Assessment Details
Academic Year: 2020-2021 Level: Undergraduate
Campus Department: Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences [UG and Grad]
Program Type: Major [UG] / Program [Grad]
Program Name: Music BA (Link)
Description of Data Collection:
a. A review of Senior Seminar major papers that examines students’ ability to think critically, to consult sources, and to express clearly their analysis and understanding of complex musical phenomena.
b. A review of senior projects in composition examining a student’s ability to control and shape musical materials in a variety of media; a review of senior recitals evaluating the ability to perform clearly, to master a range of techniques, and to interpret expressively and with understanding in a variety of styles.
c. We use informal exit interviews with our majors to discuss issues they see in the program.
Review Process:
The entire full-time faculty review all materials with recommendations made to the chair.
Assessment of Senior Seminar papers is made during the second semester with recommendations at the spring faculty meeting.
Assessment of composition portfolios and senior recitals is made over the summer with recommendations submitted at the fall faculty meeting.
Resulting Program Changes:
An evaluation of this year’s Senior Seminar projects showed agreement that students are overall meeting the learning goals outlined by the department. There is concern about how we might strengthen the preparation of students before Senior Seminar to produce an even stronger result. A particular question arose about how to better evaluate the acquisition of analytical skills, as these may not always be addressed in the topics chosen by students in Senior Seminar. It was felt that a solution might lie outside the Senior Seminar projects, that we should survey major and minor classes that assign analytical papers and collect a sample for evaluation. The question arose as to whether stronger guidance and assessment is needed leading up to Senior Seminar. The department continues to monitor issues concerning music’s place in society: music and race, social justice etc. We identified courses which deal directly to some degree with these aspects as part of a university review. One change due to Covid was the presentation of Seminar reports through zoom which led to an
increased audience of some 30 viewers with faculty and even parents and alumni participating.
In the areas of critical thinking and research skills, the final papers of the 2021 Senior Seminar showed both an admirable range of topics and sub-disciplines and a depth and passion for their chosen topic. Keeping the Seminar topics at the discretion of the student clearly adds a sense of commitment and interest on the part of the student. This was felt, in a perhaps less measurable way, during the oral presentations and how the students both presented and defended their topics. At least two topics dealt with issues of social justice—the use of music as torture, the exclusion of underrepresented composers within course syllabi—showing that a more conscious awareness of such topics in our courses is having an impact.
Date of Most Recent Program Review:
An evaluation of this year’s Senior Seminar projects showed agreement that students are overall meeting the learning goals outlined by the department. There is concern about how we might strengthen the preparation of students before Senior Seminar to produce an even stronger result. A particular question arose about how to better evaluate the acquisition of analytical skills, as these may not always be addressed in the topics chosen by students in Senior Seminar. It was felt that a solution might lie outside the Senior Seminar projects, that we should survey major and minor classes that assign analytical papers and collect a sample for evaluation. The question arose as to whether stronger guidance and assessment is needed leading up to Senior Seminar. The department continues to monitor issues concerning music’s place in society: music and race, social justice etc. We identified courses which deal directly to some degree with these aspects as part of a university review. One change due to Covid was the presentation of Seminar reports through zoom which led to an
increased audience of some 30 viewers with faculty and even parents and alumni participating.
In the areas of critical thinking and research skills, the final papers of the 2021 Senior Seminar showed both an admirable range of topics and sub-disciplines and a depth and passion for their chosen topic. Keeping the Seminar topics at the discretion of the student clearly adds a sense of commitment and interest on the part of the student. This was felt, in a perhaps less measurable way, during the oral presentations and how the students both presented and defended their topics. At least two topics dealt with issues of social justice—the use of music as torture, the exclusion of underrepresented composers within course syllabi—showing that a more conscious awareness of such topics in our courses is having an impact.
Attachments (if available)