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Campus Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes

Unit Name: Psychology Assessment Summary Fall 2007-Spring 2008

What are the student learning outcomes in your unit?

The Psychology Department has 4 department specific student learning outcomes for student majors:

Students will develop an understanding and appreciation of central facts and concepts in the field.
Students will have an understanding and appreciation of the varieties of applied fields in Psychology.
Students will develop and understanding and appreciation of research methods in Psychology.
Students will learn to comprehend and produce scientific writing described by the APA style manual.

We use written classroom tests, term papers, laboratory experiences, research papers, service learning/internships, exit examinations, exit interviews, alumni surveys, career tracking of majors at graduation as measures for student learning outcomes. The Chart below shows our timetable and responsible parties for assessment. We also spend time on curriculum revision and on identifying ways to improve the student learning for our majors by identifying 1 issue to work on each year (This year we are working on developing a system for exit interviews to complement the information that we have gathered from alumni surveys). The Department Chair heads this effort. Assessment Reports are submitted to the COAS office. The assessment outcomes are consistent with the campus’ General Education and overall Student Learning Outcomes.

Which outcome did you assess this academic year?

We worked on each of these outcomes within the past year.

How did you assess their skills before, during and / or at the end of the semester / academic year?

Psychology Assessment Yr. 2007-08

Assessment Activity	Method	Responsible Party	Timetable
Evaluation of Theoretical Concepts, per dept. student learning goals	Internal tests, research papers, laboratory and other research papers, in class presentations, capstone projects / papers	Dept. Chair (with assistance of Full Time Faculty and/or COAS Rep. to Curr. Committee)	Assessment Data collected in the Spring. Assessment Data Analysis & Written Report Submitted in the Fall
Evaluation of Applied Concepts, per dept. student learning goals	Internships, Service Learning Projects, Exit Interviews & Results of Alumni Surveys	Dept. Chair & Full time Faculty	(Same Report and time tables as listed above)
Evaluation of Research and Statistical Skills per dept. student learning goals	Internal tests, research papers, laboratory and other research papers, in class presentations, capstone projects / papers	Dept. Chair (with assistance of Full Time Faculty and/or COAS Rep. to Curr. Committee)	(Same Report and time tables as listed above)
Evaluation of Communication Skills (APA Style), per dept. student learning goals	Internal tests, research papers, laboratory and other research papers, in class presentations, capstone projects / papers	Dept. Chair (with assistance of Full Time Faculty and/or COAS Rep. to Curr. Committee)	(Same Report and time tables as listed above)
1-2 New Improvement Target Areas suggested for next yr. -- Congruent with Dept, Gen Ed. & Campus Student Learning Outcomes	Dept. Faculty Meeting (Working Session dedicated to Assessment of Curriculum and Student Learning Outcomes)	Dept. Chair	New Improvement Areas Identified in the Spring

Please summarize the data you have collected this semester / academic year.

We have collected departmentally developed exam scores from students enrolled in the senior level labs and have added them to our data base. We have piloted exit interview questions and are considering revising the questions.

Please describe any programmatic changes you have made or are planning to make based on the data you have collected.

We are revising our exit interview questions and are continuously trying to improve the content mastery within our upper level courses.

**Note: Please use this template to provide the responses to the prompts above.**