Program Goals
The assessment program of the department of African American
Studies (DAAS) is designed to achieve three broad goals:
(1) to strengthen the students of the Major and Minor in
African American Studies through a measurement of their
mastery of basic content, central themes, subject areas
and methodology of AAS in relation to the core literature,
(2) to serve as a basis for modifying the instructional
program of the department in order to enhance learning,
and (3) to allow for measurement of the quality of the department's
research and service in relationship to its instructional
program.
The assessment is expected to enable the AAS department
to better articulate the benefits of a liberal arts education
centered upon the African American experience and to assess
the department's performance as a creator, extractor and
purveyor of knowledge and for determining the extent of
its success in achieving the central intellectual mission
of African American Studies.
The program is expected to foster collaboration and consensus among the faculty on core issues and literature in African American Studies.
Overall, African American Studies' education at Eastern Michigan University is expected to yield four broad outcomes: (1) an understanding of the African American experience in its historical and contemporary dimensions, (2) an understanding of the nature of the impact that such factors as race, gender and class exert on the social order, (3) a general understanding of the skills, techniques and knowledge necessary for effective functioning in a multicultural/multiracial society, and (4) the ability to write and think clearly and critically.
Student Population Assessed
The assessment program of the dapartment of African American
Studies measures learning on the part of its majors and
minors.
Assessment Instruments
The expected outcomes of majoring or minoring in African
American Studies at Eastern (See "program goals"
above) are assessed by three instruments (methods) described
as follows.
Instrument 1
This contains 100 comprehensive multiple choice and true
or false questions. It is designed to assess our majors
and minors' level of knowledge and understanding of the
evolution, mission and central themes of the discipline,
including movements, reforms, historical figures, and basic
disciplinary concepts and theories. The examination is taken
by majors and minors while completing AAS 201 Foundations
of Knowledge in African American Studies (03 hrs.).
Instrument 2
This consists of essay questions drawn from methodology
courses and existing teaching specialties. The test is designed
to test the students' mastery of central concepts and theories
of AAS methodology and central themes in specific subject
areas. Majors and minors enrolled in AAS 201 must select
and answer two questions from this list. One of the two
questions must be a methodology course.
Instrument 3
This is made up of portfolios of writing samples collected
from majors and minors who are enrolled in the department's
culminating research methods' course, AAS 401 Research Methods
in African American Studies (03 hrs). The department's executive
committee evaluates the portfolios in order to assess the
students' ability to write and think clearly and critically.
Assessment Coordination
The assessment program is coordinated by a member of the
faculty with the help of a graduate or office research assistant.
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