SOCIOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY ASSESSMENT PLAN (DRAFT)  9/07

A. The Sociology/Anthropology Mission Statement:

Majoring in Sociology and Anthropology at Wells prepares students to understand how they both perpetuate and change social conditions around them and introduces them to the many paths toward social justice, including sustainability. Sociology/Anthropology students develop an awareness and understanding of national and global inequalities based on race, class, gender, age, sexuality, religion, nationality and the effects of colonialism past and present. Our students develop an appreciation for life-ways different from the normative American middle-class.

As scholars, Sociology and Anthropology students recognize and discuss enduring and timely issues using classic and contemporary frameworks from both disciplines. They are also familiar with, and are able to critique various research methods and methodologies. Furthermore, they are able to discuss the ethics of doing research and to understand the responsibilities of a social scientist.

 

 

B. Program Goals:

Our program goals are fourfold: to develop informed critical scholars who can communicate in the language of sociology and anthropology, to introduce students to timely and enduring issues in sociology and anthropology, to open students’ eyes to structural injustices as well as develop an appreciation for diverse lifeways, and to allow students the opportunity to think about creating a more just, equitable and sustainable society. 

 

 

C. Learning Objectives:

            Our program focuses on several learning objectives that are based on our Program Goals.

 

            Program Goal 1: to develop informed critical scholars who can communicate in the language of sociology and anthropology

 

                        Learning Objective 1: Students will be able to engage in professional discourse both verbally and through writing.

 

                        Learning Objective 2: Students will be aware of and be able to use theoretical frameworks to examine enduring and timely social issues.               

                        Learning Objective 3: Students will be able to conduct a research project and critique research methods and methodologies.

 

                        Learning Objective 4: Students will be able to synthesize information.

 

            Program Goal 2: to introduce students to timely and enduring issues in sociology and anthropology

 

                        Learning Objective 5: Students will be aware of enduring and timely social issues in Sociology and Anthropology. 

 

                        Learning Objective 6: Students will be able to exercise their “sociological   imagination.” 

 

                        Learning Objective 7: Student will be able to exercise the “anthropological perspective.”

 

            Program Goal 3: to open students’ eyes to structural injustices and develop an appreciation for diverse lifeways

 

                        Learning Objective 8: Students will understand social systems and systems of meaning that perpetuate social inequalities.

 

                        Learning Objective 9: Student will develop an appreciation for diverse lifeways.

 

            Program Goal 4: to allow students the opportunity to think about creating a more just, equitable and sustainable society. 

 

                        Learning Objective 10: Students will be able to articulate the need for social justice and suggest paths to improve social inequalities 

 

 

D. Measurable Learning Outcomes: The above Learning Objectives can be measured in the following ways.

           

                        Learning Objective 1: Students will be able to engage in professional discourse both verbally and through writing.

 

                                    - lead and participate in class discussions

                                    - write a research paper using ASA or AAA format

                                    - present information, summaries of readings and data

                                    - some students will have the opportunity to present their thesis research to the campus-wide community

                                    - some students will have the opportunity to present research at NYSSA, NEAA, NCUR, ESS, AAA

 

                        Learning Objective 2: Students will be aware of and be able to use theoretical frameworks and concepts to examine enduring and timely                         social issues.

 

                                    - identify contemporary and classic theoretical frameworks and theorists

                                    - apply contemporary and classic frameworks and concepts to timely and enduring social issues and conditions

                                    - identify timely and enduring social issues that both disciplines examine

                                   

                        Learning Objective 3: Students will be able to conduct a research project and critique research methods and methodologies.

 

                                    - explain the difference between methods and methodologies

                                    - articulate the benefits and limitations of research methods and methodologies for a particular projects

                                    - find and evaluate academic sources

                                    - collect, organize, analyze and interpret original data

           

                        Learning Objective 4: Students will be able to synthesize information.

 

                                    - write papers and written exams making logical arguments using several sources, concepts, and perspectives

                                                                       

                        Learning Objective 5: Students will be aware of enduring and timely social issues in both Sociology and Anthropology. 

 

                                    - choose research paper topics that reflect timely and enduring issues

                                    - recite in conversation and class discussion or refer in writing on exams or papers, statistics and other data that describes our                                       current social world in papers and exams

                                    - describe the difference between sociology and anthropology in perspective and methods

 

                        Learning Objective 6: Students will be able to exercise their “sociological imagination.” 

 

                                    - analyze their personal lives in terms of social systems and meaning

 

                        Learning Objective 7: Student will be able to exercise the “anthropological perspective.”

 

                                    - compare and contrast various lifeways and ideologies

                                    - express the values and disadvantages of various lifeways and ideologies

 

                        Learning Objective 8: Students will understand social systems and systems of meaning that perpetuate social inequalities.

 

                                    - identify ideologies that perpetuate social inequalities

                                    - describe how oppression and privilege work

                                    - discuss the consequences of social inequalities

                                    - identify historical conditions that have lead to current social condition and meaning systems 

                                    -point to examples in various social institutions of oppression and privilege

                                    - compare and contrast conditions of oppression and privilege 

 

                         

                        Learning Objective 9: Student will develop an appreciation for diverse lifeways.

 

                                    - compare and contrast benefits and limitations of various social systems in terms of social justice

                                    - recognize who benefits and who is hindered by various social systems and ideologies

                                    - discuss the limits and strengths of cultural relativism

 

Learning Objective 10: Students will be able to articulate the need for social justice, including sustainability and suggest paths to improve social inequalities

 

                                    - identify and explain the consequences of social injustices

                                    - predict how changes in social institutions and meaning systems would effect social conditions 

                                    - compare and contrast solutions to complex social problems

 

E. Means of Assessment of Outcomes:

Points and Means of Assessment: The design of our major requires student to take certain courses and to have shared experiences (thesis writing and comprehensive exams). These are obvious sites to collect assessment data.

 

Shared Experiences as Seniors (“post-test” measures): All sociology and anthropology students are required to take, in their senior year the SOC 401 class and comprehensive exams.

SOC 401 is our capstone class and therefore is the place we should conduct “post-test” measures. For this class, students are required to write a senior thesis. This thesis and the process of writing it make our synthesis many of the skills and knowledge we  see as our Learning Objectives.  75% of our students work for this course should indicate skills related to 7 out of 10 of the Learning Objectives. This course is our major data collection point for our program. We are in the process of designing a rubric to assess our students work in this class.

We also require our seniors to take comprehensive exams in the spring semester. This is a written exam composed of a set of questions that test their knowledge of theory, methods and cultural relativism. It also allows them to reflect on their thesis.  Comprehensive exams can serve as a “post-test” measure for all our students. 75% of our students exams should reflect mastery in 7 out of 10 Learning Objectives. We need to create a rubric for assessing this data.

 

“Pre-test” and “Along-the-way” Measures: 

Since our program has no specific entry-level course (i.e. students sometimes take SOC 151 in their senior year), it is difficult to find a “shared experience” for entry-level students to do “pre-test measures.”

For this reason, we find it necessary for students, with the help of their advisors, to keep a Soc/Anth portfolio. This portfolio will contain copies of papers, exams, presentation scripts, etc. and an accompanying rubric to indicate whether or not the student is meeting our Learning Objectives. Also included in the portfolio will be a timeline of the courses and experiences the student has had over their time here at Wells, so we might keep track of when a student is exposed to opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge outlined in our Learning Objectives. We need to develop a rubric for assessing a student’s mastery of our Learning Objectives. 

 

            Points and Means of Assessment at the Course Level:

            In order to preserve our faculties academic freedom to choose the means to assess their students abilities, we allow them to pick and choose among the following means of assessment: pre-test and post-test measures, formal research papers, written exams, oral presentations, portfolios, conducting research projects, class discussion. Each instructor is encouraged to develop a rubric for assessing these means of assessment to be used specifically for the classes they teach. Courses that are especially important to assessing the program are: SOC 151, ANTH 161, SOC 363, SOC 394, SOC 260, SOC 277, SOC 158.

                                   

F. How Assessment Data Will Be Used:

Hiring: Sociology and anthropology is currently at a cross-roads, with a tenure track search currently underway to replace a recently retired faculty. We are also in the process of requesting a replacement for the position we lost when one of our faculty members was promoted to the position of Dean of the College.

This current assessment plan will help guide us in our search for new faculty to fill these two positions, as it will help us hire someone who shares our values and beliefs as to what sociology and anthropology students should learn.

Course Development and Re-development: While we do not yet use assessment data to assess our program, the process of writing the assessment plan has us already rethinking and redesigning our program.  We will be meeting several times this semester to discuss our goals and how to best measure them, especially at the individual course level. When we do begin to collect assessment data, this data will also help us to determine if our current course offerings and the design of the program is sufficient in creating the kinds of graduates we would like to create. As data is collected, regular meetings of the faculty in the major to discuss the ways we are measuring up to our own goals and how to redirect our program, classes or even the goals themselves will help us to keep on track. 

The assessment plan has already lead us to change the requirements of the major. SOC 277 Social Inequalities will be a required class for all majors, since the issues it addresses are key to many of our Learning Objectives.

Next Semester (New Majors): Next semester Wells sophomores will be declaring their majors. When a student declares their major as sociology and anthropology, s/he will meet with her advisor and begin the development of their portfolio. This will be the first cohort of students for which we will have data.

Next Semester (Comprehensive Exams): Next semester our seniors will take their comprehensive exams. We will, by then, develop a rubric that will help us assess their skills and knowledge according to our Learning Objectives. This data will help us evaluate how our program currently.

This Semester (Thesis Projects): This semester (fall 2007) our seniors will be taking SOC 401, which requires them to write their senior thesis. We will design a rubric to measure our students’ knowledge and skill sets as outlined by our Learning Objectives. 

 

NOTE: This is still very much a draft/working document.