SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2011 - 2012 : Educational Programs :
History MA
History MA
2 Goals 2 Objectives 2 Indicators 3 Criteria 6 Findings 3 Actions
| GOAL: Teaching Skills And Classroom Management Competence |
| Objective |
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| M. A. students indicating career interests in teaching positions at junior and community colleges or in other post-secondary education will demonstrate enhanced abilities in lecture formulation and delivery, test generation, and evaluation of their students. |
| Indicator |
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| M. A. students expressing a desire to seek post-secondary teaching careers will show improved performance in lecture and classroom management skills by completing one or more of the following preparatory exercises: in-class teaching workshops and/or webinar presentations on college teaching. |
| Criterion |
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| The Graduate Director will arrange for web-based teaching instructional material to be available to M. A. students expressing interest in post-secondary teaching careers. Such web-based material will include: podcast discussions of teaching strategies; documentary and other media demonstrations of classroom management such as assignment generation or test generation; documentary or other media presentations on grading/evaluating students; documentary or other media support materials. The department will solicit graduate student assessment of the availability and suitability of these materials in a manner similar to student evaluation of classes (IDEA form). At least 50% of student responses rating this web-based support as "satisfactory" or better will indicate success. |
| Finding |
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| This policy was developed in 2011-2012 for implementation in Fall 2013. |
| Criterion |
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| The Graduate Director will coordinate with faculty to make available to M. A. students lecture opportunities in live classes currently ongoing in an academic term. The M. A. students will prepare and deliver instruction from an appropriate syllabus topic to the class, under the observation of the teacher of record and/or the Graduate Director. Post analysis will include a formal evaluation by observing faculty including consideration of feedback by students enrolled in that class. A faculty evaluation of "satisfactory" will indicate a successful exercise. Results will appear in the History Department records for participating graduate students and will be communicated to prospective employers. |
| Finding |
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In response to informal survey among graduating M. A. candidates, the Graduate Director identified demand for formalized assistance and training for students seeking teaching positions in post-secondary institutions. Consultations resulted in the projection of a two-pronged assistance program based upon making available live classroom training workshops, and webinar support. The plan was created in the fall 2011. |
| Finding |
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In the spring 2012 semester, the Director of Graduate Studies initiated teaching skills preparation. Working with 1 candidate to start, the DGS held 3 live classroom teaching workshops. The candidate presented lecture material, created and executed a document analysis exercise, and created and executed classroom ready-writing exercises. The candidate then got verbal feedback from the students as well as performance assessment from the DGS. Based upon this first, live trial, the DGS will expand classroom workshop opportunities in the 2012-2013 academic year, including the introduction of web-based materials. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| In the academic year 2012-2013, the History Department will train all resident teaching assistants in teaching skills designed to enhance undergraduate familiarity and mastery of history learning outcome rubric skills. Specifically, these teaching techniques will focus on undergraduate history critical thinking skills, encounters with primary documents, and writing skills. TAs will also learn elements of on-line course creation and execution, including basic professional publication skills. |
| Action |
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| During 2011-2012, the History Department initiated a five-year graduate program performance review. The resulting report included sections analyzing the TA program and proposing reforms for enhancing TA development. Some of findings of the report were implemented in the summer and fall of 2012: TA classroom teaching; workshops to improve TAs knowledge and implementation of history learning rubric objectives. Others will be integrated into the TA program in 2012-2013. |
| GOAL: Advanced Knowledge And Skills In History |
| Objective |
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| M. A. History students will demonstrate competence in applying research methodologies; qualitative and quantitative analysis; literature review; and use of traditional and digital resources. The History Department will prepare its graduates to publish in their respective fields. |
| Indicator |
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All M.A. History graduates will demonstrate depth and breadth of knowledge by successfully completing written and oral exams in three field areas. This will be assessed by a survey of written examinations and oral examination reports. A panel of at least three graduate faculty will assess the quality of the written examinations to determine student mastery of the major historical themes and historiography within each of the three field areas. Students failing to demonstrate the required level of content mastery will be allowed, after consultation with the graduate committee and history chair, to retake the written exams. A second failure will result in termination from the program. Students successfully completing the written examinations will then take an oral examination before a panel of three graduate faculty members who will assess student mastery of the history and historiography in each of the three field areas. Students must pass or pass with distinction each content area. Students who fail to demonstrate sufficient competency in any of the three field areas will be allowed, after consultation with the examination committee and the departmental chair, to retake that portion of the oral examination that was not satisfactorily completed. A second failure will result in termination from the program. |
| Criterion |
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All M.A. graduates will achieve passing or passing with distinction ratings on a written examination that covers three content areas. The department will direct special attention to evaluating comprehensive exam preparation and performance among on-line students. |
| Finding |
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By trial of experience, personalized exam preparation counseling has proven significantly more effective than generalized mock examinations. As of the middle of the 2011-2012 academic year, based upon incoming data, the Graduate Director formalized this individualized approach by the following means: early identification of graduate applicants for the upcoming May and August; personal, direct contact with each candidate, even before the formal start of term; distribution of a FAQ sheet about comps to candidates and to all enrolled graduate students; follow up phone conferences and email based on issues raised by the FAQ; facilitation of earlier and more frequent contact between comps candidates and prospective examining faculty. |
| Finding |
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In a modification of comprehensive exam preparation assistance from the previous year, the Graduate Director offered one-on-one preparation counseling. Modifications to the History Seminar emphasizing historiographical understanding had received positive feedback from students and thus remained in place. In the fall of 2011, the history department administered 5 comprehensive examinations to prospective MA graduates. Of those examined, no students failed any sections on their first attempts, a significant improvement from performance in fall 2010 and spring 2011, wherein 3 and 2 students respectively suffered failed portions of their exams. In total, 5 students graduated that term. |
| Finding |
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In the spring of 2012, the history department administered 11 comprehensive examinations to prospective MA graduates. Of those examined, one student failed only the oral examination section on his first attempt. The other 10 students passed all portions of their exams. This was a significant improvement from performance in the preceding academic year, wherein 5 students in total suffered failed portions of their exams. Of the candidates in the spring of 2012, the student failing the oral examination scheduled the second attempt for fall 2012. One successful candidate scheduled graduation for August 2012, in completion of a thesis project. The nine (9) remaining candidates graduated in the May commencement. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| In the academic year 2012-2013, the History Department will go through a graduate affairs committee review and possibly reform comprehensive testing procedures, with the goal of better linking such examinations with desired graduate learning outcomes: historiographical awareness; strong historical reasoning and forensic skills; strong historical writing skills. |
| Closing the Loop |
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In the current environment of the History PhD crisis of overproduction, institutions focused on granting the MA are on the front lines of market trends. The American Historical Association has called professional historians to take a new look at the degree in all its aspects. Additionally, Bender et. al in _The Education of Historians for the Twenty-first Century_ have found that enhanced history teaching training will continue to grow in importance to the marketability of degree holders. The History Department through its review of comprehensive exams, through its review of graduate student formation and especially teaching assistant experience, is moving to address these growing concerns of the profession at large.
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