University of Nebraska Kearney

History Graduate Program Assessment Report 2005

Submitted Fall, 2005

Since the last graduate assessment report in spring of 2004, four students have graduated from the program.

The department’s assessment plan evaluated students abilities to demonstrate the historical knowledge, skills, and values appropriate to a graduate level education.

The assessment plan comprised of two parts: direct assessment (MA Thesis evaluation) and indirect assessment (a. exit interviews, b. surveys).

Direct Assessment Measure:

Since all four students [hereafter referred to as student A, B, C, & D] opted for the Thesis option, their MA Thesis – approximately 80-100 pages – was evaluated by a team of three history department faculty for evidence of specific student learning outcomes relating to knowledge and skills.

Each Master’s Thesis was evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:-

(4) Superior  (3) Good  (2) Competent  (1) Poor  (0) Evaluator unable to assess/NA

1. 1.Historical knowledge: demonstrates broad foundation of historical knowledge in primary field.

   Student A:	4	3	4
   Student B:	4	4	4
   Student C:	4	4	4
   StudentD:	4	3	4

2. Historiography: displays and in depth knowledge of historiography and recent research in chosen area of specialization.

   Student A:	3	4	4
   Student B:	4	4	4
   Student C:	4	3	4
   Student D:	4	3	4

3. Source material: demonstrates effective use of primary documents.

   Student A:	3	4	4
   Student B:	4	4	4
   Student C:	4	3	4
   StudentD:	4	3	4

4. Originality: represents original research in chosen area of specialization

   Student A:	3	4	4
   Student B:	4	3	4
   Student C:	4	3	4
   Student D:	4	4	4

5. Analysis of source material: demonstrates ability to read and interpret historical documents, books, and articles.

   Student A:	3	4	4
   Student B:	3	2	3
   Student C:	4	4	4
   Student D:	4	3	4

6. Communication skills: ability to write effectively.

   Student A:	4	4	4
   Student B:	3	2	3
   Student C:	4	4	4
   Student D:	4	3	4

Indirect Assessment Measures:

1. Exit Interview: Three students participated in an exit interview upon completion of their program of study. The questions asked at this interview seek to assess student learning outcomes relating to the areas of knowledge, skills, and values and to illuminate departmental successes and failures in achieving its stated goals.
   1. What makes historical research original? (values)

      a. Hands on primary research-original documents-make an original contribution to the field.

      b. Find a different way to look at events-prove or disprove theories.

      d. What makes historical research original is whether it has been researched previously by many historians or a few-original research is the creation of one individual who is interested in a specific topic-their own idea.

   2. What is the purpose of historical research? (values)

      a. Make sure the past is reported in an unbiased manner-give research perspective-go through the spin.

      b. Discover the truth-add more knowledge about the past-enrich understanding of present day.

      d. The purpose of historical research is to give individuals or groups of peoples no matter their creed, race, gender, or ethnicity a voice.

   3. What do historians do for society? (values)

      a. Preserve the past-hopefully without too many filters-explain how we got to where we are today.

      b. Enrich society-help them understand themselves better.

      d. They give the past a voice-the goal of the historian is to tell society about their experiences in an attempt to better understand society and learn from past mistakes.

   4. What is a professional historian? (values)

      a. Makes a living doing this research-not let personal opinion sway their research.

      b. People who have met certain professional standards-it is an occupation.

      d. A professional historian is someone who is devoted to the preservation, exploration, and examination of historical research, data and ideas. The goal of a historian is to discover as much as possible about history, preserve it, and pass it on to future generations as a learning tool.

   5. Why do historians document their findings? (values)

      a. Safeguard their sources-clear way of verifying research.

      b. So that others can validate it-otherwise it is opinion.

      d. Historians document their findings in order to make history available and easily accessible to future generations-documents can not only be used to provide credible sources for thesis and dissertations, but also provide future historians areas of research and discussion.

   6. Why is the preservation of primary sources and open access to them important to historians? (values)

      a. Vital to historical research-need them verify facts-freedom of information-lost documents create gaps.

      b. That is the first step to gaining accurate sources-most valuable-ready access needed for freedom of knowledge.

      d. Without the preservation of primary sources, there would be no historical research, therefore no history.

   7. What does intellectual diversity mean? (values)

      a. Broad range of view points about a subject or topic-also view all facts-it broadens perspective.

      b. Free exchange of ideas even if you do not agree with them-a open marketplace of ideas.

      d. Intellectual diversity means keeping an open mind when it comes to any field of study-even though one might not agree with everything written, if they possess intellectual diversity they will desire to learn as much as possible about the subject and then develop their own hypothesis.

   8. Did the graduate curriculum meet your needs? (knowledge)

      a. For the most part-enjoyed smaller non-P classes-would have liked more choice in classes-but recognizes problems of small department.

      b. Yes it did.

      d. Yes it did.

   9. What skills did this experience provide for you? (skills)

      a. Helped me develop research skills-analytical skills-creating a thesis-manuscript wring skills.

      b. Helped me develop research and teaching skills-learned teacher-student skills.

      d. I was able to experience teaching in a collegiate setting, grading, researching, publishing, and the importance of time management. Most importantly I was able to experience developing a thesis and turning raw primary data into a comprehensive series of chapters-It has been the perfect preparation for my entrance into a Ph.D. program.

    
2. Surveys: No responses to the surveys have been received as yet.

Departmental Assessment of Assessment:

The Department is pleased with the results from the current responses. However, we also realize that this is too small a number to offer a definitive analysis of the department’s assessment objectives. The department has decided to collect data over a longer term to provide a clearer picture of the same.