Outcomes Data: Master of Arts/Sciences in American Studies (Standard Specialization)

We have data for the four assessment points above from Fall 2014-present. Our hard data only extends back to the semester that the new Director of Graduate Studies in English took on the appointment. Below are listed the four data points:

  1. ENGL/HIST 6600, the required “American Studies: Theory and Methods” class.
  2. Thesis proposal and defense
  3. Thesis and defense (for both Plan A and Plan B)
  4. Completed Program of Study


A. Student Mastery of Learning Objectives in ENGL/HIST 6600

AS students have one required class, ENGL/HIST 6600. This course provides students with theory and method of graduate-level research in American Studies. It is offered every two years. The course was offered in Fall 2014 by Dr. Keri Holt; in Fall 2016 it will be offered by Dr. Victoria Grieve.

Below is a table that records the assessment of individual student performance and mastery of the learning objectives in ENGL/HIST 6600. Assessment is described by H (high performance/mastery), M (medium performance/mastery), and L (low performance/mastery).

Course

Total number of graduate students in course

 

L1:

Evaluate a range of American “texts” and examine those texts within specific disciplinary frameworks

L2:

Express ideas and arguments in well-crafted, convincing forms

L3:

Conduct effective research, locating and analyzing primary and secondary sources using appropriate methods dictated by the relevant discipline(s). 
ENGL/HIST 6600:  American Studies Theory and Method
(Spring 2018)		 8

5 H

3 M

0 L

4 H

4 M

0 L

3 H

5 M

0 L 
ENGL/HIST 6600:  American Studies Theory and Method
(Fall 2016)		 9

3 H

6 M

0 L

6 H

3 M

0 L 

5 H

4 M

0 L 
ENGL/HIST 6600:  American Studies Theory and Method
(Fall 2014)		 9

5 H

4 M

0 L

5 H

4 M

0 L

3 H

6 M

0 L

B. Thesis Proposal Defense

As described above in the assessment plan portion of this document, the thesis proposal is a written document produced by the student, revised under the guidance of the thesis advisor, and shared with the entire thesis committee. Students may be required by the advisor and/or entire committee to revise their thesis proposal multiple times before they are allowed to go to oral defense.  The thesis proposal oral defense results in one of four decisions, which is voted on by the entire thesis committee.

Below is a table that records the results of students’ thesis proposal oral defense. Note that students are evaluated in their proposal and proposal defense on both learning objectives two and three.

Year of Event

Total number of graduate students in course

# of students who passed thesis proposal defense without revision*

*Demonstrates high mastery of L02 and L03

# of students who passed thesis proposal defense without revision*


*Demonstrates high mastery of both L02 and L03, with minor modifications/ corrections necessary

# of students who passed thesis proposal defense with major revisions*

*Demonstrates medium mastery of L02 and/or L03.

# of students who failed thesis proposal defense and needed to completely rewrite and re-sit defense*

*Demonstrates low mastery or either L02 or L03, or both
2017-2018 6

4

2

 0

0
2016-2017 3

1

1

 1

0
2015-2016 5

0

3

 2

0
2014-2015 7 0 6  0 1

C. Thesis Defense

As described above in the “assessment plan” portion of this document, the thesis is a written document produced by the student and revised under the guidance of the thesis advisor and/or thesis committee. The thesis defense is an oral examination of the thesis. The thesis oral defense results in one of four decisions, which is voted on by the entire thesis committee. Note that thesis committee evaluates the thesis and oral defense on learning objectives two and three.

Year of Event

Total number of graduate students who participated in thesis defense

# of students who passed thesis defense without revision*


*Demonstrates high mastery of L02 and L03

# of students who passed thesis defense with minor  revisions*


*Demonstrates high mastery of both L02 and L03, with minor modifications/ corrections necessary

# of students who passed thesis defense with major revisions*


*Demonstrates medium mastery of L02 and/or L03.

# of students who failed thesis defense and needed to completely rewrite and re-sit defense*

*Demonstrates low mastery or either L02 or L03, or both
2017-2018 6

4

2

 0

0
2016-2017 4 0 3 1 0
2015-2016


 4

0

3

 1

0
2014-2015


 5 0 5  0 0
 

Note that all revisions are reviewed by the major thesis advisor and/or the entire committee. Plan A theses are then reviewed for style by the Graduate School.

Number of students who passed thesis defense but failed to submit final draft within grace period: 2.


D. Data from Completed Programs of Study

As described in the assessment plan portion of this document above, to make sure that American Studies (standard) students are reaching learning objective #1, “Evaluating a range of American “texts” and examining those texts within specific disciplinary frameworks,” the Director of Graduate Studies meets with all enrolled students to discuss their Programs of Study (POS). The interdisciplinary American Studies S program requires that students take (and pass with a B- or higher) courses that are drawn from at least disciplines. For this data, the Director of Graduate Studies uses a matrix as follows. Note that folklore and technical communication, although part of the English Department, are separated as they are considered different fields.

Below is a table that demonstrates the coursework from graduating students’ Programs of Study. It demonstrates that all graduating students meet the minimum of coursework in at least two disciplines, in which they encounter a range of texts.

Coursework for Students Graduating with American Studies (Standard) degree: 2017-2018 (6 students)

Student (identified by letter)—note that name will be deleted in final draft

Year of graduation

# of American Studies courses


(ENGL/HIST 6600 required)

# of courses in English “Lit and Writing” 

(lit, creative writing, rhetoric, & pedagogy)

# of courses in Folklore


(field in English)

# of courses in Tech Comm


(field in English)

# of courses in other CHaSS (college) disciplines

# of courses outside of CHaSS

Thesis Credits

 
Student A 



1

HIST 6600

5

6810*
6890*
6920*
6900*

2

6700
6770

 0 0 0

Plan B

3 credits
Student B 


 2017-18

1

HIST 6600

3

6350
6820
6890*

0

2

6440
6460


 1

SOC 6100

2

SPED 6500
ITLS 6265

 Plan B

3 credits
Student C 2017-18

1

HIST 6600

4

6350
6820
6890*
6840

3

6770
6760
6750		 0  0

0

Plan A

6 credits 
 Student D

2017-18

 

 

1

HIST 6600

4

6890*
6820
6350
6840

 

3

6760
6770
6750 

0

  0

0

 Plan B
3 credits
Student E
 2017-18

1

HIST 6600

5

6350
6820
6820
6890*
6330

1

6770		 2

6400
6480



 0 0

Plan B

3 credits
Student F
 2017-18

1

HIST 6600

2

6330
6820

 5

6760
6770
6700
6740
6720

0

0

0

Plan A

6 credits

English courses marked with * = Did not have an exclusive focus on literature and/or writing (ENGL 6890 = Bennion Teachers’ Workshop; ENGL 6920: Directed Study; ENGL 6900: Internship)

Data based on this table:

  • Percentage of graduating students who took required 6600, which is “high priority” in all three objectives: 100%
  • Percentage of graduating students who took classes in at least two disciplines (meeting objective 1, a range of texts in at least two disciplines): 1 out of 6 students, or 17%.

Note:  The 5 students who only took classes under the “English” rubric did take courses in different areas of emphasis. 3 students took courses in two areas of emphasis (Literature and Folklore) and 1 took courses in three areas of emphasis (Literature, Folkore, Technical Communication). 4 students took ENGL 6890 during the summer, which the course listing for the Bennion Teacher’s Workshop, which is always an interdisciplinary course that does not focus exclusively on the discipline of English, despite it’s course listing. And 1 student, due to extenuating circumstances, also took two independent studies (ENGL 6920) and an internship at the Merrill-Cazier library (ENGL 6900) which both had an interdisciplinary focus, with the internship taking place outside of the English dept. under the direction of a Special Collections librarian (Randy Williams).

  • Percentage of graduating students who passed thesis (and, if necessary, revised for high in objectives 2 and 3): 100%

Other data from this table that has been useful to the American Studies Curriculum Committee and may be used for “Data-based Decisions”:  

  • Most popular discipline: English (for 6 out of 6 students), with “Literature and Writing” (column 4) the most popular (with a total of about 15 classes among the 6 students)
  • Second most popular field or discipline: Folklore (14 classes among 6 students)
  • Third most popular discipline: History and Tech-Comm (5 classes among 6 students, not including ENGL/HIST 6600)
  • There was a very minimal range of disciplines pursued within the Humanities college, including only Sociology. The range of disciplines and courses taken outside of the English dept. was also very low, consisting of two courses, with one course in in Special Education (SPED) and one course in Instructional Technology and Learning Services (ITLS). This shows significant decrease in the range of disciplines for AS graduate students since 2016-17.

 

Coursework for Students Graduating with American Studies (Standard) degrees, Fall 2014-Summer 2016

Student (identified by letter)—note that name will be deleted in final draft

Year of graduation

# of American Studies courses


(ENGL/HIST 6600 required)

# of courses in English “Lit and Writing” 

(lit, creative writing, rhetoric, & pedagogy)

# of courses in Folklore


(field in English)

# of courses in Tech Comm


(field in English)

# of courses in other CHaSS (college) disciplines

# of courses outside of CHaSS

Thesis Credits

 
Student A


2014-15

2

6600
6610

4

6820
6330
6360
6880

2

6740
6750

 0 1

History 6000		 0

Plan B

3 credits
Student B


2014-15

2

6600
6610

5

6350
6800
6810
6820
6860

1

6770

1

7000
note that several 6800s are also counted in lit & writing

 0

1

Environment & Society 6300

 Plan B

3 credits
Student C 2014-15

1

6600

5

6350 2x
6820
6900
6340

1

6750		 0  0

1

Art History 6750

Plan A

6 credits 
 Student D

2014-15

*This student finished after beginning years previously.

 

2

6600
6620 (Native American Lit Seminar, no longer offered)

1

6890

 

5

6720
6770 (3x)

6750 

1

6470
note that 6800s are also counted in lit & writing 		  0

1

Psychology 6810  		 Student grandfathered into pre-thesis program (Plan C) 
Student E
 2014-2015

3

6600
6610 (2x)

4

6350
6820
6883
6884

1

6750		 0 0 0

Plan A

6 credits
Student F
 2015-16 (anticipated)

1

6600

HIST 6610 (Seminar American West—counted under History)

4

6330
6350 (2x)
6820

 0

1

6470

2

HIST 6900 (Bennion workshop)

HIST 6610 thru Hist

1

Environment & Society 6010

Plan B

3 credits
                 
 Student G

2015-16
(anticipated)

1

6600

Plus HIST 6610 counted under History

3

6350 (3x) 

1

6770		  0

6

HIST 6420
HIST 6460
HIST 6610 (seminar American West)    HIST 6640

Anthr 5800  Anthr 5900 		  0

Plan B

3 credits 
Student H

2015-16
(anticipated)

1

6600

1

6820

1

6770

 0

5

History 6900 2x; one Bennion

summer workshop

HIST 4820 (ok’d by committee)

JCOMM 5230

Political Science 5140

 0

Plan A

6 credits
Student I 2015-16
(anticipated) 

1

6600 

3

6350
6820
6883 

2

6740   6770 

1

7000		  0

2

Women & Gender 6900 WGS 6910 

Plan B

3 credits

Note: 3 students not included in this chart are all but thesis; these students will be included in a the table under the year that they finish.

Data based on this table:

  • Percentage of graduating students (Fall 2014-present) who took required 6600, which is “high priority” in all three objectives: 100%
  • Percentage of graduating students (Fall 2014-present) who took classes in at least two disciplines (meeting objective 1, a range of texts in at least two disciplines): 8 out of 9 students, or 89%. Note that Student E, who only took classes under the “English” rubric, did take ENGL 6610 twice, which is often cross-listed with the History Department.
  • Percentage of graduating students who passed thesis (and, if necessary, revised for high in objectives 2 and 3): 100%

Other data from this table that has been useful to the American Studies Curriculum Committee and may be used for “Data-based Decisions”:  

  • Most popular discipline: English (for 7 out of 9 students), with “Literature and Writing” (column 4) the most popular (with a total of about 30 classes among the 9 students)
  • Second most popular field or discipline: Folklore (14 classes among 9 students)
  • Third most popular discipline: History (4 out of 8 students took classes in history, not including ENGL/HIST 6600)