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: Theology BA (Link)
Description of Data Collection:
Currently, all theology majors are required to take the majors seminar (THEO3330 Key Theologians and Texts), which is offered annually. This seminar offers the opportunity to determine whether students have attained the stated outcomes, since it involves major writing assignment(s) which require students to use their general knowledge in theology and
focus this knowledge on a particular theological issue or theologian. However, the undergraduate director intends on establishing an assessment process and
schedule for the theology core and major that focus on empirical data (i.e., evidence from syllabi, student work, enrollments, etc.). While the chair and the instructor will continue to have the important assessment-focused conversation described above, the undergraduate director has set additional the goals for AY2021-22:
1. Deliver a proposal to the department in the Fall of 2021 to create a Theology Undergraduate Program Assessment and Advisory Committee (hereafter TUPAAC), and, if
approved, to begin assessment work with that group in the Spring of 2022. The committee should be comprised of full time faculty members who teach regularly within the standard theology core. Its purpose is: a) to establish means and rubrics for assessing both the core and the major, b) to implement that assessment, and c) to conduct initial interpretation of
the resulting data and to make potential recommendations for curriculum modifications if necessary. Additionally, the TUPAAC will assist the undergraduate director with a handful of advisory tasks as they come up through the year.
2. Establish a schedule for assessment of each of the core’s and major’s learning goals to be executed over the next few academic years.
Review Process:
Currently, the faculty member teaching THEO3330 Key Theologians and Texts (i.e., “Majors Seminar”) reports to the chair on the quality of student work and the degree to which she or he feels that students have met the learning goals. In addition to the writing requirements, the professor teaching the majors seminar is also asked to conduct some exit interviews with students, and to report the results of this to the department chair. In the future, the plan is that the TUPAAC will conduct initial interpretation of the resulting data and to make potential recommendations for curriculum modifications if necessary. The undergraduate director will present these to the chair and executive committee for evaluation and presentation to the department at the final department meeting of the academic year to allow for consideration and planning over the summer, and department discussion and voting
(if necessary) at the first meeting of the following academic year. Notably and relatedly, the department is currently in the process of creating and implementing two new required majors courses (to replace THEO3577 Conciliar Traditions and THEO3330 Key Theologians and Texts, i.e., “Majors Seminar”), presumably for AY2022-23. It is hoped that the format of these new courses will allow for simpler data collection vis-à-vis evaluating the real impact of the majors’ learning goals.
Attachments (if available)