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Philosophy, BA

Student Outcomes

Assessment of Student Outcomes

Outcome A Primary Areas of Philosophical Inquiry

Philosophy students have knowledge of the primary areas of philosophical inquiry
Objective 1 Students will articulate the main principles of these areas of philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.

Measure 1

2021 Status
Not Yet Achieved
In light of the small number of samples available, we experimented with a 3 tier assessment. This yielded more comprehensive results. Overall, these results showed a similar picture to our previous assessment with a strong showing in two fields, metaphysics and ethics and a weaker showing in epistemology. The broader review also suggests that this is a difficult outcome to measure and that part of our difficulty is in the method of measuring.

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
Our results show strong evidence of knowledge of principles of ethics and metaphysics, with epistemology lagging behind.

Outcome B Diverse schools of philosophical thought

Philosophy students have knowledge of diverse schools of philosophical thought
Objective 2 Students will articulate the main principles of several distinctive schools of philosophical thought--comparative philosophy, analytic philosophy, continental philosophy and pragmatism

Measure 1

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
We found strong evidence that students knew the main principles of most of the schools of thought, with only one falling just below our target threshold.

Measure 2

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
We saw a strong showing for analyitic philosophy but rather weak in the other three schools.

Outcome C Investigate philosophical problems

Philosophy students can identify and investigate philosophical problems
Objective 3 Upper division students will identify, explain and investigate philosophical problems in written and/or oral projects.

Measure 1

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
We evaluated papers from Phi 312, Medieval Philosophy in the Winter 2019 semester. 23 students turned in papers. All of the papers were evaluated in 3 categories: their ability to identify a philosophical problem, their ability to explain the philosophical problem, and their ability to investigate the philosophical problem. Each paper was scored as poor, fair, good, or excellent in each of the three categories. The papers were 6-8 pages in length.

2017 Status
Achieved
To get a large enough sample, we combined this measure with Measure B.3.2. 85% of the students scored good or excellent in identifying a philosophical problem. 10% received a score of "fair" in this category and 5% scored "poor." 55% of the students scored good or excellent in explaining a philosophical problem while 40% were fair and 5% were poor. 50% scored good or excellent in investigating a philosophical problem. 40% scored fair and 10% scored poor. Considering all three categories together, 85% scored 7 or above on a 12-point scale.

Measure 2

2019 Status
Achieved
We evaluated papers from Phi 495, Reality, Knowledge, and Value in the Fall 2018 semester. 10 students turned in papers. All of the papers were evaluated in 3 categories: their ability to identify a philosophical problem, their ability to explain the philosophical problem, and their ability to investigate the philosophical problem. Each paper was scored as poor, fair, good, or excellent in each of the three categories. The papers were 15-20 pages in length. We had enough papers to report on this measure separately this time. In the last report we had to combine it with a similar measure in order to get a more meaningful sample of papers.

2017 Status
Achieved
This measure was combined with Measure B.3.1 The results and analysis are found there.

Outcome D Logical and critical thinking skills

Philosophy students have logical and critical thinking skills
Objective 4 Upper division students will use logical and critical thinking to form strong written arguments.

Measure 1

2017 Status
Not Yet Achieved
86% of the students scored good or excellent in logical skills. 43% scored good or excellent in critical analysis skills. 14% scored poorly in logical skills, and 57% scored poorly in critical analysis skills

Objective 5 Students will demonstrate mastery of the fundamental logic and critical analysis skills developed in our introductory philosophy courses.

Measure 1

2017 Status
Not Yet Achieved
48% of the students scored good or excellent in basic logic skills. 41% scored good or excellent in critical analysis skills. 45% scored good or excellent in advanced logical skills. 52% scored poorly in basic logic skills. 59% scored poorly in critical analysis skills, and 55% scored poorly in advanced logical skills. 31% scored good or excellent across all three categories

Outcome E Oral communication

Philosophy students have oral communication skills
Objective 6 Upper division students will demonstrate good oral communication skills.

Measure 1

2021 Status
Achieved
Our results were quite strong, meeting our targets. The results were very similar to our reporting in 2016. Students continue to show very good oral communication skills.

2017 Status
Achieved
We assessed oral presentations from Phi 495 F16, Phi 495 W16 and Phi 325 W16. In each section all students were included in the assessment (6, 9, 31 students respectively). 100% of the students scored at or above the fair level across all areas of assessment. 87% scored good or excellent in Organization, 84% scored good or excellent in Presentation, and 91% scored good or excellent in Research.

Outcome F Written communication

Philosophy students have written communication skills
Objective 7 Upper division students will demonstrate good written communication skills.

Measure 1

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
For written communication, we assessed research papers from (1) Phi 312 winter 2019 and (2) Phi 495 Fall 2018 using a rubric that describes 5 categories to be assessed: Philosophical Quality, Content Development, Paper Organization, Sources and Evidence, and Syntax and Mechanics. Each paper is rated in each category as falling into one of 4 levels of achievement: Excellent, Good, Fair, or Unacceptable.

2017 Status
Not Yet Achieved
We assessed essays from Phi 312 W16 and Phi 495 F16. In each section all students were included in the assessment (15 and 5 students respectively). 89% of the students scored at or above the fair level across all areas of assessment. 55% scored good or excellent in Philosophical Quality, 40% scored good or excellent in Content Development, 60% scored good or excellent in Paper Organization, 70% scored good or excellent in Sources and Evidence, and 70% scored good or excellent in Syntax and Mechanics.