Outcomes Assessment

Program goals, student learning outcomes and assessment methods for the BS Program

Program Goals

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)

Assessment Methods

  1. Students will develop an understanding of empirically known factors that underlie, shape, and sustain their individual sense of self and their relationships to others.

A.1.        Students will learn how we become aware of ourselves, how we learn to interact with others, and how we influence others and how they influence us.

 

Goal: The Psychology Department Comprehensive Assessment (PDCA) exam will be given as a Pretest Exam to all students enrolled in PSY105 and as a Posttest Exam to all majors who have accumulated 27 hours in Psychology (of the 35 hours required for a degree). Actual: PSY302

  1. Students will develop a conceptual understanding of important behavioral principles, theories, and applications.

 

B.1.        Students will learn how psychologists study human behavior and how this knowledge can be used to explain, predict, and influence behavior.

 

Goal: The PDCA t exam will be given as a Pretest Exam to all students enrolled in PSY105 and as a Posttest Exam to all majors who have accumulated 27 hours in Psychology (of the 35 hours required for a degree). Actual: PSY302

  1. Students will recognize and understand principles of scientific and critical thinking and be able to appreciate how this knowledge applies to their lives.

 

C.1.        Students will be able to identify and critically evaluate psychological research methods.

C.2.        Students will be able to analyze empirical data.

C.3.        Students will be able to assess the significance and importance of research reports.

 Each psychology BS student completes PSY302 in the third or fourth year of their program. As part of this course, students write ten, 600- word review papers of psychological research articles. Performance on the first and last review paper were compared.

  1. Students will be able to communicate clearly and effectively in a written format.

D.1.        Students will be able to communicate clearly and effectively in a written format.

 

Assessment of this outcome will use each student’s written review of journal articles as evidence of student learning.