SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2011 - 2012 : Educational Programs :
Health MA
Health MA
3 Goals 3 Objectives 3 Indicators 3 Criteria 3 Findings 3 Actions
| GOAL: Critical Thinking Skills |
| Objective |
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| MA Health graduate students will be able to apply health education principles and practices using critical thinking skills. |
| Indicator |
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| A common embedded portion of health graduate courses assignments and tests, developed by the faculty, will require students to use and apply critical thinking skills. |
| Criterion |
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Students must score at least 90 percent on the embedded portion of graduate course assignments and tests that require students to use and apply health education principles and practices that utilize critical thinking skills. |
| Finding |
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100 percent (N=10) of the Health graduate students met the minimum 90 percent criterion on the “Internship Portfolio” reflection assignment that focused on the utilization of critical thinking skills relating to the principles and practices of the profession of Health. The graduate Health faculty is pleased with the results of this important assignment. We do not believe we can do better than 100 percent, and 90 percent is certainly a high percentage. Therefore, we are meeting this objective. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| Graduate students conducting their professional internships in the area of Health are required to develop an "Internship Portfolio" containing a reflection of their internship experience. The reflection is a compilation of the internship experience and critical components of the graduate courses they have completed. The reflection and portfolio utilize critical thinking skills that relate to the principles and practices of health as identified in the American Association for Health Education. 100 percent (N=10) of the students demonstrated mastery of the application of critical thinking skills in their internship experience. The graduate Health faculty recognizes the value or the “Internship Portfolio” and the application of critical thinking skills and has determined that the assignment needs to remain as a goal for the program. However, we will retire this objective for as an area for improvement. We will be seeking another area in which we want to improve in the graduate program. |
| GOAL: Research Enhancement Skills |
| Objective |
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MA Health graduate students will be competent in the research skills of survey development, data collection, statistical protocols, and data analysis. |
| Indicator |
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A common embedded portion of the HLTH 5374 and HLTH 5375 classes is to enhance the research skills of the students. These skills include: survey methodology, survey development, statistical protocols, data collection techniques, and analysis of data. |
| Criterion |
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Students must score at least 80 percent on the embedded portion of the graduate course assignments in HLTH 5374 and HLTH 5375 that focus on the enhancement of research related skills. Students must score at least 80% correct on writing a research proposal. |
| Finding |
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100 percent (N=15) of the Health graduate students met the minimum 80 percent criterion on the “Bibliography” assignment. 93.33 percent (N=14) of the Health graduate students met the minimum 80 percent criterion on the “Quantitative Data Collection” assignment. 6.69 percent (N=1) of the graduate students failed to meet the minimum criterion established in the goal. 100 percent (N=15) of the Health graduate students met the minimum 80 percent criterion on the "Research Proposal Assignment." These assignments were part of the requirements of the HLTH 5374 course. 100 percent (N=8) of the Health graduate students met the minimum 80 percent criterion on the “Homework 3-Scatterplot” assignment. 87.5 percent (N=7) of the Health graduate students met the minimum 80 percent criterion on the “Math Data Exam.” 12.5 percent (N=1) of the graduate students failed to meet the minimum criterion established in the goal. 100 percent (N=8) of the Health graduate students met the minimum 80 percent criterion on the “Homework 6-Independent t-test and Dependent t-test” assignment. These assignments were part of the requirements of the HLTH 5375 course. Our weaker area, although still successful, is quantitative data collection. |
Actions for Objective:
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After the review of student performance on the research and statistics assignments, the graduate Health program faculty recognized that the students had demonstrated mastery of the required skills. The comprehension and application of survey methodology, survey development, statistical protocols, data collection techniques, and analysis of data is an essential skill that graduate students must understand to be leaders in the field of research. For this reason, the graduate Health program faculty has determined that the research and statistical assignments will remain as criterion for the program goal. We were slightly weaker in the area of quantitative data collection. We will be seeking to mentor students during their program in this area. |
| GOAL: Analysis Of Health Theories And Models |
| Objective |
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MA Health graduate students will be competent in the analysis and application of theories and models in the field of health behavior change and planning. |
| Indicator |
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A common embedded portion of the HLTH 6396 and HLTH 5333 classes is to improve the students’ knowledge, application, and analysis of health planning and behavior change theories and models that are used in the profession of Health Education. |
| Criterion |
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Students must score at least 85 percent on the embedded portion of the graduate course assignments in HLTH 6396 and HLTH 5333 that focus on their knowledge, application, and analysis of health planning and behavior change theories and models that are used in the profession of Health Education. |
| Finding |
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| 100 percent (N=10) of the Health graduate students met the minimum 85 percent criterion on the “Behavior Change Executive Brief and Power Point Presentation” assignment that focused on one of the recognized health behavior theories used in the profession. The assignment was part of the course requirements of the HLTH 6396 class. The graduate Health faculty is pleased with the results of this important assignment. If 100 percent of students are able to meet the criterion, a change needs to be made, either raising the criterion or making the assignment more rigorous. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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After the review of student performance on the health behavior assignment, the graduate Health program faculty recognized that 100.0 percent (N=10) of the students met the minimum 85 percent criterion established in the goal. The comprehension and application of health behavior theories is an essential skill that graduate students must understand; therefore, the health behavior project will remain as a program assignment. Students will have to score 90 percent to meet the criterion for 2012-2013. |
| Closing the Loop |
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After reviewing all of the findings, it was noted that the majority health graduate students met or exceeded each of the criterion established for all of the program goals. The graduate Health program faculty values the rigor of the assignments identified in the program goals and wishes to maintain these requirements and increase criteria in courses taught in the graduate Health Program. The faculty also realizes that additional criterion may need to be identified and established for the 2012-2013 academic year to enhance the learning outcomes of the students enrolled in the program. To that end, we will be retiring the portfolio assignment as an area to imiprove and choose another area on which to work for improvement. For the theories and model assignment, the criterion will be raised to 90 percent for the coming year.
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