Review Assessment Report
Part 1: Contact & Program Identification
| Report Year and Contact Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Academic Year | Modified By | Date Modified |
| 2020-2021 | [email protected] | 2021-11-20T00:53:02.138Z |
| School | Name of Program | Courses |
|---|---|---|
| CHSS | Criminology AA Degree | BCIS 1110,ENGL 1120,SOCI 2310,SOCI 1110,SOCI 2210 |
Part 2: Program Summary
| Provide a high level review of the program to include highlights, successes, challenges, significant changes, and significant resources needed to support the program |
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In fall 2020 and spring 2021 the department initiated the Sociology Speaker Series where sociologists from various schools did a short presentation of their research and talk with students via Zoom. The topics included:
Bending the Binary,
The Lived Experiences of Intersex People,
Blue Humor: On the Cultural Violence of Racist Police Jokes,
Beyond the Risk Narrative, Rethinking Reproduction of Poverty.
In spring semester 2021 the department hosted a virtual “Meet the Advisors” event for students. Advisors from different 4-year schools across the state were invited to share suggestions and answer questions about transfers. In May 2021 the department invited CNM alumni to share their experiences in a virtual meeting.
The department debuted an online Introduction to Sociology class offered in Spanish and revised/rebuilt three different Online College courses to ensure the classes meet QM standards and we had a successful search for a full-time criminologist.
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Part 3: Data Review
| 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual number of graduate awards is greater than 10 | 65 | 80 | 73 |
| Number of declared majors | 475 | 491 | 470 |
| Average Class Size | 23.2 | 22.4 | 21.4 |
| Annual Average Class withdrawal rate is 30% or below (SAGE 35%) | 11% | 14% | 13% |
| Annual C-Pass rate for coursework is 60% or above | 75% | 72% | 69% |
| Average class fill rate at 60% or above capacity within a term or over a year | 84% | 82% | 80% |
| Graduate Transfer to 4-year Schools | 31% | 48% | n/a |
| Full-time Faculty Coverage by Section | 46% | 46% | 49% |
| Summarize how your program met or did not meet the target measures based on the data above |
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The target measures are met for 2020-21. We note a slight decrease in the C-pass rate, from 75% in 2018-2019 to 69% in 2020-2021. The decline is perhaps related to the shift to more online sections.
We urge the Office of Data Strategy to look into the 0% transfer for 2019-20; it is a puzzle. |
Part 4: Program Learning Outcome Analysis
| Learning Outcome | Population or Course(s) Assessed | Description | Summary of Assessment Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRITICAL ANALYSIS | SOC 2999 |
| The critical analysis outcome includes 3 dimensions: identify and critically consider the main issues, concepts, problems, and/or techniques; include appropriate supporting evidence; and demonstrate mastery by evaluating, analyzing, interpreting and/or synthesizing. Students (n=22) are especially strong in expressing the main theme in the analysis—73% met the developing or proficient criteria. Slightly more than 50% of the criminology majors achieved the developing or proficiency criteria for the dimensions of supporting evidence and demonstrating mastery in the analysis. Correlations for the rubric dimensions and students’ GPA are strong, ranging from .32 to .47.
The scores for the three rubric dimensions were summed to produce a total score for critical analysis. More than 50 percent of criminology majors attained proficiency for critical analysis.
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| EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION | SOC 2999 |
| The communication rubric includes three dimensions: demonstrate organization and/or coherence of ideas, content, and/or formulas; produce communication appropriate to audience, situation, venue, and/or context; and demonstrate written communication mechanics, e.g., grammar, citations. Students were competent with the communication dimensions with more than two-thirds meeting the developing or proficient criteria. Students’ scores for effective communication demonstrate strong correlations with GPA, ranging from .40 to .56.
The scores for the three rubric dimensions were summed to produce a total score for effective communication. Almost two-thirds attained proficiency for effective communication based on the total scores.
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| Interpretation of Assessment findings |
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The data suggest that criminology majors have satisfactory critical analysis and communication skills. The more sophisticated rubric dimensions for critical analysis--supporting evidence and mastery--are less robust than the simpler dimension of identify issues. Students continue to struggle with citations, including the failure to include citations but also with documentation of the source. |
Part 5: Additional Action Plan in Support of Student Learning (If Appropriate)
| Upcoming Year | Changes Planned for the upcoming year | Data Motivating this change |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-2022 | The department will continue to work with students on critical thinking skills, especially the evaluation and mastery dimension. But the capstone assignment is limited. We will retain the capstone assessment; it offers good information about student skills but we cannot gain insight into students’ progress in the program with a one-shot assessment. As such, the department will implement an assignment in SOCI 1110, Introduction to Sociology, and selected 2000-level courses to measure critical analysis and communication. The assignment allows us to build a synthetic cohort where we can look at scores for the initial entre into criminology (with SOCI 1110) and review the results vis-à-vis capstone scores as students exit the program. The new assessment, an analysis of an 4-7 page article that summarizes sociological research, is not as rigorous as the journal article assignment from the capstone class but we can make rough appraisals about students’ progress. A pre-test was conducted in fall 2021. | The lack of data for the starting point for our students is the impetus for the revision. |
| 2021-2022 | ||
| 2021-2022 |