Assessment of Student Learning - Minnesota State University Moorhead

Learning Improvements

The following list of learning improvements are recent examples of ways assessment has enhanced student learning at MSUM.

Program	Date	Improvement	Results
Athletic Training	2008	Clinical Education Outcome Assessment	Results will be reported on the October 2008 Assessment Report.
Chemistry	2008	Analytical Chemistry Upgrade	Results will be reported on the October 2008 Assessment Report.
Communication Studies	2008	Creation of ancillary instructional guides for topics related to oral and written communication	Results will be reported on the October 2008 Assessment Report.
Economics	2008	Developing Emerging Technology Skills in School Psychology students	Preliminary results reported on the October 2008 Assessment Report. Full results will be reported on the 2010 Assessment Report.
Mathematics	2008	Development of programming for Calculus I and Calculus II labs.	Results will be reported on the October 2008 Assessment Report.
Philosophy	2008	Development of guidelines and an assessment rubric to implement and assess the new oral presentation requirement in the Philosophy major.	Results will be reported on the October 2008 Assessment Report.
School Psychology	2008	Purchase PDAs and observational software to increase student's technology skills	Results will be reported on the October 2008 Assessment Report.

Mathematics	2007	Converting the calculus course from four lecture meetings per week to three lecture meetings and one two-hour lab per week	Will be measured by student scores on the Calculus ETS test.
School Psychology	2007	Curricular changes to consolidate some of our courses, to increase application to children and educational settings, and to increase material in some areas (e.g., motivation, child psychopathology, more physiological psychology).	Will be measured by scores on the first learning outcome—knowledge base in psychology.
School Psychology	2007	Adding material to courses to meet additional accreditation requirements and to accommodate expansion of professional best practice standards (e.g., crisis intervention, services to autistic students, early literacy interventions, response-to intervention practices).	Will be measured by scores on the sixth and eighth learning outcomes.
Philosophy	2007	Requiring that in PHIL 300, students write a research paper and that the class be designated as Writing-Intensive.	Will be measured by scores on a rubric applied to papers in PHIL 300.
Paralegal	2007	Family Law was moved from the Civil Litigation Area of Emphasis to the Core requirements because it is an area of law where our graduates consistently find employment.	Will continue to assess the effectiveness of student preparation for the workforce by consulting with recent graduates.
Paralegal	2007	Creation of a new course, PARA 420-Criminal Litigation in the Criminal Litigation Area of Emphasis to provide a practical, hands-on approach where the students had projects similar to those they would encounter as an employee in either the prosecution legal team or the defense legal team.	Will be measured by scores on several outcomes.
Paralegal	2007	Integration of more research and writing projects into courses across our curriculum because all the survey responses, whether form internship supervisors, employers, or graduates, indicate this are cannot be emphasized enough	Will be measured by scores on outcomes 4, 5, 6, and 8.
Paralegal	2007	Integration of more Internet-based legal research into several courses. Legal practitioners are using the Internet in ever-increasing numbers, in addition to the fee-based services from Weslaw or Lexis, so the students need to be proficient	Will be measured by scores on outcome 4.
Paralegal	2007	Emphasis on a service learning component in the Elder Law class (drafting health-care directives for senior citizens) has proved very successful as an outreach tool to the F-M community and has enhanced our department's and MSUM's visibility in the community.	Will be measured by scores on outcomes 5, 6, and 8.
Theatre Arts	2007	Develop new exercises in class to strengthen student’s writing abilities.	Will be measured on this year’s assessment report for outcome 1.
Theatre Arts	2007	Adding new performance requirements for acting classes.	Will be measured on this year’s assessment report for outcome 3.
Theatre Arts	2007	Examine scheduling practices to identify new teaching spaces for directing classes.	Will be measured by scores on outcome 2.
Industrial Technology and Operations Management	2007	Change curricular requirement from CSIS 103 to CSIS 104 and increase the rigor and modify assignments in TECH 394.	Will be measured by scores on outcome 2.
Industrial Technology and Operations Management	2007	Conduct a course review to ensure that students are gaining exposure to the application of scientific and technical concepts.	Will be conducted during the current academic year.

Elementary and Early Childhood Education	2006	Purchase videos to better instruct students in the use of assessment rubrics for infants and toddlers.	Results will be reported on the October 2007 Assessment Report.
English	2006	Required a new course, Introduction to Literary Studies, as a prerequisite to major courses.	Results will be reported on the October 2007 Assessment Report.
Mass Communications	2006	Developed faculty expertise in portfolio creation that will be implemented in a course that requires students to create portfolios.	Results will be reported on the October 2007 Assessment Report.
Physics	2006	Increased the credits for the experimental sequence in the curriculum.	Results will be reported on the October 2007 Assessment Report.
Physics	2006	Require submission and presentation at Student Academic Conference to improve research skills.	Results will be reported on the October 2007 Assessment Report.
Physics	2006	Purchased experimental equipment to provide more hands-on opportunities for students.	Results will be reported on the October 2007 Assessment Report.
Psychology	2006	Purchased additional computers to provide more practical experience for students in conducing technologically-assisted research projects.	Results will be reported on the October 2007 Assessment Report.
Social Work	2006	Developed faculty expertise in applying research findings to social work practice they will be implemented in the curriculum.	Results will be reported on the October 2007 Assessment Report.

Communication Studies	2005	Eliminated Theatre Arts course from curriculum.	Gathered baseline data during last reporting cycle.
Communication Studies	2005	Added new elective course, Training and Development.	Gathered baseline data during last reporting cycle.
Economics	2005	Require a draft of the final student paper in the capstone course before the revised version is accepted.	Student scores in writing improved on the most recent report.
Film Studies	2005	Developed new major.	Just beginning to assess the new major.
Film Studies	2005	Developed film theory course.	Just beginning to assess the new major.
Film Studies	2005	Hired additional faculty member.	Just beginning to assess the new major.
Library	2005	Develop relationships with academic departments to strengthen information literacy skills.	The library has worked with the CMST 100 course this past year and is gathering baseline data.
Theatre Arts	2005	Developing programs in musical theatre and arts management.	Still under discussion in the department.

American Studies	2004	Used new class assignment to probe controversial issues.	Program has been eliminated.
American Studies	2004	Require oral presentations in more upper division courses.	Program has been eliminated.
American Studies	2004	Require student to engage in primary research in their courses.	Program has been eliminated.
Anthropology	2004	Purchased of laptops and projectors for use in the classroom by instructors and students.	Continue to monitor the effect of new equipment on student learning.
Anthropology	2004	Received CTL grant to purchase classroom teaching aids in biological anthropology and archeology.	Continue to monitor the effect of new equipment on student learning.
Anthropology	2004	Divided large lecture courses into smaller sections.	Continue to monitor this change.
Anthropology	2004	Developing research, writing, and speaking skills more intentionally in a one-credit Topics course.	Assess this change on outcomes 4, 5, and 7.
History	2004	Introduce primary vs. secondary source distinction in early courses.	Will be measured with new assessment plan.
History	2004	Require oral presentations in more upper division courses.	Will be measured with new assessment plan.
Mathematics	2004	Created a new course, Computer Calculus, to help students better understand abstract calculus concepts.	Calculus scores on the national exam remain low. Department is revising the way it offers Calculus for next year and has applied for an instructional improvement grant.
Mathematics	2004	Increased from one credit to three credits the Actuarial course.	Three of four students passed Actuarial exam for the first reporting cycle.
Physics/Astronomy	2004	Incorporated a peer-evaluation component to a group presentation assignment in PHYS 170.\	Plan has changed and are not focusing on PHYS 170.
Psychology	2004	Purchased additional copies of the APA style manual for faculty and students and APA style manual software.	Student scores on the communication outcome remained relatively the same.
Psychology	2004	Purchased site license for SPSS software.	Student scores on the research outcome improved slightly from previous years.

Speech/Language/Hearing Science	2003	Incorporated writing outcomes into course syllabi.	Will be assessed with new writing rubric.
Speech/Language/Hearing Science	2003	Reaffirmed commitment to the undergraduate clinical semester.	Will continue to be assessed with new assessment plan and rubrics.