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Students will read a variety of types of literature (aesthetic experience, verbal literacy) from different times and different cultures (social, cultural, and historical consciousness) in both western and non-western traditions (international awareness)
Students will learn to do close reading of a literary text, with emphasis on analysis of form (poetry, fiction, drama), stylistic features (e.g., language, imagery, characterization), and content (ideas; literary, historical, cultural traditions), and to make connections between what they are learning in this course and knowledge they have acquired from other venues (aesthetic experience; verbal literacy; critical thinking; social, cultural, international, and historical awareness; ethical and moral consciousness)
Students will participate in both oral and written discussions of ideas, moral issues, and values reflected in the literature read for class (verbal literacy; social, cultural, and historical awareness; ethical and moral consciousness)
Students will learn to examine a text in a contextual setting (historical background, cultural ideas) provided by the professor (social, cultural, and historical awareness)
Students will be given the opportunity to reflect on the ways in which ideas and values depicted in literary works from other times and cultures interact with or contrast with those of American culture or the culture of the students’ countries of origin (social, cultural, and historical awareness; ethical and moral consciousness; critical thinking), and to present the conclusions drawn from their analyses in both written and oral forms (verbal literacy, critical thinking)
To write a well-developed essay analyzing how one or more literary texts reflect the culture that produced them (competencies: verbal literacy; critical thinking; social, cultural, international, and historical awareness; ethical and moral consciousness)
To write a well-developed essay comparing and contrasting the cultural values reflected in one or more literary texts with values in American culture or the culture of the students' country of origin (competencies: verbal literacy; critical thinking; social, cultural, international, and historical awareness; ethical and moral consciousness)
To write about aesthetic issues in specific literary text (competencies: aesthetic experience, verbal literacy, and critical thinking)
Objectives #1 and #2: Exit design; At or near the end of the semester, students are assigned an essay in which they either (a) compare and contrast one or more course texts in terms of American culture or the culture of their country of origin, or (b) analyze one or more course texts as evidence of the culture that produced them
Objective #3: Exit design; At or near the end of the semester, students are given a writing assignment in which they address aesthetic issues in one or more of the texts they have read (examples of issues: style, structure, linguistic devices, and sensory effect).
All sections in the fall of 2002 were evaluated for Assessment Fair 2003
All sections will be evaluated in the fall of 2004 for Assessment Expo 2005, using the same methodology as in Fall 2002
All sections, spring 2004, were evaluated for the Assessment Expo, 2004
Five papers were chosen from each section for evaluation
Assessment Committee members evaluated papers using the rubric developed for the essay on cultural essays (see sample grading sheet cited above); one committee member will serve as benchmark reader
Scores from evaluators were averaged, using a version of score sheet already in use for Objectives #1 and #2, modified to fit Objective #3, and percentages figured; the scores indicate the performance of students across the scale (bar graphs provided) as well as the percentage of students scoring at, above, and below course expectations (pie chart provided)
Objective #3 was assessed in all sections of 2337 and 2338, spring 2004
Faculty members were given general instructions for administering the assessment of Objective #3. Knowing the course objectives and goals, faculty members designed their assignment on aesthetic issues in accord with their individual reading lists in all sections, Spring 2004
The Assessment Committee asked each faculty member to submit the top five papers in their class for evaluation
Objectives #1 and #2 will be assessed in the fall of 2004 (for Assessment Expo 2004)
Competencies: World Literature shares the Blue Ribbon Competencies with Ethics and Society: aesthetic experience, verbal literacy, critical thinking, social, cultural, international, and historical awareness; ethical and moral consciousness
Assessment of Competencies: Unlike Ethics and Society, the World Literature course assesses them all, including aesthetic experience
Writing as an Assessment Instrument: Like Ethics and Society, World Literature assesses all competencies by way of the essay
Changes: As reported in last year’s Assessment Fair, the English Department has changed its methodology for assessing the “aesthetics” competency (Objective #3). Instead of using the entry/exit exercise of two poems, we used a writing assignment in which students address aesthetic issues in one or more texts (examples of issues: style, form, linguistic devices, sensory effect).
Methodology: The Assessment Committee approached the design of this assignment with two significant facts in mind: (1) the English faculty members teaching World Literature are seasoned professionals in their discipline, with many years of experience in teaching a successful course, and (2) faculty complaints about the imposition and arbitrariness of the entry/exit design had aroused resistance to the assessment process, threatening to undermine an otherwise thriving culture of assessment in the department. Consequently, the committee opened the “assignment” aspect of the process to allow faculty members to design assignments that fit their reading list and goals in teaching aesthetics in the course. We also asked faculty members to submit their top five papers for assessment. In this, we were acknowledging the opinion of the faculty that taking the first five students in each section did not fairly represent the achievements of the World Literature course.