History and Social Studies (History)
Assessment Plan

Link to Sample Report

OVERVIEW OF PLAN
The History Department has adopted a qualitative assessment plan that seeks to measure how well a given cohort of majors has mastered a defined set of skills and abilities (see below). Assessment centers around a capstone experience in the Senior Seminar in which students are expected to demonstrate the skills and abilities that represent key outcomes expected of History majors and History concentrators in the Social Studies program (the vast majority of Social Studies majors). The purpose of this plan is to promote dialogue among history faculty addressing how well these skills and abilities have been acquired by our majors and how instruction could be improved to better achieves these outcomes.

Each semester, the instructor of the seminar will present a plan for assessing these skills and abilities in their students. To do that, instructors will integrate course requirements from their course syllabus with the department's list of skills and abilities, showing which assessment tools will be used to assess the various skills and abilities that all majors should acquire. Student mastery of these skills and abilities will then be assessed during the course of the semester, eventuating in a written report evaluating the overall skill level demonstrated by this cohort of students. The purpose of the report is not to recapitulate assessment of individual students, but to record observations and draw conclusions about the overall range and level of competency demonstrated by the students as a group.

The attached documents represent a sample of how this plan will work, drawn from the seminar Paul Harris taught in the Spring, 1998.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES
HISTORY AND SOCIAL STUDIES MAJORS SHOULD HAVE

A. Reading Comprehension and Cognitive Skills

History and Social Studies majors should be able to:

• identify the main point or thesis in a piece of historical writing.

• analyze how authors develop their theses and support them with evidence.

• recognize and evaluate differences in historical interpretation among different authors.

History and Social Studies majors should be able to:

• recognize potential sources of bias in historical writings.

• understand and interpret events in their appropriate historic context.

• understand and interpret relations of cause and effect and other sequential relations.

• understand the complexity of human motivations and appreciate cultural differences in patterns of behavior and ideation.

• synthesize a variety of evidence into a coherent and plausible account of events.

History and Social Studies majors should be able to:

• recognize the difference between primary and secondary sources, and understand the uses and importance of each type.

• select and refine an appropriate topic for a given assignment.

• identify a variety of different kinds of source materials that could shed light on a particular topic.

• use the library and various bibliographic aids to identify and locate different sources relevant to a particular topic.

• evaluate which of their sources are the most authoritative.

• compile and annotate a bibliography, and present it in proper format.

• conduct an oral history interview.

History and Social Studies majors should be able to:

• formulate a thesis on the basis of insights gained from research.

• develop their thesis in an organized and logical progression.

• use appropriate evidence to support points.

• cite their sources properly.

• summarize points made in source materials, and make the connections between different points of view and their own.

• recognize the shortcomings of their evidence and anticipate possible objections.

• respond constructively to criticism and make appropriate revisions.

• write clear and grammatical prose.

• critically evaluate the work of other students.

History and Social Studies majors should be able to:

• respond clearly and thoughtfully to questions and comments in class discussion.

• draw upon and summarize reading materials in ways that address larger themes and issues.

• deliver an effective oral presentation.

• critically evaluate the work of other students.

History and Social Studies majors should be able to:

• produce a paper using word processing software.

• use e-mail.

• conduct research using the World Wide Web in addition to traditional source

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