SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2011 - 2012 : Educational Programs :
Psychology MA
Psychology MA
2 Goals 2 Objectives 2 Indicators 2 Criteria 2 Findings 2 Actions
| GOAL: Research Competence |
| Objective |
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| Students demonstrate knowledge and skills related to competency in research methodology and statistical analyses. |
| Indicator |
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| Students' production of original research. This program is considered to be a research-oriented program. Therefore, all students in the program will either complete a research thesis or will have been engaged in a faculty member's program of original research along with having taken Psychology 5388, Advanced Experimental Design. |
| Criterion |
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| Students will demonstrate research competency when they either have completed a thesis or have enrolled in PSY 5388, Graduate Experimental Design, along with having partaken in a faculty members research. A common rubric will be used to rate the thesis; students will be required to reach a score of at least 80/100 to be considered thesis-complete. Scores on a common assignment in PSYC 5388 will serve as an indicator. Students must reach a score of 80%. |
| Finding |
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During this past academic year, we have had seven students enrolled in this program. Two of these students graduated, with the rest scheduled to graduate in the upcoming academic year. Of all students enrolled in the MA General program three students have served as research assistants, collecting data in drug effects in developing animals under the direction of the chair, in social psychology projects and in cognitive psychology projects. One of the MA-General students currently is working on a thesis in an experimental area. Four students have taken or will take Psychology 5388 or its equivalent by the end of this summer (2012). One of the students recently transferred to Texas A & M. One has been accepted to a Specialist in School Psychology Program and one is transferring to the MA Clinical Program. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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The criterion was met but we believe that there should be more involvement of our MA-General students in faculty research. To this end, we are identifying and have admitted higher-level undergraduate students who have applied and been accepted in this program. In addition, we are discussing the possibility of amending our criteria for this objective, in addition to what is already in place, to having 50% of the program students having presented original research, at least once, at a state, regional, national, or international paper session each year. In addition, whether through taking Psychology 5388 and not writing a thesis, each student will be required to write three research papers using APA style. To grade those papers, we are attaching a new rubric to this portion of the OATdb. Numbers from the rubric are converted to percentages and passing requires a minimum of 80% on at least one of the papers. |
| GOAL: Foundation Competence |
| Objective |
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| Students demonstrate competency in the areas of general psychology through synthesis and integration of scientific, methodological, and theoretical foundations. |
| Indicator |
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| Students demonstrate through a written comprehensive examination their ability to integrate the areas of general psychology. |
| Criterion |
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| 100% of students must pass comprehensive examination prior to graduation. Students are given a written exam of which they must complete 5 of 7 questions listed. Criteria for passing are: the student must provide integrative responses that reveal an understanding of the information and experiences to which they have been exposed; they must provide complete references for all works cited using proper APA style; they must demonstrate their knowledge of the science in the field and support their answers, arguments, theories, logic, etc. with scientific research studies when applicable. Each question will be scored using a rubric for each question by two faculty members who have expertise in the particular area. An example of the comprehensive examination and the question rubric is attached. |
| Finding |
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Two students in the MA General program took comprehensive exams and both successfully passed the exams. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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In order to delineate strengths and weaknesses, a rubric will be used in the future. Although we have developed a rubric for this task, it came too late to be used this year. |
| Closing the Loop |
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We are discussing the possibility of amending our criteria for the research objective include, having 50% of the program students having presented original research, at least once, at a state, regional, national, or international paper session each year. Each student in PSYC 5388 will be required to write three research papers using APA style. Numbers from the new rubric are converted to percentages and passing requires a minimum of 80% on at least one of the papers.
Although students are passing the comprehensive exams, we have not been able to delineate strengths and weaknesses. In order to do so, a rubric will be used in the future. Last year, in this Closing the Loop Summary section, we expressed concern about the lack of students involved in original research in this program. The number students engaged in these opportunities is on the rise and we fully expect these increases to continue. One of the main problems has been, in the past, a paucity of students enrolled in the program. Due to the efforts of the MA coordinator, we have increased our numbers from 4 to 7 over the past year and have an incoming class of 11 students (perhaps 12 as we await the decision of one last student). This is highly encouraging as a majority of those incoming students have expressed some level of interest in engaging in original research. As for Foundational Competency, the credentials of the incoming class of MA General students are quite impressive: Mean GPA = 3.6; Mean GRE score = 1142. We have nothing but the highest expectations for these students and for our program. |