Evaluation of Program Level Goals

The primary capstone experience for our most committed majors is the honors program. Honors students are expected to integrate, apply, and extend the knowledge they have learned to a psychological problem in a specific content area. The evaluation of the honors thesis by faculty is one key way in which we evaluate the attainment of our program level learning goals. The thesis is read by the supervising faculty member and a second reader, assigned by the Student Services Staff.

 

Another key method for evaluating our undergraduate program level learning goals is through our exit survey. First developed in 2012, this survey provides our graduating seniors an opportunity to assess whether they perceive their education in the major to have fulfilled these goals. In this exit survey, we also assess students' first-hand experience in conducting psychological research through the honor's program and/or other research opportunities (e.g., Psychology 99 or 199), focusing on the perceived usefulness of these experiences.

 

The psychology department is in the process of developing several additional methods for evaluating our program level learning goals. First, we are evaluating whether the current program learning goals reflect the type of learning we want our majors to achieve. Second, we are beginning a process to regularlize our course syllabi to match our program learning goals in a way that makes clear what particular goals are introduced, reinforced, mastered, or assessed in our courses.