The choreography courses are an ongoing developmental series instructing as well as advising students about setting works of art. Discussion, reading material along with the exercises pertaining to the composition and form of a piece of art is the focus. Students work individually on projects and in group projects. They are required to write a project paper on the process and the outcome. However the BA degree is only required to take the Choreography II course and the grades reflect 94% of the students received a B or higher.
Program Outcome #4
The music courses Dan 209 and Dan 309 scores for Spring 2007 show 50% of the number of students who are 3.0 or higher indicating synthesis of this material. The Dan 309 shows 85% of the class receiving a B or higher with two failing grades documented.
The exiting survey for outcome #4 had a mean of 3.75 showing adequate understanding of the material.
Students in the UNLV dance department are required to take three music for dance course instead of the one course requirement in most university dance departments. The exiting exams of four BA graduating seniors show that the music portion of the exam received an average score of 87%. This indicates excellent achievement.
Program Outcome #5
The exiting exam shows the graduating senior of Spring 2007 meet the expected mean in the area of history at 70%. It is interesting to note that the BFA exiting exams were at 93% in the area of history and the BA are at a 70%. A marked difference.
Out of 27 students in the production courses Dan 367 and 467, 77% and 84% of the grades reflect a B or higher in the classes.

Use of Results:

This degree has been formally discontinued. Students in this degree will continue to graduate for the next three years.
The new production for dance degree is now officially on line and work towards that assessment plan is underway. There are no graduates as of yet in the new BA degree.
Program Outcome #1
This outcome objective is encouraged and accomplished by our students attending auditions for dance positions at local performing venues and by traveling dance shows and companies. Headshots and Resumes are discussed and required in both Production, Dan 468 and Seminar, Dan 199 Seminar teaches the importance of networking and strategizing career options. Guest speaker from the industry are brought in regularly to engage discussion about dance careers.
Program Outcome #2
The area of alignment continues in all three techniques to have the lowest global scores for Spring 2007 in the BA degree. The area of performance in all three techniques had the highest global scores for this semester.
The faculty is confident the juries are having a positive effect on the professionalism of the dance student’s development and understanding of the department’s dance technique expectations. The student focus group (pilot survey) has not yet been instituted for gathering information on the effectiveness of juries. It is still believed to be an important step in further assessment data. It will involve a survey and discussion group to gain greater access to pertinent information.
Results show grades in the technique course were more widespread this past semester. The 200 and 400 level technique courses show higher percentage of scores with Ballet continuing to place the lowest
Program Outcome #3
The course grades reflect that no drastic change has occurred from past semesters and the students meet standard expectations for choreographic development and understanding.
This semester the student performers did not travel to juried events but will be attending in the up coming year.
Program Outcome #4
In comparison to many dance programs nationally; UNLV exceeds curriculum expectations in the area of music and choreography by two each. Course grades, exiting exams and program outcomes all indicate the students are meeting these objectives.
No further action will be taken at this time in the area of assessment development.
Program Outcome #5
In both areas of history and production the scores show a student body who are diverse. Although the expected outcomes fall short in the area of history and production, the majority of the students have received a satisfactory score or higher. No further action will be taken at this time in the area of assessment development for this outcome.

5. Dissemination of results, conclusions, and discoveries.

The Dance Department will email this assessment report to Dean Jeff Koep, Associate Dean, Dean Gronenmeier, and their office manager Karen Spica.
A break down of the report will be presented in a Faculty meeting and posted in the Dance Office.