Liberal Arts

Campus

National campus

AP Review Submission Date

August 26, 2016

Completed by

Resida S. Keller, Languages & Literature Division Chairperson

AR Review Cycle

2014-2015

Upon successful completion of this degree program, students will be able to:

1. Enrich and deepen self-knowledge by exploring different academic experiences.
2. Articulate and understand their experiences through effective writing, reading, speaking, and various modes of artistic expression.
3. Demonstrate fundamental knowledge and basic skills appropriate to their personal and professional goals in their chosen area of specialization.

The Associate of Arts degree program in Liberal Arts was established in 1975 to enable students to transfer to a four-year college, university, or other institution. Other than the addition and establishment of more focused and area-specific liberal arts degrees such as the Liberal Arts/Media studies and the Liberal Arts/Education programs (adopted in 1997) or the Liberal Arts/HCOP [Health Careers Opportunities Program], there have been no major changes to the structure of the Liberal Arts program in the past 10 years. The program learning outcomes (above) for the L.A. Degree program were adopted in Spring 2005.

1. Organization: The Liberal Arts program is currently organized with the Chairperson of the Languages and Literature division being the person responsible for collection of SLO information from faculty and responsible for implementation of assessment activities and any improvement plans. All academic divisions at the National campus contribute to the Liberal Arts program. Students completing this program receive an Associate of Arts degree which often leads to the transferring to other institutions of higher education within the region and the United States for more specialized study.

2. Relationship to other programs in the system: The liberal Arts program is one of the two-year academic majors offered at the National campus of COM-FSM. Many of the courses in the Liberal Arts program are either major course requirements for other programs or it shares courses with other majors. For example, as part of the program requirements, students are required to take courses in the natural sciences, social sciences, health sciences, humanities and language arts.

All students accepted for admission into the college are eligible to enter/major in the Liberal Arts program. Currently, students undecided on a major are also listed as Liberal Arts majors until they decide otherwise. The college’s admissions criteria is listed on the college website at http://www.comfsm.fm/publications/catalog-2015-2016 requirements.pdf. These criteria are followed when admitting students into the Liberal Arts program.

The Liberal Arts program as it currently stands consists of General Education Core Requirements in English [9 credits], Natural Sciences [7 credits], Mathematics, Social Sciences, Computer Applications and Humanities [3 credits each], and Exercise Sports Science [1 credit].

In addition to General Education core requirements, there are the Major Requirements which include the following courses: three credits for each of these courses---Speech Communication (EN/CO 205), Health Science (SC 101), Introduction to Sociology (SS 130), General Psychology (SS/PY 101); three credits each of a 200-levelEnglish course and Humanities elective, six credits of any classes from either the Natural Science or Social Science group of courses and nine credits of open electives, totaling up to sixty-two credits (62) required for an Associate of Arts degree.

Currently students are encouraged to follow a specified sequence of courses so that they are able to complete the program within two years.
Here is the suggested sequence of Liberal Arts courses as it currently stands in the college catalog:

Source: General Catalog 2015 – 2016 pg. 49

http://www.comfsm.fm/catalog/2015-2016/Catalog-2015-2016.pdf
As is apparent in the list of courses required for the program, students in the program are not required to complete any internships, field experiences, practicums or licensing as this is a program that encourages exploration into a general course of study to help students transfer to other institutions or to further learn about different fields of study.

EN/CO 205 Speech Comm.

4

4

3

2

2

SC 101 Health Science

6

4

7

4

4

SS 130 Intro. To Sociology

2

2

2

2

2

SS/PY General Psychology

3

333

3

2

2

AR 101 Intro to Art

MU 101 Intro to Music

SS 170 History I

FL 104 Chinese II

Biza, Leilani : (Languages and Literature)
B.A. University of Guam
M.A. University of Guam

Devanesam Senarathgoda (Languages/Literature)
B.A., Spicer Memorial College, India
M.A., Andrews University, Michigan

Gonzales, Jazmin: ( Math/Scienc; HCOP coordinator)
B.S. Central Philippines University;
M.A. University of the Philippines

Haglelgam, John: (Social Science)
B.A. University of Hawaii
M.A. University of Hawaii
M.P.A. Harvard University

Kamikubo, Akiko: (Languages and Literature)
B.A. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
M.A. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Keller, Resida: (Languages and Literature)
B.A. Brigham Young University-Hawaii
M.Ed. San Diego State University

John, Rathnamony Jothy (Languages/Literature)
B.A., Spicer Memorial College, India
M.A., Andrew University, Michigan

Paul, Kasiano: (Languages and Literature)
M.A. Saint Patrick Seminar and University

Rivera, Monica: (Languages and Literature)
B.A. University of California
M.A. University of Wyoming

Manuel-Ehmes, Delihna: (Social Science)
A.A. College of Micronesia-FSM
Certificate in Clinical Psychology University of Hawaii-Manoa
B.S. Missouri Southern State College
M.S. Capella University

Sam, Lucy Donre: (Social Science)
B.A. University of Hawaii at Hilo
M.A. San Diego State University

Yumei Helen Gao
Chinese Language Volunteer teaching thru arrangements with the Chinese Embassy

Program Indicators

Assessment of course student learning outcomes of program courses

All assessments of courses offered under the Liberal Arts program for the Spring/Fall 2014 and Spring/Fall 2015 semesters can be found on the college’s TracDat page with special access/permission required.

1. For the 2014-2015 assessment of the Liberal Arts program learning outcomes, the PSLO #1 which states “Enrich and deepen self-knowledge by exploring different academic experiences.” was the outcome that the division focused on during this assessment cycle.

Listed below is the summary of what we looked at and what we found.
What we looked at:
ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY: For the 2014-2015 SY, the students in the Foreign Language (FL) courses were assessed on their performance and speaking ability in the foreign language that they studied. Students had to demonstrate the ability to carry out a simple conversation with a native speaker of the language that they studied. These assessment activities covered PSLO 1 and 2 of the Liberal Arts program with a specific focus on students’ speaking abilities.
TARGET: 100% of all students who took the FL 101: Japanese I, FL102: Japanese II, and FL103: Chinese I courses were assessed. Since these classes are electives for the Liberal Arts students.

• The rubric for assessing their speech was developed by the FL faculty from the Japanese and Chinese courses. The rubric was designed to assess how well the students could demonstrate 1. proper pronunciation, 2. proper use of words and 3. fluency during an oral performance of a specific situation. Each individual student’s ability was ranked on a scale of 1-3 with 0-1.4 points for a poor performance, 1.5-2.4 for an average performance and 2.5-3 for an excellent performance.

Listed below are the results of the assessment of 107 Japanese students and 48 Chinese students.
What we found:
Japanese Courses

• 106 out of 107 (99%) students were able to pronounce the Japanese words well enough for a native speaker to understand.
• 92 out of 107 (86%) were able to recall, recite and use appropriate words in the proper way to carry out conversations. This area was where the most students showed a weakness.
• 93 out of 107 (87%) students were able to demonstrate fluency through their smooth delivery during their performance.

Chinese Course:

• 34 out of 48 (71%) were able to pronounce the Chinese words well enough for a native speaker to understand.
• 34 out of 48 (71%) were able to recall, recite and use appropriate words in the proper way to carry out conversations.

• 34 out of 48 (71%) students were able to demonstrate fluency through their smooth delivery during their performance.

Based on the assessment, it seems that our students are doing fairly well when it comes to learning another foreign language in comparison to English.
******************************************************
For the 2015-2016 assessment of the Liberal Arts program learning outcomes, the PSLO #2 which states “Articulate and understand their experiences through effective writing, reading, speaking, and various modes of artistic expression” was the outcome that the division focused on during this assessment cycle, with specific emphasis on their reading abilities.
Listed below is the summary or what we looked at and what we found.

What we looked at:

ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY: For the 2015-2016 SY, the students in all of the Advanced Reading courses were assessed on their ability to comprehend and summarize the reading information from a pre-selected article. Students had to demonstrate the ability to identify and extract specific information from the reading such as facts, definitions, antonyms and synonyms as well as main ideas and contradictory information based on their readings. These assessment activities covered PSLO 2 of the Liberal Arts program with a specific focus on students’ reading abilities. During the Fall 2015 semester, the assessment was done as a summative assessment at the end of the semester. During the Spring 2016 semester, the assessment was given as both a pre and post- test and then the results were also compared to the summative results of students from the previous semester.

TARGET: 100% of all students who took the EN 110 Advanced Reading classes during the year (Fall 2015 and Spring 2016) were assessed. Since this class is a general education class, it allowed us to look at all the students in general as well as how students from different majors were doing in comparison to Liberal Arts students.

Listed below are the results of the assessment of 211 students who were assessed in our Advanced Reading courses during the 2015-2016 School Year.

What we found:

For the Fall summative assessment, 128 students were assessed in seven sections of EN 110. The assessment tool consisted of six specific questions that assessed students’ abilities of distinguishing, identifying and showing understanding of the following information:

1. Main Idea; 2. Purpose; 3. Important details: Cause/Effect; 4. important details: Contradictory Information; 5. important details: FACTs; and 6. Theme.

Of the 128 students, here is what we found:

? No class scored above 70% on questions 3, 4 and 6 indicating that the EN 110 classes need to focus more on helping students identify important details such as Causes/Effects (#3), contradictory information (#4) and theme (#6). ? For question 3, in the section that performed the lowest, 22% of the students got this question correct while in the section that performed the highest, 55% of the students got this question correct. Overall, only 36% or 46 students out of 128 got this question correct. ? For question 4, in the section that performed the lowest, 0% of the students got this question correct while in the section that performed the highest, 40% of the students got this question correct. Overall, only 23% or 30 students out of 128 got this question correct. ? For question 6, in the section that performed the lowest, 14% of the students got this question correct while in the section that performed the highest, 33% of the students got this question correct. Overall, only 27% or 35 students out of 128 got this question correct. ? All of the sections performed at 70% or higher for questions 1,2 and 5 which indicates that students may have a greater understanding of Main idea (#1), Purpose (#2) and Important details: Facts (#5) when reading. ? For question 1, overall, 77% or 99 students out of 128 got this question correct. ? For question 2, overall, 71% or 91 students out of the 128 got this question correct. ? For question 5 overall, 83% or 106 students out of the 128 got this question correct.

For the Spring 2016 assessment, 83 students were assessed for both the Pre and Post assessments. Although more students were enrolled in the EN110 sections, many students did not take the post-test or had incomplete post-tests therefore the number of students whose assessment performance was assessed were only those who took both.

Of the 83 students, here is what we found:

? For questions 1 and 2 in the pre-test, only one section each was able to score above 70% overall while in the post-test, two of the sections assessed were able to score above 70% overall for both questions.
? For question 6, three sections were able to perform at a 70% or higher on this question.
? No class scored above 70% for questions #3, 4 and 6 in the pre-test (similar to Fall 2015 assessment) while for the post-test, no class scored above 70% for questions #3, 4 and 5
. ? PRE-TEST: For question 3, in the section that performed the lowest, 32% of the students got this question correct while in the section that performed the highest, 45% of the students got this question correct. Overall, only48 % or 40 students out of 83 got this question correct.
? POST-TEST: For question 3, in the section that performed the lowest, 35% of the students got this question correct while in the section that performed the highest, 55% of the students got this question correct.
? PRE-TEST: For question 4 in the section that performed the lowest, 4% of the students got this question correct while in the section that performed the highest, 25% of the students got this question correct. Overall, only 17% or 14students out of 83 got this question correct
? POST-TEST: For question 4, in the section that performed the lowest, 38% of the students got this question correct while in the section that performed the highest, 55% of the students got this question correct.
? PRE-TEST: For question 6, in the section that performed the lowest, 4% of the students got this question correct while in the section that performed the highest, 27% of the students got this question correct. Overall, only 17% or 14students out of 83got this question correct.
? POST-TEST: For question 5, in the section that performed the lowest, 35% of the students got this question correct while in the section that performed the highest, 60% of the students got this question correct.
? The performance of the students in the post test improved overall although all of the classes do need to work on improving instruction on concepts such as important details such as Causes/Effects (#3), contradictory information (#4), important details: facts (#5) and theme (#6).

LIBERAL ARTS PROGRAM ENROLLMENT DATA

(SPRING 2014-FALL 2015)

Spring 2014 Enrollment by Major and Campus

Fall 2014 Enrollment by Major and Campus

Spring 2015 Enrollment by Major and Campus

Fall 2015 Enrollment by Major and Campus

Enrollment by Major and Campus

Total Program Sections by Major, term,sections and Average Class Size

The average class size is capped for all Liberal Arts courses between 20-25 students. According to the data above, the average class size of most of the Liberal Arts classes during this assessment period fell between 18-20 students, which is a reasonably sized number for optimum instruction with consideration of our teaching facilities, equipment and other resources.

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Total course completion by program

Program term enrolled W ABCorP W_% CC_%

The data shows that persistence rates during the Fall 2014-Spring 2015 semesters were at a low rate of 76.% however, during the next year, students who started in Fall 2015 continued and persisted in their enrollment during the Spring of 2016 causing a dramatic increase as all of the students continued, along with two additional students.

Based on the above data, during this assessment cycle, none of the Liberal Arts graduates were able to complete the program within two years. Within three years, the rate improved with graduation rates resulting in a 30% increase. An additional 18% were able to graduate after four years or 200% time period. This shows that very few students are able to complete the program in the allotted two year period. When given a little bit more time to complete over the two year period, nine times more students were able to complete the program. The low graduation rates has propelled the Languages and Literature division into trying to work with our students closely in making good decision during course selection so that they can graduate within the allotted two years. Because there is no room for failure or make-up and typically for some courses, students need more time as they do repeat courses, course pre-requisites and the program courses’ connection to other programs is discussed with students so they can make wise choices on their courses and can decrease their chances of having to repeat a course.
The available data appeared to be contradictory in some areas when compared to other areas (i.e. rates seem to be extremely low when compared to number of graduates).

Findings

The data that was most disappointing was the low graduation rates of the Liberal Arts students and this review showed that more needs to be done in assisting our students so that they can graduate at the 100% time range and not longer.

Recommendations

One of the most common recommendations from program faculty on their course level assessments is the need for the program to review our course pre-requisites as most of the faculty feel that the pre-requisites are necessary as they help build skill and knowledge that the students will need in order to be successful in all of their core requirement courses as well as their electives. Because of this, the program faculty will continue to review and recommend pre-requisites for all of our core classes as we review course outlines.

Another recommendation is to help provide information on the kinds of options that students have upon graduating with a degree in Liberal Arts. Because most students don’t know what they can do after earning a Liberal Arts degree, they tend not to do much planning or preparation for paths that they can take upon graduating from COM-FSM. The Liberal Arts program faculty will be working with cohort groups in the upcoming assessment cycle to ensure that they have a solid idea and have plans on what they will be pursuing upon graduation. Workshops with IOM and other college staff is in the works so that they can help to prepare our graduates as most students felt that they would be transferring or pursuing higher degrees as the next step after graduation.
Lastly, the program faculty will be working with our current potential graduates as well as our new students so that even while here they can work on making good academic choices that will help them graduate faster and when they leave, they can have a plan in mind that they just have to put into action. An advising workshop for our faculty is one area that is being looked into to help facilitate and improve advising with our students.