Assessment Report

Department of PsychologySchool of Science & Mathematics

D. Abwender, ChairJ. Witnauer, Assessment Coordinator

Spring, 2013

What was AssessedStudent Learning Outcomes

SLO 1. Students will analyze the neurophysiological, neurochemical, and neuroanatomical processes that cause sensation, perception, thought, or action.

SLO 2. Students will apply theories and empirical principles to information processing in human or non-human animals.

SLO 3. Students will describe normal human behavior as a function of factors ranging from the level of the individual to larger sociocultural forces.

SLO 4. Students will apply major concepts, theoretical perspectives, and empirical findings to human cognitive and social development.

SLO 5. Students will apply major concepts, theoretical perspectives, and empirical findings to psychological disorders and their treatment.

SLO 6. Students will describe and apply basic research methods in psychology, including research design, data analysis, and interpretation of results.

SLO 7. Students will employ critical thinking to answer questions in psychology.

SLO 8. Students will apply psychological principles to practical problems in the field of psychology.

SLO 9. Students will evaluate ethical issues relevant to empirical research and/or practice in the field of psychology.

SLO 10. Students will communicate effectively in writing using logical or empirically based arguments to support their claims.

Assessment Methodology• PSH 110 (Intro): Students read 6 research scenarios

and identified the type of research design and the independent/dependent variable (if experimental) or type of correlation (if correlational) on Exam 1Benchmark: 80% of students will score 80% or better

• PSH 202 (Stats): 12 multiple choice questions on final exam

Benchmark: 70% of students will score 70% or better

• PSH 301 (Research Methods): 22 multiple choice questions on unit exams throughout semester Benchmark: 70% of students will score 70% or better

Assessment Results

Not m

eetin

g

Appr

oach

ing

Mee

ting

Exce

edin

g

0102030405060

PSH 110

PSH 202

PSH 110 (n=224): 66% of students met or

exceeded the criterion

PSH 202 (n=87): 41% of students met or exceeded

the criterion

PSH 301 (n=94): 88% of students met or exceeded

the criterion

Lessons Learned• PSH 110: Students had more difficulty with

experimental than correlational design (e.g., defining a variable, identifying the dependent variable).

• PSH 202: Performance was poor (less than 50% answering correctly) on… - items that required students to select, perform, and interpret the results of inferential statistics- items that required them to distinguish between practical and statistical significance

• PSH 301: Of the four assessment items that students struggled most with, three might have been psychometrically unsound. The fourth appears to indicate that students’ understanding of reliability and validity could stand improvement.

Action Plan/Data Driven Decision:

• PSH 110: Administer an assignment (“Experimental Design Writing Assignment”) prior to the exam; this will provide extra practice and feedback to students before they are tested on these concepts.

• PSH 202: Spend more time on selecting the proper statistic, along with assigning a problem set asking students to choose among the following: single sample t-test, related samples t-test, independent samples t-test, z-test, and ANOVA. Demonstrate the effect of increasing sample size on the statistics obtained from a particular analysis.  Development of a required lab for the course.

• PSH 301: Develop a new lab assignment on the various forms of validity.

What resources were applied or are needed to close the loop

• PSH 202 (Statistics) to have a lab component added

• Labs to be staffed with help of Graduate Assistants

• PSH currently has three (3) GAs and will need to retain them

What was Assessed in the Graduate ProgramStudent Learning Outcomes

• SLO 1 Analyze biological bases of behavior• SLO 2 Analyze acquired or learned bases of behavior• SLO 3 Analyze social/cultural/systemic bases of behavior• SLO 4 Analyze individual or unique bases of behavior• SLO 5 Critique and apply principles of research methodology• SLO 6 Apply psychological principles and theories to practical

problems in the field of psychology• SLO 7a Synthesize clinical coursework and apply it outside of the

classroom• SLO 7b Produce a substantive research paper describing data that

elucidates a psychological topic• SLO 8 Apply ethical and professional standards to relevant

research and/or clinical situations.• SLO 9 Explain the role of social and cultural diversity in human

characteristics, experiences, and behavior.• SLO 10 Select and administer appropriate assessment and

intervention techniques

Assessment Methodology

• PSH 631 (Social): Essay questions on exams; papers

Benchmark: 90% of students will score 90% or better

• PSH 684 (Developmental): 6 exam essay questions; 1 paper assignment

Benchmark: 90% of students will score 90% or better

Assessment Results

Not meetingApproaching

MeetingExceeding

0

10

20

30

40

50

PSH 631PSH 684

PSH 631 (Social; n = 7): 29% of students

reached criterion

PSH 684 (Developmental; n = 5): 40% of

students reached criterion

Lessons Learned• PSH 631: Students nearly met the benchmark for analyzing

research on the self, and for outlining processes of social perception and attribution, than they did for analyzing issues like prosocial behavior and aggression.

• PSH 684: Students came closer to meeting the benchmark for describing and applying major principles of social development than they did for explaining the influences of and interactions among the family on children’s development.

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A common theme emerged in our qualitative review:Much of the variance in student performance could likely be tied less to the target SLO per se and more to individual differences in:(1)capacity to integrate ideas across disparate topic

areas (2)skills at analyzing research studies (3)ability to express the results of their analyses

effectively in writing

Action Plan/Data Driven Decision:

Assessment data are compromised to the extent that they are influenced by construct-irrelevant variance. In both courses, we will try to minimize this variance by:

 I. Sharing a version of the writing guide that is being developed for our undergraduate students, on the premise that clearer writing will better allow them to show the desired learning outcomes.

 II. Developing early-semester assignments (with constructive feedback) that deal with (1) critiquing research on social/cultural/systemic bases of behavior and (2) integrating content across different course topics.

 If students can become uniformly stronger at these abilities, then it seems probable that we will see improvement in both1. the validity of our assessment procedures for this SLO and 2. student performance.

What resources were applied or are needed to close the loop

• Spare time