University of Nebraska Kearney

General Studies Program Assessment Plan: Personal Development: Social Work

General Studies Assessment Plan
Social Work Program

GS Courses and GS Objectives:

Course:            Introduction to Social Welfare – SOWK 170

Objectives:      

1. The ability to locate and gather information
2. Effective communication skills including the ability to read, speak,  and write effectively, using the materials, ideas, and discourse modes of specific academic areas
3. Demonstrate the ability to confront the complexities- physical,  emotional, economic, and/or technological – of the contemporary world.
4. Demonstrate the development of skills, behaviors, and problem  solving strategies necessary to prevail in the contemporary world.

Direct Measures:     

The General Studies objectives will be assessed in the Introduction to Social Welfare class primarily through the Poverty Line Project that students must complete.  The purpose of the project is for the student to do a field research project where he/she determines at what level the poverty line should be set for a family of four.  They must collect the actual data as well as state where the data was obtained, describe the criteria used to determine need, give the results for budget categories and yearly totals, and finally, write reflections of what they encountered doing the project as well as general comments about the outcomes they found.  Specific instructions are given which are attached. The project will test students' analytical and problem solving skills relative to living in the contemporary world.

I am also including questions to directly measure the student’s assessment of the objectives. They will be given a Likert scale with categories: 4- Strongly agree, 3 – Agree, 2 – Disagree; and 1- Strongly disagree.

1. This project enhanced my ability to locate and gather information.
2. This project increased my communication skills including the ability to read, speak, and write effectively.
3. Since doing this project, I am better able to understand the complexities of the contemporary world, especially the physical and economic components.
4. I have better skills and problem solving strategies necessary to function in the contemporary world because of this project.

Assessment Schedule and Sampling:  

 

Course:	Introduction to Social Work is offered every semester and will be assessed in every section during the year.  There will be two section for the FALL 2005 semester and one section for SPRING 2006, so a total of three sections will be included in the assessment for the 05-06 academic year.
Sampling:	Each student is required to complete the project therefore each student enrolled will be included in the assessment.  This past year that would have included approximately 110 students.

Assessment Timeline:

SOWK 170 will be assessed each semester.

2007  

Previous Plan, Replaced Fall 2007