Name of Study: Sociology -- Assessment of Student Learning, 2006
Study Date: 05/31/2006
Researcher Name: Elizabeth Hartung, Ph.D.
Researcher Email:elizabeth.hartung@csuci.edu
Researcher Phone: 805.437-3274
Executive Summary
A new major at CSUCI, the Sociology program The Sociology program follows many of the Learning Objectives and Outcomes outlined in Creating an Effective Assessment Plan for the Sociology Major by the American Sociological Association Task Force on Assessing the Undergraduate Sociology Major. For the 2006-07AY, Sociology plans to assess student understanding of the role of evidence in the social sciences and how to conduct quantitative and/or qualitative sociological research. To do so, Sociology plans to look at specific measurable outcomes via the Capstone project in Sociology. The Capstone is designed to be a culminating experience in the major. Students enroll in Sociology 499 having completed all major substantive and methodological coursework in the major. That is, they will have completed the statistics and quantitative research methods sequence (SOC 303 and 310); Sociological Theory (SOC 420); important substantive courses in major areas of the field, such as stratification (SOC 350), race and ethnicity (SOC 360), and political sociology (SOC 330). The Capstone is designed to demonstrate that the student is capable of completing original research on her own, with appropriate guidance. Using a rubric, Sociology will assess student work and determine how well the learning objective has been met. This year’s work will be an important assessment tool for the first group of students completing the research methods sequence. Based on how well students perform across the dimensions here, Sociology may determine to lengthen the research methods course from one to two semesters, bringing the total number of skills-based semesters to three. Since the Sociology program opened to students in fall, 2005, they are clearly in building mode. Assessing what they have gives them an opportunity to avoid pitfalls in the early years of the program.
Citations
Sociology Report (PDF, 51KB)