Archived Assessment Report
| Program | Latin American Studies AA Degree |
| Assessment Reporter | [email protected] |
| Theme | Practicing Community |
| Review Year | 2024-2025 - Final Report |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Focus Area |
|---|---|
| 3. Incorporate more than one perspective (e.g. source, method, technique, and/or approach) | Can students critically evaluate material by recognizing multiple perspectives, including that of the author/producer/filmmaker? |
| 5. Effective Communication | Can students effectively express their evaluation of a piece of content? (an article, film, podcast, etc...) |
| 7. Produce communication appropriate to audience, situation, venue, and/or context | Can students write academically, using appropriate language and grammar? |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Description of Assessment Tool | Population or Courses Assessed | Hypothetical Analysis/Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3. Incorporate more than one perspective (e.g. source, method, technique, and/or approach) | Students respond/reflect/discuss a film or documentary and address the following: 1. What were the main ideas and issues conveyed in this film? 2. Discuss two or more different perspectives that were expressed in this film. What do you think the agenda of the filmmaker was in creating this film? | LTAM 1110 | Can students effectively analyze and discuss the film from multiple perspectives? |
| 5. Effective Communication | Students respond/reflect/discuss a film or documentary and address the following: 1. What were the main ideas and issues conveyed in this film? 2. Discuss two or more different perspectives that were expressed in this film. What do you think the agenda of the filmmaker was in creating this film? | LTAM 1110 | Can students effectively communicate about multiple perspectives? |
| 7. Produce communication appropriate to audience, situation, venue, and/or context | Students respond/reflect/discuss a film or documentary and address the following: 1. What were the main ideas and issues conveyed in this film? 2. Discuss two or more different perspectives that were expressed in this film. What do you think the agenda of the filmmaker was in creating this film? | LTAM 1110 | Can students effectively write academically? |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Summary of Results | Reflection on Focus Area | Intepretation of Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3. Incorporate more than one perspective (e.g. source, method, technique, and/or approach) | 7/17 students were proficient, 6/17 were emerging, and 3/17 were ineffective at incorporating more than one perspective. | This answers our question that this is in fact an area than many students could use help with. | This shows us that there is work to be done on our end at helping students identify multiple perspectives. |
| 5. Effective Communication | 8/17 students were proficient, 4/17 students were emerging, and 3/17 students were ineffective at communicating their evaluations. | These results answer the question that some students cannot effectively communicate about multiple perspectives. | This shows us that students need more support in this area. |
| 7. Produce communication appropriate to audience, situation, venue, and/or context | 8/17 students were proficient, 4/17 students were emerging, and 3/17 students were ineffective at communicating academically. | This answers the question that many students struggle to write to the appropriate audience, in this case in an academic style. | This shows us that students need more support with their academic writing. |
| 3. Incorporate more than one perspective (e.g. source, method, technique, and/or approach) | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | Instructors plan to modify the assignment instructions by including examples. |
| Type of Change |
|
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | Yes - see above |
| What data motivated the change? | Only 7 out of 17 were proficient |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | We anticpate this will increase the number of proficient students |
| 5. Effective Communication | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | An example will be provided in the instructions. |
| Type of Change |
|
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | See above |
| What data motivated the change? | Only 8 out of 17 proficient |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | Proficiency will increase |
| 7. Produce communication appropriate to audience, situation, venue, and/or context | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | Students will be given the opportunity to revise the assignment and resubmit |
| Type of Change |
|
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | see above |
| What data motivated the change? | 8 out of 17 proficient |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | Proficiency will increase |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Description of Assessment Tool | Population of Courses Assessed |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Incorporate more than one perspective (e.g. source, method, technique, and/or approach) | The tool will only be slightly modified. The two changes will be: 1. to provide examples in the assignment instructions, which will hopeful clarify what is expected, and 2. to allow students to revise and resubmit the assignment. | LTAM 1110 |
| 5. Effective Communication | The tool will only be slightly modified. The two changes will be: 1. to provide examples in the assignment instructions, which will hopeful clarify what is expected, and 2. to allow students to revise and resubmit the assignment. | LTAM 1110 |
| 7. Produce communication appropriate to audience, situation, venue, and/or context | The tool will only be slightly modified. The two changes will be: 1. to provide examples in the assignment instructions, which will hopeful clarify what is expected, and 2. to allow students to revise and resubmit the assignment. | LTAM 1110 |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Summary of Second Round Results | Intepretation of Results, Pre- and Post-Change | Follow up questions, possible next steps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3. Incorporate more than one perspective (e.g. source, method, technique, and/or approach) | The numbers changed very little - in the 2nd round 7 out of 16 were proficient. | Perhaps requiring that students resubmit the assignment rather than making it an option would yield better results. | |
| 5. Effective Communication | Proficiency decreased - in the 2nd round just 5 out of 16 were proficient. | Perhaps requiring that students resubmit the assignment rather than making it an option would yield better results. | |
| 7. Produce communication appropriate to audience, situation, venue, and/or context | The numbers changed very little - in the 2nd round 7 out of 16 were proficient. | Perhaps requiring that students resubmit the assignment rather than making it an option would yield better results. |
Describe any change in student achievement observed as part of this assessment process, and what led to those changes.
We did not, but again, this could be the result of sample size.
Describe long-term changes in the program(s) that the assessment process led to, and what motivated those changes?
Our students do seem to struggle with writing, so it was useful to make some changes that address that, namely offering feedback and allowing for revision. It seems we can be doing more though, so moving forward we plan to encourage students to reach out to TLCc Virtual Writing Center and offer more opportunities to revise and resubmit their work.
What did you learn about the teaching and learning of "Practicing Community" in your programs?
One issue we face is assessing LTAM is that in the spring we offer just one course so our data set at this point is very small. We assessed 17 students in Spring 2024 and 16 students in Spring 2025. It is challenging to come to any concrete conclusions given this issue.
Describe any external factors affecting the program or affecting assessment of the program.
n/a