Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology

ANTHROPOLOGY PROGRAM ASSESSMENT PLAN

Techniques and activities that are used in the assessment process:

1. Assignments, Effective Grading, & Departmental Assessment. Specific assignments in each course assess students' learning in one or more of the program's specific learning goals. Faculty members make available to students the criteria on which they are evaluated for assignments.
2. Student Input. Faculty members collect from students information about how well the Anthropology Program is achieving its goals. This information might be from formal sources such as narrative comments on course evaluations or from informal sources such as in-class polls, “hall-way talk,” or discussions with faculty during office hours.
3. External Constituents' Input. The Department Head publishes a department newsletter annually and solicits from alumni, colleagues, and friends of the department, information on the success of the Anthropology Program in meeting its objectives.
4. Feedback Mechanisms. Anthropology faculty members meet throughout the academic year to discuss specific learning goals, assess the program, and plan any necessary changes based on assessment techniques and activities.

Assessment Checklist

• Program learning goals explicitly stated and accessible to students on the green sheet, in the course catalogue, and on the Anthropology program web page.
• Goals and means of assessment are included in the syllabus for each course.
• Sequencing of courses and content of upper division course clusters are appropriate to attaining learning goals.
• Balance in curriculum is appropriate to attaining learning goals.
• Non-program course requirements and recommendations are appropriate to attaining learning goals.
• Foundation courses serve as a gateway to depth courses.
• Courses build upon skills learned in University Studies.
• Methods requirement and content are appropriate to attaining learning goals.
• Hands-on and independent learning opportunities (e.g., fieldwork, labs, museum).
• Development of career skills is an important component of the program and is reflected curriculum-wide in course content.
• Content and assessment of specific courses are appropriate to attaining the learning goals stated for that course or required by the curriculum goals.

Anthropology

The Anthropology Program assesses the quality of its educational program, the satisfaction of its majors, and the success of its graduates in several ways:

1) Instructor assessment of student performance;
2) Student assessment of instructor performance;
3) Student self assessment; and
4) Professional success of alumni.

1) Instructor assessment of student performance. Anthropology courses integrate a number of different assessment mechanisms, some designed specifically for this purpose, others designed to help student develop essential skills that simultaneously serve to facilitate evaluation of student knowledge acquisition and skill development (or lack thereof). These include but are not limited to

• Objective and subjective quizzes and exams
• Reflective essays
• Article reviews
• Research papers
• Research proposals
• Oral presentations
• In-class discussions
• Interactive Web exercises
• Student-lead discussions
• Quantitative exercises
• Field research projects
• Laboratory projects and assignments
• Field schools
• Student pre-professional employment (laboratory assistants, field crew members, museum technicians, etc.)

Student performance on these various tasks enables faculty to evaluate the level of educational attainment of students and any potential shortcomings in essential knowledge and skills that need addressing, the degree to which students are understanding and retaining information presented in class, the degree to which students understand the relevance of the material and skills learned in class to situations beyond the classroom and University, and the degree to which students are able to apply what they have learned in class to novel situations. Our curriculum is designed to facilitate the transition of students from novice to scholar in the area of Anthropology.

2.) Student assessment of instructor performance.

• Anthropology faculty receive copies of student course evaluation forms and summary data. They are encouraged to read and respond (through changes in course content, teaching style, etc.) to handwritten comments. The Program Director also receives copies of these forms and discusses the results with individual faculty members as needed and indicated.
• Informal, in-class student polls (e.g, index cards, clickers) provide (or will soon provide) faculty with immediate feedback on student perceptions of course quality, lesson clarity, instructor effectiveness, and so forth. These mechanisms provide faculty with the opportunity to respond to student concerns in the same semester, rather than having to wait until the next semester and a new group of students.

Faculty take student evaluations seriously and conscientiously integrate comments and suggestions into future course and curriculum planning. Faculty are also being encouraged to document their responses to student comments.

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