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The WGS Program has 6 student learning goals for the intro course:
- Intersectionality of race, class, gender, ethnicity and sexuality
- Social construction of gender
- White privilege, male privilege, heterosexual privilege
- Waves of feminism
- Major issues: domestic violence, abortion, motherhood, work
- A sense of personal power, and effectiveness
We have 5 student learning goals for the subsequent courses:
- Key figures and concepts in feminist theory
- Variations in women’s experiences across nations, cultures, times, class, race, etc.
- Applying knowledge for social transformation
- Women’s achievements in the relevant major field of research
- Building on foundations laid in intro course
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Which outcome did you assess this academic year?
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The Intro course goals.
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How did you assess their skills before, during and / or at the end of the semester / academic year?
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| At a WGS Program Faculty Meeting Jan 27, 2010, we reviewed and revised our goals (see above) and explored means by which to assess them. The National Women’s Studies Association website offers various suggestions and templates. We weighed pros and cons, and determined to assess the intro students via an exit (end-of-semester) evaluation. In 2010, the instructor wrote and distributed a survey, which was evaluated by Balay and Buckler. In 2011, the instructor wrote a final exam which assessed these outcomes, which was then evaluated by Balay and Buzenas. Results follow. |
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Please summarize the data you have collected this semester / academic year.
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To interpret the results, we read through the responses, assessing whether each student demonstrated superior, adequate, or minimal competence in each area.
Summary results are as follows:
Intersectionality Superior = 8, adequate = 9, minimal = 0
Social Construction Superior = 8, adequate = 10, minimal = 0
Privilege (white, male, het) Superior = 7, adequate = 10, minimal = 1
3 waves of feminism Superior = 9, adequate = 6, minimal = 2
Women’s issues Superior = 5, adequate = 11, minimal = 1
Buzenas will keep the final exams on file so that we can compare responses on specific questions to next year’s responses. The previous year’s questionnaires are retained as well.
Curriculum components derived from experiential learning are places students excel (social construction and intersectionality) so the class will maintain its experiential component. Students also demonstrate good understanding of social issues that effect women (pornography, violence, etc.) Last year’s weakness in the history of American feminisms has improved, and we will continue that focus. Fewer students show an advanced grasp of privileges than last year, so the 2012 course will ensure coverage of these issues . |
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Please describe any programmatic changes you have made or are planning to make based on the data you have collected.
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The intro class needs to spend more time on the history of American Feminism, since students are still weak in that area. Further, we hope to reach a wider segment of the student population by offering the intro course more often. Since several faculty will teach this course, we plan to have occasional meetings to discuss strategies and best practices.
Next year, we will distribute the some questionnaire, and compare our results. We will also develop a method of assessing learning in the upper-level classes. These are currently very diverse, which is an advantage, but we also need to develop and communicate shared goals to the instructors, so that we have a University-wide sense of what makes a course a WGS course, aside from a focus on women. This work will contribute to planning for the WGS major. |
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