SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2012 - 2013 : Educational Programs :
Political Science MA
Political Science MA
1 Goal 1 Objective 1 Indicator 1 Criterion 1 Finding 1 Action
| GOAL: Written Comprehensive Exams |
| Objective |
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Upon completion of the MA in Political Science program, students will be able to: 1. Explain the key features of methodology. 2. Evaluate political theories and discuss the significant research in one of the program's subject areas: American government, public administration, comparative politics, or international relations. |
| Indicator |
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| We utilize written comprehensive exams as a tool for measuring graduate students' knowledge and skills. Prior to graduation, students complete two written comprehensive exams in areas relevant to their coursework. Exam questions are written by faculty with expertise in the students' areas of study and the questions are based on the comprehensive exam reading lists and the content of the overview courses (see department level goal of revise written comprehensive exam process for more information on the reading lists and overview courses). Students' exams are graded by at least two faculty members (more when possible) who have expertise in the areas of study pursued by students. Exams are assigned one of the following scores: high pass, pass, and no pass. If the two faculty members issue conflicting scores (e.g., pass and no pass), a third faculty member will be asked to score the exams and issue a final ruling. |
| Criterion |
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| We expect that at least 80% of our students will pass their exams on the first attempt and that 100% of the students who have to take the exam a second time will pass. Efforts noted in our 2008-2009 actions will be implemented; specifically, we require students to attend a comprehensive exam study skills session conducted by the graduate director and graduate faculty members. Utilizing a rubric developed in the spring of 2010, graduate faculty will determine low pass, pass, and high pass. We believe that this will produce at least 2 high passes for this year's cohort. |
| Finding |
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| Five students took written comprehensive exams in 2012-2013 in the areas of institutions and behavior. Three passed the exam the first time with high marks. Two students failed the first time, but passed on the second attempt with a mark of passed. Thus, our results are mixed in relation to our stated goals. We missed the 80% mark for passing on the the first attempt since only 3 of 5 (60%) passed initially. However, we met our mark of 100% passing on the second attempt. We also met our goal of having at least two high passes. |
Actions for Objective:
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The faculty will emphasize improving students' comprehension of research design, data, and methods in each MA graduate course. We believe this will enhance student understanding of the core knowledge in each subfield and help improve the rate of passing on the first attempt. Due to the addition of new faculty members that will teach both MA and MPA courses, the graduate faculty will meet to discuss new expectations regarding student performance. |
| Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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Conference Attendance: In fall 2012 and spring 2013 the graduate director will begin collecting more detailed information about students’ professional goals. Faculty members will design assignments appropriate to the students’ professional goals and require students to complete one of the assignments prior to graduation. For example, if a student wishes to seek employment as a community college instructor, he or she would be required to submit a syllabus and a set of lectures
Written Comprehensive Exams: During the summer of 2012 MA faculty will develop exam questions that require students to demonstrate their knowledge of methods in the context of a subfield based question. The new exams will be implemented in fall of 2012. To address students' knowledge of the literature, syllabi for the overview courses in each subfield will be revised to include the seminal works in the field. Faculty will update the comprehensive reading lists annually. Oral Comprehensive Exams: Oral exams are logistically problematic and thus we decided to rely on written exams. |
| Update on Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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Conference Attendance: The graduate director found that the majority of the MA students wish to teach at the junior college and/or community college level. Students in MA courses have beeng given assignments related to preparing syllabi and presenting mock lectures as part of the course curriculum.
Written Comprehensive Exams: Students were not as successful on the first attempt of the written comprehensive exams as hoped. The faculty will continue to develop questions that required students to demonstrate the knowledge in the subfield as well as their knowledge of methods in the context of the subfield based question. The faculty found that updating the comprehensive reading list is an ongoing process and are confident that the students are acquiring the most semenal works in the field in their course work. Oral Comprehensive Exam: The department did eliminate oral exams. |
| Plan for Continuous Improvement |
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In order to improve written comprehensive exam scores, the MA faculty will emphasize research design, data collection methods, and analysis as part of the curriculum for each substantive course. The faculty will also focus on developing teaching skills of the students as the majority have expressed their goal of teaching at the junior college/community college level.
The F13/S14 assessment year will focus primarily on discussion and data collection regarding the department’s two graduate programs, the Masters in Political Science (MA) and the Masters in Public Administration (MPA). Actions based on F13/S14 discussions and data collection will occur in next assessment cycle (F14/S15). We are focusing on graduate programs because our programs are scheduled for the 2015 audit and because we are already in discussions about our graduate programs. Goal: Expand our assessment (at both the student learning objective level and the department performance objective level) of our two graduate programs beyond comprehensive exams. Actions: Collect data on current and incoming graduate students for the purpose of creating profiles of MA and MPA students. The profiles will help us: a. Develop student exit surveys which will include questions, such as: How has the program contributed to your knowledge of the field? Do you believe the program improved your ability to perform your professional duties? Did the program contribute to your ability to obtain a promotion, salary increase, etc.? b. Document the economic impact of the graduate programs |