History Third Year Review Written Report

Evaluation Rubric

Assessment contact person and author of the report:  Isabel O’Connor

Attachments:  2005 and 2006 annual reports and the revised departmental assessment plan.

Describe any changes to the program’s educational goals since the last Third Year Review, and the rationale for those changes.
The Department of History’s educational goals remain the same.  The history program’s goals fall into two main categories.  First, students in history courses practice their research skills by using a variety of primary and secondary sources, which they analyze in written and oral assignments.  Second, students in history courses examine how historians have written history from ancient times to the present. 

Describe any assessment techniques used for measuring the Educational Goals that have been added or discontinued since the last Third Year Review, and the rationale for those changes.
The Department of History uses a variety of assessment tools:  student portfolios, exit interviews and an alumni survey.  Below is a description of the changes that we made in each category since the last three year review in 2004:

1. Student portfolios:  Prior to enrolling in HIST J495, the proseminar, students turn in a portfolio of written work to the department chair, who in turn circulates each portfolio to two other department faculty members.  After reviewing the student’s work, the two faculty members comment on the student’s readiness to take the seminar, while paying special attention to analytical skills, ability to do historical research using primary and secondary sources, and writing skills.  In the Fall 2006, and with the help of Jennifer Klein from UCET, the Department of History undertook significant changes to the student portfolios (See attached document with the complete description of the new portfolio guidelines as approved by the department in January 2007.  It is also available as an electronic link on the department’s web page).

The department made the following changes: 

• First, we emphasized that the documentation in the portfolio should be gathered exclusively from history courses.  While the department feels that we can make exceptions for cases, such as transfer students who may have taken history courses at other institutions, we want the original papers from history courses with the professor’s comments.  We are confident that we can achieve this goal because every semester for the last three years, department faculty members have been reminding students at their advising appointments of the importance of collecting all their history work.  Also, we continue to emphasize the same thing in HIST H217, the Nature of History.  This is a course which we strongly recommend students take during their Sophomore year.
• Second, the department faculty feels that we gain very little insight by looking at student examinations, which test a different set of skills than the ones needed for J495.  Therefore, the faculty agreed to reduce the number of examinations from six to three.
• Third, instead of requiring students to include “two longer papers” in their portfolio, the department changed it to “two research papers.”  This was done to match more closely our efforts to expose students to historical research using primary and secondary sources in our courses.
• Fourth, in the last three years, faculty members commented repeatedly that some of the self-analysis essays that the students included in the portfolio lacked depth.  In fact, several department members requested that two portfolios be sent back to the students in the Spring 2006 and asked that the individuals rewrite the essay before being allowed to register for J495.  To make the self-analysis part of the portfolio more meaningful, we added a series of guidelines to help students conduct a reflection of their experience as history majors.  The guidelines focus on three main topics:  What have I learned as a history major in terms of content and skills?  How have I learned it?  What are my strengths and weaknesses?

2. Exit Interviews:  These had been a part of our assessment plan, but we had not done any yet.  So, in January 2007, the department faculty agreed to implement them starting in the Spring 2007.  We are currently developing a model to be administered in April 2007 to graduating seniors currently enrolled in the seminar.  We will send the committee our exit interview form after the department discusses it at our next meeting on April 20.  Also, the department decided to host a luncheon for faculty and the graduating seniors on May 4, 2007.  We hope that the exit interviews and the luncheon, which we intend to host on an annual basis, will allow us to gather additional formal and informal student input about the history program, while helping the department strengthen its connection with the history alumni.
3. Alumni Survey:  The department conducted its last alumni survey in the Fall 2004 and is scheduled to do the next one in the Fall 2007.  Thus far, the alumni survey includes two questions.  One asks for an update of activities after graduation and the other one asks for how to improve the history program.  We will discuss the survey format at an early department meeting in the Fall 2007 to determine if any changes are necessary.

Attach any assessment instruments that have been used during the past three years, and the data collected.  See attached.

What analysis has been done with this data?  What conclusions has your department drawn?
As we stated in our 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 annual reports, we find, especially while reading the portfolio, that students in history courses are engaged in a variety of writing assignments that are appropriate for the field.  However, some of the samples that we continue to see in the portfolios indicate that some students are writing descriptive papers.  We continue to stress the need to apply critical thinking skills to the interpretation of primary and secondary historical sources in all history courses.

The alumni survey conducted in the Fall 2004 encouraged the Department of History to continue to stress writing.  An alumnus, employed at an engineering firm, stressed the need to continue “training that gives students the ability to write and speak well in today’s business and work world.”  This suggestion is in line with the department’s emphasis on improving the quality of writing in history courses.  Several alumni also encouraged the department to develop a program in Public History to help history majors find jobs at museums, historic preservation in general and archives.  It is difficult for the Department of History to pursue this suggestion because at the moment we have other curricular needs to satisfy before we can think of developing a public history program.  For example, we do not have a specialist in Early Modern European history and therefore we are unable to offer any history courses in that area.  We also lack a tenure-track member to teach Colonial America, a position currently filled with a two-year visiting lecturer.  However, as described below, we are developing stronger links with local public historians and continue to offer internships in local museums.

What changes have been made to the program as a result? (Curriculum, classes offered, classes discontinued, scheduling, advising, faculty education etc. . .)  

• History Curriculum:  Since the last third year assessment review in 2004, the department made revisions to the three areas of the major in which students must take history courses at the 200-level or above.  After 2005, students are required to take 6 credit hours in American history, 6 in any time period of European history, including Russia, and 6 in the “other areas” category, which currently comprises Asia and Latin America.  This is a departure from the previous policy which required that students take 6 credit hours in American, 6 in Europe after 1500 and 6 in other areas such as Ancient, Medieval, Russian or Asian history.  The current requirements match more closely the areas of expertise of the department faculty, as well as our course offerings, thus making it easier for students to complete the major in a timely fashion.  These changes also make sure our majors and minors take courses that cover more regions of the world. History Major Requirements; History Minor Requirements
• Campus-wide Curriculum:  Since our last three-year review, IUSB implemented significant curricular changes both at the campus-wide level and in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  The Department of History has made significant changes to its curriculum to adapt to the new requirements.  The history faculty has developed several T190 courses.  We will offer a T390 for the first time in the Spring 2008.  Also, other courses have been revised to fit into several categories of the campus-wide general education requirements that went into effect in the Fall 2005.  Several history courses fulfill the “diversity in U.S. society” and “non-western culture” requirements.  Our program is also a major contributor to the new B.A. requirements in CLAS, especially to the “western culture before 1800” category.  Moreover, the Department of History contributes courses to a wide variety of interdisciplinary minors on campus:  African American Studies, European Studies, Latin American/Latino Studies, Religious Studies, as well as the Women’s Studies major. 

• Advising:  All full-time faculty members, except for those in their first year, advise history majors.  One faculty member is in charge of advising all our minors.  To facilitate advising, the department uses new charts for both the major and the minor, which were created in the Fall 2006.  They are visually appealing and also offer information on history related activities, such as our newly energized history club, to help our students become more involved in activities on campus and in the community. 

• Pre-requisites:  After lengthy discussions, in the Fall 2007 the department decided not to implement pre-requisites for upper-division history courses.  Only one faculty member opted to require pre-requisites for his courses as a pilot program. 

• Teaching Retreat:  On April 21, 2007, the department will dedicate its retreat to the discussion of teaching issues.  Full-time and part-time faculty members have been invited to participate in a half day meeting designed to address the teaching issues that we all face in the classroom.  The meeting will start with a discussion of an article on teaching and how we can model good teaching strategies for those of our students who will become Social Science teachers in High School.  Also, faculty will exchange syllabi and copies of assignments, both written and oral, that have been useful in their classes.  The discussion will include how to teach writing in history courses.  We envision holding a teaching retreat on a regular basis.
• Internships:  History majors continue to show great interest in participating in internships.  To accommodate student demand and to help the department faculty who supervise the internships, the chair compiled a list of local museums, archives, etc. where students could pursue these educational experiences.  Also, in December 2006, the department developed and approved a list of the work that students are required to complete for both three and six credit hour internships.   The list of venues and the guidelines were posted on the department’s web page following their approval at the December 2006 department meeting.
• Personnel:  Since 2004, the department saw the retirement of two faculty members, Roy Schreiber and Les Lamon.  We welcomed Hayley Froysland, a Latin Americanist, who replaced Roy Schreiber and who offers courses in Latin America, which were needed to complement our course offerings.  We were disappointed not to be able to replace Les Lamon.  We need to maintain all the tenure-track lines to be able to continue offering a strong program to our majors and to contribute to a variety of areas across campus, as well as at the Elkhart Center.

 
What changes does the department plan to make in the coming years to the program and to assessment techniques, and why?
As stated above, in January 2007 we implemented significant changes to our student portfolio.  Students who wish to enroll in J495 in the Fall 2007 will have to use the new guidelines to prepare their portfolios, before turning in their portfolio to the department in April 2007.  We will examine those portfolios and the ones to follow to see if these changes, and especially the clarification of the guidelines to write the self-analysis essay, made a difference in the way that history majors reflect on their learning experience while in the program.

How were faculty, students, administration, alumni and other groups involved in assessment?  How were assessment data and results shared with faculty, students, administration and alumni?
The faculty discussed and revised its departmental plan at the March 2007 department meeting.  Also, each portfolio is reviewed by two department members.  In the Fall 2006, comments about a student’s readiness in the areas of research, analytical and writing skills to take J495 were shared with both the department chair and the faculty member who was scheduled to teach the seminar the next semester, who used the data to plan for the course.  Also, each paper from the seminar is reviewed by a faculty member in addition to the one who teaches the seminar.  Faculty members send feedback to the teacher indicating that the paper is at least of C quality.

During regular department meetings throughout the academic year, all department faculty shared comments about the issues that we face in the classroom and the needs of the program.  Full-time and part-time history faculty will participate in the teaching retreat on April 21, 2007.  As stated above, the faculty generated the direction in which the department wants to proceed by providing ideas and being involved in the process of discussion and approval of old and new techniques of assessment.

Alumni provided assessment feedback through the survey that the department conducted in the Fall 2004.  Students collected their papers and reflected on their experience as history majors through their portfolios.  As stated above, we hope to add additional student feedback by conducting exit interviews of history seniors starting in the Spring 2007.  Administrators are informed of our assessment results through normal reporting channels.

In one paragraph, please summarize the most important impacts of the assessment of student learning on the program.
As a result of reading student portfolios, which all full-time history faculty do every semester, the department has undertaken significant revisions of the student portfolio.  We clarified the portfolio guidelines to help our students reflect on their learning experience as history majors in a more critical way.  Using student input and faculty observations of their reading of portfolios, we have decided to continue discussion in formal (teaching retreat and department meetings), as well as informal ways on how we can incorporate and better teach historical research and writing in our classes. 

The papers included in student portfolios continue to show that the department is in need of a tenure-track faculty member to teach Early Modern European history.  At present, history course offerings leave uncovered a three hundred year period between the Middle Ages and the Enlightenment.

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