POL 104 Fall 2011 SLOAT REPORTsubmitted by Professor Linda McDonald Carter

INTRODUCTION

This SLOAT assessment study was conducted in Fall 2011 on the course POL 104, American Government, which examines the structure and processes of the American governmental system. Furthermore, in POL 104 the branches of government are examined in both their historical and contemporary settings. It is important to note that POL 104 is affirmed as a general education course in the Society and Human Behavior general education foundation category and is also determined to address both integrated general education goals, Ethical Reasoning & Action and Information Literacy. As such, students majoring in any ECC academic program (since they all require at least one Society and Human Behavior general education course) may choose to take this course to fulfill part of their academic requirements. Furthermore, POL 104 is a required general education course in several program curricula including the Criminal Justice A.S. and Paralegal Studies A.S. programs, which means that all students majoring in these degree programs must successfully complete the American Government course. Thus, POL 104 is a high-enrollment course at the College.

STUDY OVERVIEW

Social Sciences Division faculty members administered two assessment instruments during the Fall 2011 semester, to students enrolled in six sections of the POL 104 course. The first assessment instrument was designed to measure the ability of the students to define and explain political terminology. This instrument was used in a total of six POL 104 classes, which were taught by a full-time professor (1 section) and adjunct faculty (5 sections). The second assessment instrument was designed to measure students’ levels of ability to describe the purpose and function of the various branches of the United States Government and was administered in the same six POL 104 classes sections.

The specific course learning objectives define and explain political terminology and describe the purpose and function of the various branches of the United States Government were selected for assessment during the Fall 2011 semester for three primary reasons. These reasons are as follows:

1) The overall aggregate results of several semester/terms’ worth of informal, orally-administered course surveys of ECC students enrolled in POL 104 (American Government), PLS 101 (Introduction to Paralegal Studies), CJI 120 (Prison Subcultures & Lifestyles), and CJI 121 (Introduction to Corrections) taught by the same full-time instructor, indicated that most of these students were unable to recall fundamental terminology associated with the US system and structure of government addressed either in their middle school Social Studies class and/or their high school

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history course(s). (NOTE : 2 of the 6 semester/terms were Summer I classes that primarily consisted of students from four-year institutions and mature students.) In fact, informal class discussions indicated that students enrolled in the above-mentioned courses seem to think compartmentally about information acquired during their middle and high school education; i.e., they did not consider the information they were introduced to in middle school Social Studies class and/or high school United States history class to be at all relevant to their overall goal of achieving higher education or even to serve as a solid foundation to the college courses they would need to complete.

Most students described their middle or high school experiences as, at best, having to memorize the teacher’s lecture content. They shared that to prepare for a test or exam, they needed only to memorize the information and then rush to write it all down or fill in as much as they could remember. They went on to admit that they felt no need to retain the information addressed in these classes after the test or exam was completed. Sadly, they did not recall ever being engaged in an activity that required them to synthesize or apply the information taught to their lives or to their family, community at large, and in preparation for the marketplace.

2) PLS course teaching faculty reported they have frequently had to allocate significant portions of class time to review basic political terminology and application as related to American Government – concepts that Paralegal Studies students should be well-versed in to successfully complete this degree program.

3) The consensus of both POL 104 and PLS course teaching faculty who, during the September 2011 faculty meeting, concurred with the survey findings that students have virtually no recall of the fundamentals of the US system and structure of government. This led to a collegial decision to assess POL 104 students’ command of political terminology as it is used to competently define and explain politics, power, and participation as well as their ability to describe each branch of the United States government by creating a chart that was required to include the following elements:

official name of each branch of government;

purpose of each branch of government; and

explanation of how each branch of government functions or operates

Both of these assessed learning objectives are associated with the first course goal, which was stated on the POL 104 Spring 2011 course outline as describe and examine citizenship in the changing democracy.

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STUDY DESIGN

The primary purposes of this assessment study was, as mentioned above, to evaluate the ability of students enrolled in POL 104 (American Government) to define and explain political terminology used in class discussion and related it to their lives and to describe the purpose and function of the various branches of the United States government. Being able to do so is important, primarily because if citizens, residents, and documented individuals living in the United States have no grasp of political language and the names, purposes, and functions of the various branches of American government, this will serve to undermine the country’s representative democracy.

Additionally, for all individuals who live in the US but have no recall of being previously introduced to this information (i.e., US political terminology and/or the structure and system of American government) it is extremely difficult to engage in critical thinking or problem-solving activities associated with issues related to the US government. Therefore, these people are decidedly limited in their ability to participate competently in our representative democracy. Furthermore, if students are not adequately academically primed in the use of political terminology and in how the American government functions and operates, most of the associated critical thinking and problem-solving high-salaried employment opportunities available in the market place (i.e., including, but not limited to, policy advocates, lobbyists, researchers, political consultants, political analysts, paralegals, attorneys, political journalists, economists, and history professors) will not be open to them.

Lastly, a peripheral but important purpose of this assessment study was to introduce students to the various levels of learning that are described in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Once these levels were fully described, students were asked to be conscious of the academic level at which they were expected to perform in their courses at ECC. This led to ongoing class discussions about the level of learning that is required to successfully complete a college education in preparation for the marketplace. Such discussions allowed for the incorporation of many learning fundamental skills into the POL 104 classes including, but limited to, the following: learning about learning; thinking critically and creatively; reading and studying; engaging, listening and note taking; and test taking.

STUDY METHODOLOGY & FINDINGS

This SLOAT assessment study used the following assessment instruments:

an oral vocabulary exercise that was scored by instructors using a rubric; and

a take-home assignment that required students to prepare a chart of all branches of the American government, which was to include the official name, purpose and functions of each branch of American government.

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All POL 104 professors who collected student learning outcomes data for this SLOAT assessment study administered the same oral vocabulary exercise and take-home assignment. As was mentioned previously in this report, these assessment activities were designed to evaluate the level of student mastery of two course learning objectives – namely, to define and explain political terminology and to describe the purpose and function of the various branches of the United States Government. Both of these learning objectives were related to the first course goal of POL 104, which was to describe and examine citizenship in the changing democracy.

Oral Vocabulary Exercise Assessment Instrument

All students enrolled in six POL 104 sections (taught by Professors Barbieri, Bell, Dula, McDonald Carter, and Warren) made up the sample cohort for data collection purposes for the oral vocabulary exercise. This exercise was specifically designed to evaluate students’ mastery of and ability to use and apply fundamental political terminology required to grasp and navigate American government.

Students were advised early on in the semester that their knowledge and ability to use the American government terminology identified in italics in the first half of the course textbook, AM GOV 2011 by Losco and Baker, would be evaluated at midterm. Thus, students were required to study and know all terminology included in the first half of the textbook and were encouraged and prompted as appropriate to use this language during course discussions throughout the semester. At midterm, students were quizzed orally in class on a random subset of these vocabulary words. Specifically, each student had to spell, give the meaning of, and explain in context (apply) associated directly with American government the meaning of the one randomly-chosen word given to them by their instructor during the oral quiz. The instructor then scored the each student’s performance in the three areas (i.e., spelling, explanation, and application) according to the following rankings: ‘exemplary’, ‘good’, ‘fair’, or ‘unsatisfactory’.

A total of 168 students participated in the assessment exercise since some students were absent on the day the political terminology oral vocabulary quiz was conducted in class. The aggregate student learning outcomes results from all six POL 104 sections are given in the table and are also graphed below. Note that two instructors did not include spelling as a scored category; therefore, only 115 students (from four POL 104 sections) were ranked on their performance in this area.

Oral Vocabulary (Terminology) Assessment Exercisefor the Fall 2011 POL 104 SLOAT study

scored categories exemplary good fair unsatisfactoryspelling 41% 21% 28% 10%explanation 40% 33% 22% 5%application 41% 31% 23% 6%

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Spelling Explanation Application0%

5%

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45%41% 40% 41%

21%

33%31%

28%

22% 23%

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5% 6%

exemplary good fair unsatisfactory

As can be seen in the above table and graph, most of the assessed students performed well on the oral vocabulary (terminology) assessment exercise with 62%, 73%, and 72% scoring either ‘exemplary’ or ‘good’ in spelling, explanation, and application respectively. Although spelling is important, it is good to know that the majority of the assessed students seem to be able to explain and apply terminology/concepts covered in POL 104. Lastly, very few students received an unsatisfactory ranking in any of the scored categories, which indicates that American Government students are able to define and explain political terminology.

Branches of American Government Chart Assessment Instrument

POL 104 students were instructed to prepare at home a chart that identifies the different branches of American government and describes the purpose and functions of each. This purpose of this exercise was to refresh the students’ recollection of their middle school Social Studies and high school United States History I and II courses, while simultaneously reinforcing their fundamental knowledge of and ability to apply POL 104 course information to prepare them for subsequent courses; i.e., courses for which POL 104 American Government serves as a foundational, prerequisite course (e.g., many courses required in Paralegal Studies and Criminal Justice degree programs). Completing this assignment also prepared the students to become active and engaged citizens, residents, or documented individuals living in the United States.

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All students enrolled in six POL 104 sections (those that participated the POL 104 SLOAT assessment study) made up the sample cohort for data collection purposes for the take-home branches of American government chart exercise. Instructors scored each submitted chart according to a simple rubric, which involved assessing the chart for the names of the branches, the purpose of each branch, and the function/operation of each branch of American government by rating each category as either ‘exemplary’, ‘good’, ‘fair’, or ‘unsatisfactory’.

A total of 149 students participated in the assessment exercise since some students did not hand in the assigned Branches of American Government Chart although it was required. The aggregate student learning outcomes results from all six POL 104 sections are given in the table and are also graphed below.

Branches of American Government ChartAssessment Exercise

for the Fall 2011 POL 104 SLOAT studyscored categories exemplary good fair unsatisfactoryname 64% 25% 8% 3%purpose 48% 32% 16% 4%function/operation 48% 32% 15% 5%

Name Purpose Function/Operation0%

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70% 64%

48% 48%

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32% 32%

8%

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exemplary good fair unsatisfactory

As can be seen in the above table and graph, most of the assessed students performed well on the branches of American government chart assessment exercise with 89%, 80%,

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and 80% scoring either ‘exemplary’ or ‘good’ on names of branches, purpose of each branch, and function/operation of each branch, respectively. In addition, very few students received an unsatisfactory ranking in any of the scored categories, which indicates that American Government students are able to describe the purpose and function of the various branches of the United States Government.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The results of this student learning outcomes assessment study of POL 104 American Government were very reassuring. The majority of the students in the course are achieving two of the course learning objectives, namely to define and explain political terminology and to describe the purpose and function of the various branches of the United States Government. However, there are always ways to further improve a course. For this reason, recommendations to be incorporated into POL 104 are as follows:

Continue to conduct an informal survey of POL 104, PLS 101, CJI 120, and CJI 121 students at the beginning of each semester to determine a consensus of the students’ perceptions of their prior learning experiences and level of knowledge achieved in either middle school Social Studies and/or high school United States history classes. It is expected that doing so will raise awareness and lead to class discussions on how to actually engage in higher level learning.

Continue to assess students’ ability to competently apply fundamental political terminology and to name and describe the basic purpose and function/operation of each branch of American government so they may intelligently discuss course content and be prepared for subsequent courses and so that they may be informed citizens. As informed citizens, they will be able to significantly contribute to the American form of democracy.

Compare the student learning outcomes assessment data collected in any future study with the data obtained in Spring 2011, which will serve as a baseline. If any significant changes in the outcomes occur, it would be important to determine any contributing factors such as the distribution of various academic majors enrolled in POL 104 in any given semester.

Continue and/or expand incorporating into POL 104 learning fundamentals such as learning about learning; thinking critically and creatively; reading and studying; engaging, listening and note taking; and test taking. Also continue to provide an overview of Bloom’s Taxonomy and encourage students to engage in higher level learning. This could potentially allow for the following results: a) enhanced students’ overall academic skills, b) increased ECC retention and graduation rates, c) better preparation for and performance in diverse employment opportunities in the market place, and d) improved preparation for students to obtain high-salaried employment positions in the market place, which require a fundamental ability to apply political terminology and knowledge of the American system and structure of government.

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Perform future indirect student learning outcomes assessments throughout the College to study the effects of employment and family issues on academic performance. The Spring 2011 POL 104 SLOAT assessment study did not examine how these extracurricular factors affect students’ academic performance, which is common knowledge but should be formally measured.

Modify the POL 104 American Government course outline as necessary to make the language more succinct and easier to follow. (NOTE : The POL 104 course outline is in the process of being modified as a direct result of conducting this SLO assessment study.)

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