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English, BA

Student Outcomes

Assessment of Student Outcomes

Outcome C Ability to Conduct Research Project-BA (all)

Students are able to plan, research, and execute a long-term self-directed project involving critical, social, linguistic, or literary analysis.
Objective 1 Students will be able to write a senior thesis paper that draws on knowledge gained from their Foundations coursework and developed throughout the curriculum in their chosen emphasis area.

Measure 1

2021 Status
Achieved
We have achieved success in this area; a random sampling of Capstone theses assessed by reviewers not associated with the course suggests that students are performing at a satisfactory level, with an average score of 79.75 points out of an available 90 on our rubric, or 88.61%.

Outcome D Critical reflection / practical engagement in emphasis area-BA (all)

Students are able to critically reflect on and practically engage in their chosen emphasis area.
Objective 1 Students will be able to write a reflective essay that demonstrates a holistic understanding of their English coursework.

Measure 1

2021 Status
Not Yet Achieved
In the area of what we call the "intellectual autobiography," most students are competent. However, we see in these papers that many students are unable to connect the dots within their major: either they do not remember specific courses that they have taken, or they are unable to draw intellectual lines between courses in various subdisciplines such as English Ed and Linguistics, or Linguistics and Literature.

Outcome E Writing within disciplinary conventions-BA (all)

Students are able to write with accepted conventions in their chosen emphasis area.
Objective 1 Students will be able to demonstrate mastery of discipline-specific formatting in their senior thesis, such as MLA or AP styles.
Objective 2 Students will be able to use disciplinary conventions of citation to integrate source material into their own writing.
Objective 3 Students will be able to write in a register that reflects scholarly conventions in academic writing in their field.

Outcome F Communication in different registers-BA (all)

Students are able to communicate effectively in different registers (including oral and written communication).
Objective 1 Students will be able to present their thesis work orally to a public audience.

Measure 1

2021 Status
Achieved
Students are performing at satisfactory levels in the oral presentation aspect of their Capstone, with online versions of our Capstone Conference proving to provide levels of comfort for students who have concerns about public speaking.

Outcome R BA-Research

Students are able to engage critically with research in their chosen field and situate their own arguments in relation to that research.
Objective 1 Students will be able to produce a thesis paper that demonstrates comprehension of the scholarship that they include in their written work.
Objective 2 Students will be able to distinguish clearly between their own arguments and those derived from scholarly sources.

Outcome S Critical Thinking (undergraduate)

Use systematic reasoning to examine and evaluate information and ideas and then synthesize conclusions to propose new perspectives and solutions.

The General Education objectives associated with this Outcome are listed below. You can use these objectives as is or modify them in the next step in GVAssess.

Students will:
• Assess relevant information, perspectives and assumptions.
• Construct logical conclusions based on reason and evidence.
• Formulate novel approaches or create innovative interpretations.
• Evaluate the novel approaches or innovative interpretations..
Objective 1 Students will be able to assess relevant information, perspectives and assumptions.
Objective 2 Students will be able to construct logical conclusions based on reason and evidence.