Assessment : 2013 - 2014 : Educational Programs :
Higher Education Administration MA
2 Goals 2 Objectives 2 Indicators 2 Criteria 2 Findings 4 Actions
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GOAL: Apply Organizational Theory
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Objective
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Students will be able to analyze factors that help college students succeed.
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Indicator
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HIED 5360 Case Study Rubric developed by the faculty.
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| Criterion |
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Display Adequate Knowledge.
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80% of students will display adequate knowledge of 8 organizational theories.
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| Finding |
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92% of students performed in the acceptable or exemplary category on the rubric in this regard. To perform at this level students must use theories to develop an argument in their comprehensive exams. Students are relying on tried and true theories in higher education. Based upon these results, we suggest continued program efforts in this area.
Results from HIGE 6379, Summer 2014: Students must complete an Annontated Bibliography that onlines 22 theories commonly used in higher education. Student work is assessed using a rubric in blackboard. 87% of students performed at an acceptable level meaning they have "accurately reflected the key components of a theory and cited the key, original source." In this area, the professor will focus on three theories that tended to be often missed by students (Astin's I-E-O Model,Cross' Theory of Psychological Nigrescence, and Sanford theory of challenge and support).
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Actions for Objective:
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92% of students performed in the acceptable or exemplary category on the rubric. Continue program efforts in this area.
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| Action |
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Comprehensive Exam Review
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Faculty have relied on the comprehensive exam to assess this outcome. We are satisfied with student abilities in this regard and do not envision changes. However, we intend to maintain program activities and class content that supports this outcome.
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Objective
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Students will be able to effectively communicate through writing.
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Indicator
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Comprehensive Exam Rubric
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The "Writing Style" element of our comprehensive exam rubric has 3 levels and descriptions of work in each level.
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| Criterion |
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80% of students completing the comprehensive exam will demonstrate writing at the "acceptable" or higher level of our rubric.
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| Finding |
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Update: These sessions were actually started earlier than expected and were attended by all but 6 of the MA students. The sessions, called the APA Academy", have been very successful. Post-session evaluations indicate that 96% of participants are satisfied with the event and 98% indicate the sessions "added significantly to their understanding of writing."
No additional changes were enacted in regards to organizational theory offerings as these experiences met expected criteria.
Summer 2014 update- August 5, 2014: The faculty have used a rubric to assess student writing abilities through the comprehensive exam. IN the summer 2014 semester. 96% of students received acceptable ratings on their writing abilities. In the spring 2014 semester, 79% of students received acceptable ratings. This would suggest that student writing abilities are positively improving through such activities as the APA Academy and increased focus on writing in classes.
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Actions for Objective:
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Spring 2013- only 67% of students performed in the acceptable or exemplary level on the rubric in our comprehensive exams.
fall 2013- 81% of students performed in the acceptable or exemplary level on the rubric in our comprehensive exams.
Actions taken: The faculty proposed a new course to focus on writing and research in higher education as the first course in the sequence of courses for all students. This allows for early feedback on student abilities in writing.
In the summer and fall 2013 semesters, faculty also implemented a new online session called the "APA Academy" which is a guided all MA in higher education administration through the process of crafting a research-based response, formatting papers for APA guidelines, and developing clear, logical arguments. We beleive this sesison is responsible for the increase in student writing abilities.
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| Action |
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Faculty have proposed a new class HIED 6379, to be taken as the first class in the HIED curriculum. This class, Higher Ed. Research, will cover aspects of APA writing and research useage that was covered in the very successful APA Academies via a class every student must take. One of the outcomes for this course relates to this outcome. A rubric for effective writing in this course has been created in the blackboard homepage for thie course.
In the spring and summer 2014 semesters, 96% of students who have taken this class indicate that they have been aided in their ability to write as a result of this class
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Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement"
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Based upon these results, faculty determined to develop a series of student workshops to help them improve their writing and communication skills. These workshops will be done online between September 2013-October 2013. These workshops will include evaluation materials to support the improvement of future workshops. Ultimately, these workshops will be provided through a revised approach to the HIED 5369 class (See next paragraph).
The faculty also redesigned the EDAD 5369 (Research methods) requirement to be more focused on an introduction of academic writing, schoalrship, and the use of research. This proposed curriculum redesign was submitted to the University Curriculum Council in the Fall 2013 semester.
Lastly, the faculty have determined that no changes are neccessary in regards to the program's focus on organizaional theory.
The program faculty and advisory panel members have determined that their plan for assessment is providing useful information on what students are learning. As such, the faculty will continue to assess student writing abilites according to the timeline offered in our assessment plan and move to the second cycle of our continuous improvement plan in the 2013-2014 academic year. This cycle will focus on supporting student writing abilities per outcome A and and outcome B.
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Update on Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement"
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Update: These sessions were actually started earlier than expected and were attended by all but 6 of the MA students. The sessions, called the APA Academy", have been very successful. Post-session evaluations indicate that 96% of participants are satisfied with the event and 98% indicate the sessions "added significantly to their understanding of writing."
No additional changes were enacted in regards to organizational theory offerings as these experiences met expected criteria.
Summer 2014 update- August 5, 2014: The faculty have used a rubric to assess student writing abilities through the comprehensive exam. IN the summer 2014 semester. 96% of students received acceptable ratings on their writing abilities. In the spring 2014 semester, 79% of students received acceptable ratings. This would suggest that student writing abilities are positively improving through such activities as the APA Academy and increased focus on writing in classes.
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Plan for Continuous Improvement
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Our plan for improvement includes:
a) Focusing on goal 5, objective e of our assessment plan in the 2014 calendar year. This objective focuses on students' abilities to advocate for their professional development plans. This action was choosen because organizational theory offerings were evaluated at an acceptable level.
b) Continue to advance the APA Academies and HIED 5379 (Introduction to Higher Education Research; first class in newly sequened curriculum) to supprot students abilities to write. While the last semester of data were at an acceptable level, we anticipate sustaining and increasing this level of performance in the 2014 calendar year.
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