Department of
Geography and Planning
Revised
Assessment Plan
The Department of
Geography and Planning's assessment plan has been operational since September
of 1992. It was subsequently revised in 1996, 1998 and now in 2003. The recent change
in this plan is a result of consultation with the
October, 2003. The following report summarizes our revised
strategy for the assessment of undergraduate students, beginning in the Spring
Semester, 2004.
The previous versions of the department assessment plan cited five major academic outcomes for undergraduates majoring in Geography and Planning:
1. All undergraduate majors
must acquire knowledge of fundamental geography and planning terms and concepts.
2. All undergraduate majors
must have an understanding of each of the major traditions in geography. These
include: 1) Community and Urban Planning; 2) Geographic Information Science; 3)
Environmental Geography and Planning; 4) Economic Geography; and 5) Cultural
and Behavioral Geography.
3. All undergraduate students must acquire basic
graphicacy skills, particularly with respect to maps and their usage.
4. All students must acquire basic quantitative
skills and microcomputer literacy with respect to word processing, computer
cartography and graphics, geographic information systems (GIS), statistical
analysis and elementary data management.
5. To ensure that all undergraduate majors have adequate writing and communications skills demonstrated by writing intensive courses, a capstone course or senior thesis, and oral class presentations.
Other types of student outcomes currently assessed include:
1. Career placement in positions related to geography and planning
2. Placement of undergraduate majors in graduate programs
The mission of the Department of Geography and Planning
is to provide a quality multi-functional program that supplies service at the
general education and baccalaureate level to the university community, provides
quality undergraduate and graduate programs, fosters theoretical and applied
research in geography and planning, promotes multicultural understanding,
complements interdisciplinary work, and engages in community outreach.
Educational Objectives:
1. All undergraduate majors
will take GEPL 2010: Fundamentals of
Geography as a course to acquire knowledge of fundamental geography and
planning terms and concepts.
2. The department has
instituted curricular changes to require all undergraduate majors to take
courses designated within the following categories:
1) Community and Urban
Planning;
2) Geographic Information
Science;
3) Environmental Geography and
Planning;
4) Economic Geography; and
5) Cultural and Behavioral
Geography
3. All undergraduate students must take GEPL
3420: Quantitative Methods and
Mapping as a means to acquire basic graphicacy skills, particularly with
respect to maps and their usage as well as to acquire basic quantitative skills
and microcomputer literacy with respect to word processing, computer
cartography and graphics, geographic information systems (GIS), statistical
analysis and elementary data management.
4. As part of their undergraduate experience, all majors must enroll in at least 1 WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum) writing-intensive course to ensure that all undergraduate majors have adequate writing and communications skills demonstrated by writing intensive courses, a capstone course or senior thesis, and oral class presentations.
The department currently conducts an exit interview of all majors during the semester in which they are graduating. The undergraduate advisor conducts this interview in his office. Students are tested on an oral basis for their knowledge of fundamental terms and concepts that the department faculty have assembled into a formal list. This list consists of 100 fundamental terms and concepts in Geography and Planning. Students are also questioned in regard to future plans for immediate employment, graduate study, and long-term career plans. The undergraduate advisor reports his findings from these interviews to the faculty in regular faculty meetings.
In addition to the exit interview, the department chair has assembled an inventory of GEPL majors who have graduated and records such data as current address, employer, job description, and any graduate study that the graduate has undertaken.
This approach is currently undergoing modification based on recent discussions among department faculty to produce a plan to design, develop and implement a pre-testing and post-testing program for undergraduate majors. Department undergraduate faculty will develop a test instrument to be administered to students in the required undergraduate foundation course: Fundamentals of Geography (GEPL 2010). The Undergraduate Advisor will then administer the test instrument to the same population of students during their final semester to evaluate the progress made by students in the program.
The test instrument is based on the approached used in the
Geography Program in the Department of Geography-Geology at
We intend to test all of the majors enrolled in GEPL 2010 during the beginning of the Spring, 2004 Semester. Dr. David G. Howard will be in charge of this course and will administer the test. The Undergraduate Advisor (Dr. David J. Nemeth) will grade the exam along with the members of the GEPL Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. The post-test and the exit interview will be conducted by the Undergraduate Advisor (Dr. Nemeth).
Analysis of the unit’s assessment findings will be carried out by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee under the direction of the Undergraduate Advisor.
These findings will then be included in an annual report submitted in May, 2004 by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and the Department Chair.
The exit interview will continue to be administered during the Progress Evaluation appointment conducted by the undergraduate advisor during each student’s final semester. The post test using the test instrument described above will also be administered at this time. The undergraduate advisor will also continue to inquire about students’ career plans, plans for graduate study and/or employment. These data will then be recorded and submitted as a report as a second element of GEPL assessment.
The inventory of GEPL majors who have graduated consisting of current addresses, employers, job description/title, and graduate study will also continue to be maintained and included in the department assessment effort.
As a result of these modifications, the GEPL Chair will submit an annual assessment report consisting of the following three elements:
1. Pre-Post test results and discussion
2. Student career/graduate study/employment plans
3. Inventory of alumni: location, employment, advanced degrees.
Timeline for Assessment
Currently student outcome data are gathered only during each student’s final semester. Other data regarding student progress at the beginning and midpoint of students’ undergraduate careers have been gathered only on an informal basis and discussed at faculty meetings.
As a result of assessment changes described above, student data will be gathered at the entry point into the program, which we define as enrollment in GEPL 2010: Fundamentals of Geography. Data will also be gathered during the final semester of enrollment in the program prior to graduation. Once students graduate, they will be included in the list of alumni described above.
The primary changes to the program included the results of discussions among department faculty over the past three years which revolved around how students can develop fundamental proficiencies identified as critical for any geographer and planner.
These curricular changes included:
1. Development of GEPL 2010: Fundamentals of Geography to 1) introduce
students to the fundamental methodology for Geography and Planning,
2) to introduce the vocabulary of the discipline, and 3) to introduce fundamental concepts and approaches to study within geography and Planning. An important element of the course is a list of 100 important terms and concepts that every geographer and planner must understand.
2. Development of GEPL 3040: Quantitative Methods and Mapping to
introduce students to fundamental mapping concepts which are essential to
all geographers (given that the map is the fundamental tool of the discipline). The course also introduces fundamental elements of the use of graphs and graphic display of analytical data to develop graphicacy skills for our students. Students are also introduced to basic statistical techniques ranging from descriptive statistics to inferential statistics including means testing, ANOVA, correlation and regression.
Specific
Changes to Planning and Allocation
The major changes proposed in the program are primarily curricular in scope. Exit interviews will be modified to provide more formal documentation. These changes have been documented in the sections listed above.
Deficiencies in the undergraduate curriculum (if any), will be noted from the test results and exit interviews. The department faculty will review these results on a continuing basis to identify specific curricular and advising needs not currently being met. We will continue to fine tune the testing instrument and in documenting exit interview results.
Dr. Neil Reid,
Assessment Liaison
Dr. Peter S. Lindquist, Chair
Dr. Patrick Lawrence, Interim Undergraduate Advisor
Dr. David J. Nemeth, Undergraduate Advisor (currently on sabbatical)