Annual Learning Outcomes Assessment Report

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1 Degree Program Information Academic Degree Program (Major) Degree (BS, BA, BFA, MFA, MBA, etc.) Department/ School Number of students currently enrolled (as majors) in the program: Contact Person Name (Person coordinating program s assessment effort) Annual Learning Outcomes Assessment Report French B.A. World Languages and Cultures/Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences 24 Dr. John F. Boitano Title Chair, Department of World Languages and Cultures & Associate Professor of French address jboitano@chapman.edu Note to the Assessment Committee: The chair of World Languages and Cultures (Dr. John Boitano) contacted last year s chair of assessment and received authorization to use the same survey instrument as the previous year. This instrument includes the assessment of the three/four major learning outcomes in the study of any world language our culture: (1) Reading, (2) Writing,and (3/4) Oral/Listening Comprehension. The Department therefore assessed these 4 essential outcomes and not five as indicated on the assessment form. Our photocopier/scanner in the Department does not support colored copying or scanning, which accounts for the lack of color in the charts in the appendix.

2 Learning Outcome #1 Reading Competency I. Process: Student Learning Outcome The desired learning outcome is that students will be able to comprehend written materials in French at the ACTFL (The American Council on the Supports University Theme (Some or all of the program s learning outcomes must support at least two of the university s strategic themes) Themes: Internationalization, Personalized Education, Faculty/Student Research, Interdisciplinarity, or Student Writing Describe how the theme is supported by the learning outcome Supports WASC Core Competency (Please indicate whether this outcome supports any of WASC s core competencies) Oral Communication Written communication Information Literacy Quantitative Reasoning Critical Thinking Teaching of Foreign Languages) Advanced or higher level. The senior capstone class (FREN 496), which was used to assess the French BA, truly supports the University themes of Internationalization/Globalization by affording students with the opportunity to select a research topic of interest relating to the art, culture, economy, history, literature, music, or philosophy of a French speaking country or region. Students research, document and write entirely in French a 25-page term project on their topic. The instructor provides them with personalized education as he/she assists students in locating primary and secondary sources in the target language. The instructor facilitates student writing and research by having students post each week on a dedicated discussion board 250 words in French on their topic. Before the instructor reads and provides feedback on each posting, two other students read and comment on each posting so as to foster a collaborative learning environment. The capstone class affords students with the opportunity to research and to write a substantive paper on a topic, which may have peaked their interest in a previous French class (taken on the Orange Campus or Abroad) or any class with a component relating to a French speaking country or region. Because of the diversity of our majors (almost all of our majors are double majors), French majors demonstrate an interest in a vast array of research topics. This year s senior theses were all interdisciplinary in nature: from the French educational system to the history of the progressive abolition of capital punishment in France. The French capstone class allows students to pursue individualized research interests, to explore and to refine their advanced knowledge of all of the above-mentioned university themes. The French curriculum allows students to read works of great French/Francophone writers such as Simone de Beauvoir (FREN 386), Elie Wiesel (FREN 351), Tahar Ben Jelloun (FREN 348), Molière and Racine (FREN 349), Robbe-Grillet and Duras (FREN 352). One class actually allows students to read and to interpret the extremely poetic, baroque-age libretti of Quinault and Lully (FREN 354). The interdisciplinary breadth of our undergraduate course offerings in French is one of the strongest and most innovative components of the program. Reading competency is targeted throughout the program. We recently compared our French B.A. program to some of to some of the most highly regarded institutions of higher learning in the USA such as Harvard University, Columbia University and New York University. None of the abovementioned programs offer the same range and depth of diverse classes and readings as we do. Critical Thinking

3 Where is the outcome published for students? Syllabi (If syllabi, list course numbers) Website Handbook Evidence of Learning capstone project presentation performance course-embedded exam assignment standardized test portfolio Collecting and Analyzing the Data How did you select the sample? What was your sample size (number of students)? Provide the percentage of the sample size as compared to the relevant population. How did you assess the student work/data collected? Possible Tools: rubric, exam questions, portfolio samples Attach all assessment tools Expected Level of Achievement What was your target(s) for student performance for this outcome? (This should tie to the methods in which you assessed the students and collected and analyzed data in the section above.) The learning outcomes are published in French 496 and all upper-division French classes, which also appear on the Chapman Website All 10 French majors enrolled in the capstone class (FREN 496) were assessed independently of the instructor (Dr. Véronique Olivier) for reading competency by Dr. John Boitano (Associate Professor of French). Dr. Boitano did not read or evaluate the thesis authored by his daughter (Maïa Boitano) because of the obvious conflict of interest. This thesis was independently evaluated and scored by Dr. Allan MacVicar (Assistant Professor of French). Dr. Boitano read the remaining 25-page theses, which were written entirely in French. The names of the students were removed so that he did not know their identity. As both Dr. Boitano and Dr. MacVicar have a solid knowledge of both the primary and secondary sources used by students to research, to document and to write their theses, they were able to assess the reading comprehension of each student s work. Each thesis was independently scored for Reading competency with the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Language evaluation: 1- Novice, 2-Intermediate, 3- Advanced, 4-Superior, 5-Distinguished. Our expected level of achievement for students enrolled in the capstone class is that at least 80% of the students will fall in the Advanced, Superior or Distinguished categories. These categories coincide with the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines of Superior, Advanced High, and Advanced Intermediate. We expect 20% or below to fall in the Deficient category, which is not to say that the students are incompetent, but rather might be seen as Advanced Low or Intermediate High in the ACTFL Guidelines; i.e. they are not at a solid Advanced state, (may be slightly deficient) yet they can handle the course work. We do not expect majors to score at the Novice level. The Distinguished level is quite difficult to achieve, as it requires nearnative proficiency in the target language. Learning Outcome #2: Writing Competency I. Process: Student Learning Outcome The desired learning outcome is that students will be able to compose entirely in French at the ACTFL level of Advanced or above a 25 page senior thesis on the art, culture, economy, history, literature, music, or philosophy of a French speaking country or region. Supports University Theme (Some or all of the program s learning outcomes must support at least two of the university s strategic themes) Themes: Internationalization, Personalized Education, As previously, the senior capstone thesis class further explores and refines all of the university themes of internationalization/globalization, personalized education, faculty/student research, interdisciplinarity and/or student writing. Moreover, writing competency is a targeted learning outcome in all of our upper-division French classes. All of our upper and lower division French

4 Faculty/Student Research, Interdisciplinarity, or Student Writing Describe how the theme is supported by the learning outcome Supports WASC Core Competency (Please indicate whether this outcome supports any of WASC s core competencies) Oral Communication Written communication Information Literacy Quantitative Reasoning Critical Thinking Where is the outcome published for students? Syllabi (If syllabi, list course numbers) Website Handbook Evidence of Learning capstone project presentation performance course-embedded exam assignment standardized test portfolio Collecting and Analyzing the Data How did you select the sample? What was your sample size (number of students)? Provide the percentage of the sample size as compared to the relevant population. How did you assess the student work/data collected? Possible Tools: rubric, exam questions, portfolio samples Attach all assessment tools Expected Level of Achievement What was your target(s) for student performance for this outcome? (This should tie to the methods in which you assessed the students and collected and analyzed data in the section above.) classes include a substantive writing component in the target language. Students engage in writing activities inside and outside of classroom. They offer and submit multiple drafts of written assignments, which require selfcorrections and multiple revisions. We make use of online and creative forums for writing such as discussion boards, blogs, and presentation software. In Dr. Olivier s French performance class (FREN 360), students actually write their own play in French, which they stage and perform. In Dr. Boitano s internet based French murder mystery classes (FREN ), students post in character very lively and original messages on a dedicated discussion board. Students not only read the works of great French/Francophone writers; they actually write interpretative and original essays in the target language on these literary masterpieces. Written Communication Critical Thinking The learning outcomes are published in French 496 and all upper-division French classes, which also appear on the Chapman Website All 10 French majors enrolled in the capstone class (FREN 496) were assessed independently of the instructor (Dr. Olivier) for writing proficiency by Dr. John Boitano (Associate Professor of French). The thesis written by Dr. Boitano s daughter (Maia Boitano) was independently evaluated by Dr. Allan MacVicar (Assistant Professor of French) because of the obvious conflict of interest. Dr. Boitano and Dr. MacVicar read the 25-page theses, which were written entirely in French. The names of the students were removed so that they did not know their identity. Without correcting the final version, Dr. Olivier electronically collected and submitted the completed student theses to Dr. Boitano (with the exception of his daughter s thesis) and Dr. MacVicar, removing all identifying information. The 10 French majors evaluated represent 41% of all current French majors. All 10 majors were graduating seniors. The five categories of the standard ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Language evaluation were used: 1- Novice, 2- Intermediate, 3-Advanced, 4-Superior, 5-Distinguished.. Our target for this goal is that all students demonstrate an Advanced or higher level for writing.

5 Learning Outcome #3 &#4: Speaking/Listening Competency I. Process: Student Learning Outcome The desired learning outcome is that students will be able to demonstrate speaking/listening competency in the target language at the ACTFL Advanced Supports University Theme (Some or all of the program s learning outcomes must support at least two of the university s strategic themes) Themes: Internationalization, Personalized Education, Faculty/Student Research, Interdisciplinarity, or Student Writing Describe how the theme is supported by the learning outcome Supports WASC Core Competency (Please indicate whether this outcome supports any of WASC s core competencies) Oral Communication Written communication Information Literacy Quantitative Reasoning Critical Thinking Where is the outcome published for students? Syllabi (If syllabi, list course numbers) Website Handbook Evidence of Learning capstone project presentation performance course-embedded exam assignment standardized test portfolio Collecting and Analyzing the Data How did you select the sample? What was your sample size (number of students)? Provide the percentage of the sample size as compared to the relevant population. How did you assess the student work/data collected? Possible Tools: rubric, exam questions, portfolio samples Attach all assessment tools or higher category. The senior capstone thesis allows French majors to further explore and to refine their advanced knowledge of all of the university themes of internationalization/globalization, personalized education, faculty/student research, interdisciplinarity and student writing. Moreover, the French program features innovative courses, which specifically target speaking and listening comprehension. As previously mentioned, students actually write, stage and act their own play in French in Dr. Olivier s FREN 360 class. In Dr. Boitano s French internet murder mystery class, students role-play a character in a variety of improvised setting. As the instructor plays the role of Inspector Piette, he/she constantly throws students verbal curve balls, which force them to improvise, to think, and to articulate their thoughts and ideas in the target language. Speaking and listening competency is targeted throughout the program. Oral Communication Critical Thinking On the syllabus for the senior capstone class (FREN 496) and all upper-division offerings, which are available on the Chapman website. All 10 French majors enrolled in the capstone class (FREN 496) were assessed independently of the instructor (Dr. Olivier) for speaking and listening proficiency by Dr. Allan MacVicar. They presented their thesis without notes in French. Dr. MacVicar asked them spontaneous questions in French so as to access their listening comprehension and ability to communicate in the target language. The 10 French majors evaluated represent 41% of all current French majors. All 10 majors were graduating seniors. The five categories of the standard ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Language evaluation were used to evaluate their oral competency in the target language: 1- Novice, 2-Intermediate, 3- Advanced, 4-Superior, 5-Distinguished.

6 CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY Expected Level of Achievement What was your target(s) for student performance for this outcome? (This should tie to the methods in which you assessed the students and collected and analyzed data in the section above.) Our target for this goal is that all students demonstrate ACTFL Advanced or above level speaking/listening comprehension in the target level.

GERMAN STUDIES (GRMN)

Bucknell University 1 GERMAN STUDIES (GRMN) Faculty Professors: Katherine M. Faull, Peter Keitel (Director) Associate Professors: Bastian Heinsohn, Helen G. Morris-Keitel (Chair) German Studies provides