University of Nebraska Kearney

Psychology Assessment Report 2005

Submitted Fall, 2005

Goal 1: Students will develop a comprehensive knowledge base (basic knowledge of psychology).

• Objective 1.1: For each ACAT content area (except experimental and statistics), the departmental assessment committee will compare the scores of students who have had the relevant coursework to those who have not over a two-year period. Students with the relevant coursework will show a higher mean score in that content area than those without the relevant coursework.
   
• Objective 1.2: Students, as a group for the academic year, will score above the 50^th percentile in each of the eight content areas noted above.
   
• Objective 1.3: Field experience and practicum students, as a group for the academic year, will score above 3 on the five-point scale above in each area assessed (using end of field experience data where beginning and end points are assessed). 

Goal 2. Students will be familiar with the methodology for furthering ideas, theory, and knowledge within the discipline.

• Objective 2.1: Students will score above the 50^th percentile on the experimental and statistics areas of the ACAT.
   
• Objective 2.2: At least 20% of exiting seniors will produce a paper or poster that is presented at a regional, national, or international psychology conference. This is a change from previous reports which only looked at juniors and seniors that presented at conferences during the year. This change should provide us with a better
   
• Objective 2.3: UNK Psychology will rank in the top 20% of institutions represented at the annual Great Plains Student Psychology Conference for the number of awards for papers or posters at each conference.

Goal 3. Students will communicate their knowledge clearly through both spoken and written media.

• Objective 3.1: There will be a statistically significant increase in scores from the PSY 270 papers to the upper-level papers.
   
• Objective 3.2: At least 10% of our exiting seniors will present an oral paper at a regional, national, or international psychology conference.
   
• Objective 3.3: UNK Psychology Majors will rank in the top 20% for the number of awards for oral papers at each conference.
   
• Objective 3.4: UNK Psychology Majors will rank in the top 20% for the number of awards for poster presentations at each conference.

Goal 4. Students will apply their knowledge with:

1. tolerance of conflicting viewpoints
2. critical thinking approaches
3. appropriate professional and scientific ethics and values.

• Objective 4.1: Alumni will score higher than freshman and sophomores on each of the eight items of the values and ethics survey.
   
• Objective 4.2: Field experience and practicum students, as a group for the academic year, will score above 3 on the five-point scale above in each area assessed.

Goal: 5. Students will be prepared for future academic and/or professional endeavors.

• Objective 5.1: Our alumni will exceed the standards in each of the relevant areas as determined by the national statistics compiled by ETS.
   
• Objective 5.2: Exiting seniors will be successful in their application to graduate schools or be hired in the job market of their chosen field 

Goal 6: Students in General Studies psychology classes will meet the objectives of the overall general studies program as well as the social and behavioral science objectives.

• Objective 6.1: Students who have taken a psychology social science general studies course will score higher on test items that measure the following social and behavioral science general studies objectives than students who have not taken a general studies course:

  6.1a. demonstrate an understanding of human experiences of individuals and groups and be able to relate them to the present;

  6.1b. demonstrate the ability to understand the application of the empirical research methods used in the social sciences to understand individual behavior as well as the interrelationships among people, including the ability to critically evaluate the appropriateness of scientific methods and the accuracy of findings in psychology;

  6.1c. demonstrate the ability to comprehend how social scientific concepts originate, are validated and refined in psychology; and

  6.1d. demonstrate the ability to evaluate the strengths and limitations of the behavioral sciences and the explanations they offer for contemporary life and human behavior.

   
• Objective 6.2: Students who have taken a psychology social science general studies course will score higher on test items that measure the overall general studies objectives than students who have not taken a general studies course:
  

  6.2a. demonstrate the ability to locate and gather information;

  6.2b. demonstrate the capability for critical thinking, reasoning, and analyzing;

  6.2c. demonstrate effective communication skills including the ability to read, speak and write effectively, using the materials, ideas, and discourse modes of specific academic areas’

  6.2d. demonstrate an understanding of the experiences and values of groups and cultures which have been historically under-represented, and

  6.2e. demonstrate a motivation for life-long learning.