Academic Programs

INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS  

Administrative Units

 Humanities

Objectives

Learning Objectives Common to UHV Programs

I.  Learning and communication skills

   Reading and listening proficiency
     Writing and speaking proficiency
   Quantitative proficiency
   Research proficiency

A.  Generic thinking ability

   Analyze problems or issues and their underlying assumptions
   Generate and evaluate evidence
   Assess the credibility of sources
     Define alternative conclusions or actions, and their implications

B. Critical thinking ability specific to major field of study

     Analyze problems or issues and their underlying assumptions
   Generate and evaluate evidence
   Assess the credibility of sources
   Define alterative conclusions of actions, and their implications

III.   Intellectual perspective

   Comparative, contextual understanding of field
   Historical perspective on field

IV.  Behavioral Values

      Understand significance of academic and professional standards of conduct
      Develop ability to work constructively and productively with others in undertakings of  mutual significance
     Develop the kind of self-assurance and habit of inquiry that will enable them to defend the status quo, undertake creative alternatives or effectively express dissent.

   Students are expected to understand the cultural and intellectual history of the western world by intensive study of at least three periods of that history.  (The three periods are to be selected from among the following options: Classical Greece and Rome, Medieval and Renaissance Civilization, The Age of Enlightenment, and The Modern Era.)
   Students are expected to gain an in-depth understanding of either  Asian culture or gender studies.
   Students are expected to gain in-depth understanding of one humanities discipline according to the following specifications: A.  The Literature Concentration

   Students are expected to understand and appreciate the dramatic art of  Shakespeare.
   Students are expected to be able to read and interpret poetry of various genres, with awareness of the poetic conventions and original contributions of key  poems.
   Students are expected to be able to read and interpret narrative fiction, with awareness of the narrative conventions and original contributions of key narrative fictions
   Students are expected to understand the English grammar system, be able to demonstrate that knowledge and be able to make effective rhetorical choices in writing.
   Students are expected to understand the concept of a literary period and to define the characteristics of at least one such period.
   Students seeking secondary certification are expected to have mastered the ExCET skills specified by SBEC.

B.  The History Concentration

   Students are expected to be familiar with the major developments in European and U.S. history.
   Students are expected to understand the basic categories of analysis used by historians in examining the past.
   Students are expected to be familiar with the different types of history: economic, social, intellectual/ cultural, and political.
   Students are expected to be able to distinguish fact from interpretation in historical writings.
   Students seeking secondary certification in history are expected to have mastered the ExCET skills specified by SBEC.

 Methods of Assessment

   Undergraduate Alumni Survey
   ExCET test results of undergraduate students in the Secondary Education English and History program.
   Undergraduate Alumni Survey
   ExCET test results of undergraduate students in the Secondary Education English and History program.

 Assessment Results

(Contact IR)

 Use of Results

By analyzing the results, the program faculty members summarize the strengths, the weakness, and the improvement needed in the program, and make recommendations for the necessary changes.

   Strengths: knowledgeable, accessible teachers; small, caring learning environment;
   Weakness: limited variety of course offerings; classes not offered frequently enough for student schedules;
   Needed improvement: greater variety of courses, especially in the areas of female writers, Eastern and Hispanic lit, and history courses beyond American and British;

Although the students expressed the need for more variety in course offerings, the humanities program is not large enough to support more classes. To make the scheduling and planning for classes easier, we will begin posting a two year class cycle on the website. We will also need to have larger discussion about the oral presentation skills of UHV students, and Humanities students in particular.

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