Assessment Plan

Assessment Plan

In our program, we expect every student to develop skills and knowledge consistent with the following learning objectives.

1. Factual Political Knowledge

2. Theoretical Perspectives on Politics

3. Analytical Skills

4. Research and Persuasive Writing Skills

5. The Ability to Read Political Science Source Materials Critically

6. Familiarity with Political Science Research Source Materials

7. Facility in the Analysis of Quantitative Political Data

8. An Understanding of Political Science Research Design

9. Experience Conducting Independent Political Science Research

10. Oral Presentation Skills

To evaluate whether the program has adequately prepared students to master these objectives, we evaluate a sample of papers submitted in our required senior research seminars and a sample of final projects in the required research methods class. We anticipate that the senior seminar research papers will provide the best opportunity to evaluate objectives 1 to 6, while the research methods projects would be the appropriate vehicle to evaluate objectives 7 to 9. Objective 10 will be evaluated using a rubric applied by instructors within each senior seminar.

In order to conduct this annual assessment, a committee of three faculty members will evaluate a sample of papers from each senior seminar and each research methods class using the appropriate rubric. Evaluations will take place after Spring term and will include papers from Fall and Spring courses in the sample. The sample size will consist of 20% of the overall student population in those courses for that year (approximately 12 senior research papers and 20 methods projects). Selection will be made by a random selection of A numbers and then papers will be read with student identity masked. Raters will use the first rubric to evaluate senior seminar papers and the second to evaluate research methods papers. When 2 raters’ evaluations disagree on a given paper (based on a inter-rater reliability measure), a third rater will be included. Evaluation will begin with the 2009-2010 academic year and will be repeated each Spring. The committee’s data report, along with the Department’s response, will be reported here on the Political Science Website.

Senior Capstone Rubric

*Objective*	*Disengaged*	*Emerging*	*Developing*	*Fully Engaged*	*Not* *Applicable*
Factual Political Knowledge	Shows little to no informed facts about the political science topic	Some factual content, but significant error or omissions	Information included correct and relevant. Some significant information missing	All relevant information included and well presented	No factual application required. Completely abstract
Theoretical Perspectives on Politics	No recognition of the theoretical perspectives relevant to a Political analysis	Limited awareness of theory, but underdeveloped and not used in the analysis	Theory fully outlined, but some errors in its use	Recognizes theories relevant to the work and applies them correctly	Assignment did not call for theoretical consideration
Analytical Skills	No analysis of the question demonstrated	Some analysis included but with errors in selection or application	Correct analytic framework evident, but errors in some of analysis	Critically structures and correctly applies an analytic framework	Assignment has no place for analysis Descriptive only
Research (R) and Persuasive Writing (PW) Skills	Little to no outside materials used or all used incorrectly. Info misrepresented and poorly written	Some organization and material consistent with R or PW but with many errors. Writing difficult to follow	Understand R or PW organization and style, but with errors in execution	Well organized and well presented R and PW which covers the assignment	None
Read Political Science Source Materials Critically	Descriptive presentation. Limited sources with no counterargument	Present different arguments but without critical context for reader. All arguments equally valid	Some evidence of perspective and quality of sources, but relies too heavily on some over others	Challenges and engages arguments and evidence of sources used. Presents them correctly	No requirement for external sources
Familiarity with Source Materials	No appropriate source materials	Uses few research sources, some confusion regarding sources	Uses most sources correctly, may include inappropriate sources or omit necessary ones	Demonstrates knowledge of full range of sources and uses them correctly	No requirement for external sources

Research Skills Assessment Rubric

OBJECTIVE

DISENGAGED

EMERGING

DEVELOPING

FULLY ENGAGED

N.A.

An Understanding of Political Science Research Design

No design or plan adequate to conduct research

Rudimentary hypothesis and basic literature search.   No testable hypotheses or research plan

Testable hypothesis and some evidentiary materials. Errors in research strategy

Testable hypothesis and appropriate research design to evaluate core research question.   Adequate sources

Not a research paper

Familiarity with

Source Materials

No appropriate source materials

Uses few research sources, some confusion regarding sources

Uses most sources correctly, may include inappropriate sources or omit necessary ones

Demonstrates knowledge of full range of sources and uses them correctly

No requirement for external sources

Facility in the Analysis of Quantitative Political Data

No demonstrated knowledge of   research data sources, form, use, and interpretation

Some familiarity with major quantitative methods used in PS.   No application of that knowledge in project

Familiarity with appropriate methods.   Some errors in use of methods or interpretation

Uses appropriate methods and correctly interprets the results

Not a quantitative paper

Experience Conducting Independent Political Science Research

No independent work or creative activity

Simple independent research idea not fully developed or executable

Outlines and conducts independent research analysis with some significant errors in design or execution

Outlines and conducts research on a significant question using appropriate methodology

No independent research required

Pre-test/Post-test Comparisons: In addition to the projects assessment outlined above, we will be using a pre-test/post-test comparison in each of our Research Methods Courses to determine the extent to which the course is achieving the goals we request of it. We will evaluate and discuss the results from these test comparisons each Fall at the Department Retreat.

Course Evaluations: This mechanism is a partial evaluation of course performance carried out by students in all courses. It is disseminated through USU Registrar Office.

Graduating Seniors Exit Survey: This mechanism serves to assess whether students believe their instructional program met his or her goals, It also measures overall satisfaction with the department. Students receive a questionnaire to fill out prior to graduation. Data from the survey is compiled and presented on the website. The Department Head then presents the outcome at the Annual Faculty Fall Retreat.

Master Degree Students' Placement: This mechanism provides data collected by the Graduate Students Advisor on responding graduate students' employment and continuing education progress in the year following graduating. One indication of the success of our degree programs is the ease with which our students adapt to training in other programs. We have been very successful in placing students in strong advanced degree programs around the nation. Moreover, they note how well-prepared they have been to tackle the demands of their jobs.

Political Interns Placement: This mechanism provides data collected by the Internship Program on the number of students in the Internship Program who received jobs in politics following their internship. This information evaluates the marketability of the interns.

External Program Review: This is a qualitative overall assessment by academic peers of program performance. This mechanism involves review every five years by political scientists from other universities appointed by the Department to do an overall evaluation of the department's program. The outside reviewers' report is for the purpose of identifying strengths and weakness for the department to consider and to implement suggestions, if changes are warranted.

In addition to these methods of assessing learning objectives, we have recently compiled a matrix of the major objectives expected of students and which courses emphasize these objectives.