Review Assessment Report

Part 1: Contact & Program Identification

Report Year and Contact Information
Academic Year	Modified By	Date Modified
2021-2022	[email protected]	2022-11-07T03:15:36.131Z

School	Name of Program	Courses
CHSS	Sociology AA Degree	BCIS 1110,ENGL 1110,ENGL 1120,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
The department graduated 93 students in 2021-22. The department has a strong tradition of inviting prospective graduates to an informal, on-campus reception. Because we were unable to meet in person, we created a short video and card/flyer to recognize and congratulate our graduates in fall and spring semesters. We offered five online events for students to meet faculty and scholars through the Sociology Speaker Series in spring 2021. Participation ranged from 20 to 50-ish students. The Criminology and Sociology Student Club continued to engage students and survived the campus shutdown via virtual meetings. The club met in two-week intervals and students, plus the advisor, talk via Slack. The club’s inaugural gathering for fall 2022 is in October. In addition, the department participated in the Major Mixer via Zoom in fall 2021 and staffed a table for College Day in spring 2022. We enjoy good rapport and collegial decision-making in the department. It is a program highlight as well!

Provide a high level review of the program to include highlights, successes, challenges, significant changes, and significant resources needed to support the program

The department graduated 93 students in 2021-22. The department has a strong tradition of inviting prospective graduates to an informal, on-campus reception. Because we were unable to meet in person, we created a short video and card/flyer to recognize and congratulate our graduates in fall and spring semesters. We offered five online events for students to meet faculty and scholars through the Sociology Speaker Series in spring 2021. Participation ranged from 20 to 50-ish students. The Criminology and Sociology Student Club continued to engage students and survived the campus shutdown via virtual meetings. The club met in two-week intervals and students, plus the advisor, talk via Slack. The club’s inaugural gathering for fall 2022 is in October. In addition, the department participated in the Major Mixer via Zoom in fall 2021 and staffed a table for College Day in spring 2022. We enjoy good rapport and collegial decision-making in the department. It is a program highlight as well!

Part 3: Data Review

	2019-2020	2020-2021	2021-2022
Annual number of graduate awards is greater than 10	116	107	93
Number of declared majors	205	193	139
Average Class Size	21.4	20.1	19.4
Annual Average Class withdrawal rate is 30% or below (SAGE 35%)	15%	13%	14%
Annual C-Pass rate for coursework is 60% or above	71%	67%	66%
Average class fill rate at 60% or above capacity within a term or over a year	85%	82%	79%
Graduate Transfer to 4-year Schools	53%	n/a	n/a
Full-time Faculty Coverage by Section	38%	40%	19%

Summarize how your program met or did not meet the target measures based on the data above
The program met the target measures for 2021-2022. The reported percentage for full-time faculty coverage for 2021-22 merits review by the Office of Data Strategy.

Part 4: Program Learning Outcome Analysis

Learning Outcome	Population or Course(s) Assessed	Description	Summary of Assessment Results
1. Critical Analysis	SOCI 1110 Tables 1-3 (not shown) highlight the results of the spring 2022 assessment. More than 50% of the Introduction students achieved the “did it” or “did it great” level for critical analysis. The correlation analysis suggests strong relations between the 4 rubric dimensions, i.e., students who do well with problem identification also do well with conclusions. Correlations for students’ grades in the 1110 course (table 3) are less robust—ranging from .39 to .47—but are stronger than those for the rubric dimensions and total hours completed (from .05 to .15). These results suggest that student skills in 1110 are not tied to past coursework/hours.	Homework Assignments	Table 4 (not shown) includes the assessment results for two cohorts of students: Introduction to Sociology students (1110) in spring semester 2022 and capstone students (2999) in spring semester 2021. The objective is to determine whether students demonstrate stronger skills at the end of the AA versus students new to sociology. The analysis represents a synthetic cohort and the two assessment efforts are not the same but adequate for a rough approximation of student progress. The capstone scoring did not include the conclusions dimension for critical analysis. The sociology majors exhibit stronger scores for critical analysis than the 1110 students. Notably, the majors did not score as “absent or incorrect” for the rubric dimensions compared to 1 of 10 Introduction students. The percentage of students who “did it great” in the capstone classes is higher than the 1110 students for the three rubric dimensions.
2. Effective Communication	SOCI 1110	Homework Assignments

Interpretation of Assessment findings
ADDITIONAL SUMMARY The results are less promising for a look at the total percentages for those who demonstrated proficiency with critical analysis—the percentage for “did it” plus “did it great.” The problem identification skill is comparable for 1110 and capstone students but 1110 students show greater proficiency for use of evidence and evidence evaluation. INTERPRETATION One explanation for discrepancy in scores for the 1110 and capstone is that students in the capstone class selected their articles for the assignment. The articles were not always rigorous and not as applicable to the rubric categories as the instructor-selected articles for the 1110 assessment.

Interpretation of Assessment findings

ADDITIONAL SUMMARY The results are less promising for a look at the total percentages for those who demonstrated proficiency with critical analysis—the percentage for “did it” plus “did it great.” The problem identification skill is comparable for 1110 and capstone students but 1110 students show greater proficiency for use of evidence and evidence evaluation. INTERPRETATION One explanation for discrepancy in scores for the 1110 and capstone is that students in the capstone class selected their articles for the assignment. The articles were not always rigorous and not as applicable to the rubric categories as the instructor-selected articles for the 1110 assessment.

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 assessment effort for 2020-21 focused on the introductory class (1110) in an effort to measure where students start their journey in our program. The analysis suggests that 1110 students do well vis-à-vis capstone students, i.e., those close to graduation, based on the prior assessment. The scores for capstone students are mixed vis-à-vis introductory students. The results suggest SOCI students will benefit from more emphasis on critical thinking. We encourage the use of the rubrics for our program outcomes—what is expected of SOCI graduates. The more exposure to the rubrics throughout our courses is helpful. The department has elected to pause the assessment of students' critical analysis skills and look at a series of multiple choice and short answer questions that target sociological concepts and theories for 2022-23.	Although the data for the capstone class has moments that are less-than-encouraging, the department is satisfied with the results for critical analysis for 1110 students.
2021-2022
2021-2022

Please select all of the following that characterize the types of changes described in the above action plan

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