The assessment report which follows will maintain a certain continuity with the 1997 report, but will make new departures as well. Our discipline, with its diverse student body and its varied methodologies, does not easily lend itself to traditional, quantitative assessment methods. There is also no national accreditation agency for the historical profession. Among the new elements of this year’s assessment, however, will be an appraisal of the History Department’s Tier II courses and new comments concerning data gleaned from recent graduates.

A. TIER II REQUIREMENTS

Our survey classes in US, Western, and Non-Western history aim to acquaint the student with the essential questions and elements of the area and chronological period in question while fostering a critical thinking process which will serve the student throughout his/her college career and thus throughout his/her lifetime. The expectation also exists that these classes will kindle an interest among students in the historical discipline, and that they will take more history classes or perhaps even major in history. Faculty generally employ the lecture format supplemented with discussion sections in which the students participate actively. Examinations are based on argumentative essays and exercises in the contextualization of key ideas and trends. Goals for Tier II have been formulated by individual instructors as well as the Undergraduate and Curriculum Committees. Tier II assessment has not been included in previous reports.

B. THE B.A. PROGRAM

Goals for the undergraduate major program underwent some reevaluation this year in part due to 1997-1998 assessment data covered in Section V-B below. The department’s Undergraduate Committee has spent the better part of the 1997-1998 academic year designing a proposal for new major requirements; these are currently under consideration by the department as a whole. The general goals remain intact: the department aims at providing its majors (1) with instruction leading to history-related careers generally requiring advanced degrees, together with the critical thinking and writing skills which the study of history engenders; or (2) with the aforementioned instruction and skills, the latter to be utilized in careers with little or no relationship to history. Examples of history-related careers include those of archivist, historic preservationist, museum staffer, lawyer, librarian, secondary school teacher, and college/university faculty member. The careers of most graduates who work entirely outside the field of history have been in some aspect of business.

At the same time, a new goal has been to create greater coherence within the major by requiring contiguous survey courses (2 courses each in US, Western, and Non-Western history) and by requiring that students choose their upper level classes in accordance with three pre-arranged geographic areas, and in chronological sequence within them. Thus all graduates will develop a broad understanding of world history as such while creating a deeper understanding in areas of their choice. The new major requirements would replace a system that allowed greater choice but provided less coherence.

Thus students completing the B.A. program are expected to accomplish the following:

• Master a broad factual knowledge based on a diverse yet coherent selection of courses in US, European, and Non-western history;
• Develop a sound acquaintance with basic research methods and tools including printed and electronic sources of information;
• Display an ability to work with historical information in an organized and analytical way;
• Demonstrate an ability to present ideas and findings effectively through the spoken and written word;
• Demonstrate an appreciation of the ways in which thinking about the past, present and future are connected;
• Demonstrate an awareness of the global context of the human past, and an appreciation of the varied historical perspectives that cultural diversity offers.

C. THE GRADUATE PROGRAM

The department’s goals for M.A. and Ph.D. students are similar to those listed in II-B but on a more advanced level. Students perform coursework in coherent areas of their choice while learning the historian’s craft in methodological courses, historiographical courses, and in the performance of primary research and scholarly writing. They must also demonstrate reading competence in foreign languages according to the demands of their field. Goals for graduate students have been formulated by the Graduate Committee.

Students completing the M.A. program in history are expected to accomplish the following:

• Gain detailed understanding of the factual content and principal issues of research and historiographical debate in a single field of history carefully defined by geography and time. (The non-thesis option for secondary school teachers and other who do not intend to pursue the Ph.D. requires two such historical fields);
• Demonstrate the ability to choose a viable research topic and perform primary research within the context of extant research by senior scholars;
• Demonstrate through a seminar paper and master’s thesis the ability to analyze and organize findings while presenting them in a clearly written way;
• Demonstrate in a defense of the master’s thesis the ability to present their findings orally and to defend these findings clearly and coherently;
• Demonstrate reading competence in one foreign language.

Students completing the Ph.D. program in history are expected to accomplish the following:

• Gain a detailed understanding of the factual content and principal issues of research and historiographical debate in two major and two minor fields of history, carefully defined by geography and time. This understanding is to be gauged in written and oral examinations;
• Demonstrate through the writing and completion of a doctoral dissertation on a particular subject the skills of advanced historical research, organization, original analysis, and presentation;
• Demonstrate through the defense of the dissertation the ability to defend these findings clearly and coherently;
• Develop an understanding of the historical approaches and classroom skills necessary to teach history at the university level;
• Demonstrate reading competence in a second foreign language based on research needs.

Midterm and final examinations assess student performance on examinations themselves, but they oftentimes cannot assess the degree to which faculty have been able to reach goals and outcomes on a daily basis. They also cannot assess the degree to which students have developed a more general interest in the historical discipline. To these ends students in all Tier II classes during the winter quarter were given an eighteen-question survey which sought to gauge the time that they spent reading, studying, and discussing their class material. The questionnaire tried to assess students’ views concerning the complexity of class materials, the likelihood that they would take additional history classes, and the areas in which they had developed an interest.

B. FOR THE B.A. PROGRAM

As was the case last year, the department relied on two means of measuring the extent to which our goals and outcomes have been achieved:

Entrance and exit testing: All incoming freshman majors take a written test in the fall quarter. The test consists of four essays, each of which assesses the incoming students’ knowledge and analytical abilities in one of the following fields: United States history, European history, Non-Western history, and historical research and interpretation. During the quarter of graduation with a B.A in history, students are to be tested again. Comparison of entrance and exit scores will be the indicator of progress, not only with regard to factual knowledge, but with regard to writing skill and analytical ability as well.

Polling: The History Department relies in part on the Office of Institutional Research for its extensive polling of graduates, seniors, and first year students from the last five years. The polling conducted by this office is supplemented by a poll constructed by the History Department itself, which is administered by the Office of Institutional Research to majors during their final quarter before graduation ("Career and Further Education Study Questionnaire for Department of History Graduates"). It is supplemented further by an in-house poll constructed and administered by the History Department to graduating majors ("BA Program Assessment Questionnaire for Graduating Majors") which focusses more on the department’s specific goals and outcomes.

The degree to which graduate students have achieved desired goals and outcomes is measured through their performance in seminars, through the quality of their research, and the success of their defenses. The History Department also depends on similar assessment mechanisms as for the undergraduates, namely:

Exit questionnaires: On graduation, M.A. and Ph.D. recipients complete a questionnaire which seeks to measure their satisfaction with their chosen programs of study while learning their future career plans. This departmental polling is supplemental to that done by the Office of Institutional Research, but is necessary since it addresses more directly the specific concerns of the History Department.

Post-Graduate polling: Graduates of the M.A. and Ph.D. programs are asked periodically, having gained the perspective of time, to comment on their graduate education and the relationship between that training and their current careers. Subsequent polling is conducted by the Office of Institutional Research with their own materials and a special supplementary form designed by the History Department.

Student answers to this questionnaire (see section V/A below) have been broken down by classification and in some cases the Tier II course in which the students were enrolled. Graphs have been compiled for easy analysis, though not all analyses have been conclusive. The results will be brought before the History department’s Assessment, Undergraduate and Curriculum committees for discussion.

Faculty participating in the Mentoring Program for Teaching Assistants and Teachers of Record as well as those teaching pedagogy classes such as "Teaching Non-Western History" provide summaries of the above data and interpretations of the data to those who will be teaching undergraduates.

B. THE B.A. PROGRAM

The Assessment Committee, Undergraduate Committee, and Curriculum Committee as well as the Department Chair annually review the entrance and exit test scores which break down scores by historical area while reviewing composite scores as well. Responses to undergraduate polling together with entrance and exit scores are reviewed by these committees as well. Our assembled data shall form the basis of a regular five year review by the Undergraduate Committee and Curriculum Committee concerning requirements for the undergraduate major. In addition, the relevant committees discuss curricular improvements on a yearly basis based on our assessment research as well. For examples, see Section VI/B below.

Faculty participating in the Mentoring Program for Teaching Assistants and Teachers of Record as well as those teaching pedagogy classes such as "Teaching Non-Western History" provide summaries of the above data and interpretations of the data to those who will be teaching undergraduates.

C. THE GRADUATE PROGRAM

Exit Questionnaires and Evaluations: The Graduate Committee reviews annually the exit questionnaires completed by graduating M.A. and Ph.D. students. It also reviews the evaluations of teaching assistants completed by undergraduates as well as the undergraduate evaluations of the Teachers of Record. An interpretive report by this Committee is to be the basis for department-wide consideration for improvements.

The data mentioned above are also to form the basis for a regular review (five years) by the Graduate Committee concerning requirements for the M.A. and Ph.D. programs aimed at the overall improvement of outcomes. Those faculty who participate in mentoring programs and workshops as well as those teaching pedagogy courses are asked to pay attention to the data on an annual basis, and to incorporate this data into their approaches. This activity is encouraged by the Graduate Committee and evaluated annually by the Peer Evaluation Committee.

799 students were asked eighteen related questions. The most interesting data is included below. The sets of data below include answers to a series of questions broken down first by classification of students from First to Senior; analyses follow each chart. The number at the top of each bar signifies the number of student responses.

This question was to provide the department with some idea of its starting point. While 37% of all respondents said that they enrolled in the class simply due to university requirements, it is encouraging that 23% of all respondents said that they enrolled out of interest and that 36% of all respondents said that they enrolled owing to a combination of factors, one of which is presumably interest.

While 34% of all students indicate that they have done 75-100% of the assigned reading, 38% admit to doing less than half. Since reading in introductory classes is not especially heavy (and since most students indicated in two other questions that the reading was "about right" in terms both of length and complexity) the numbers above suggest that faculty may wish to discuss amongst themselves, perhaps in a series of workshops, ways in which we can ensure that a larger percentage of students do a larger percentage of reading. Perhaps workshops or even a retreat can be held with the faculty of other departments with the aim of developing common strategies aimed at reaching our shared goals and outcomes.

While a student’s interest in history may manifest itself in the years to come rather than in the quarter in question, this question and Question 4 below give us some idea of what students are thinking. Nearly 56% of respondents never read historical material and probably cannot be enticed to do so short of outside paper assignments in which the students choose books from the library. Encouraging, however ,is that nearly 30% read such material either often or sometimes,

and that 14% said that they would read such material if they had suggestions from faculty. Perhaps faculty can provide suggestions for outside readings along with lectures to encourage this trend.

The numbers here suggest that more students like history than like to read. Only 23% of all respondents never watch historical programming while over 2/3 of the respondents watch such programming at least once per month. While the answers to this question and question 3 above may sadly reflect the arrival of a culture more geared to visual aids than the written word, the History Department could discuss ways in which to incorporate more film into the classroom experience while maintaining its already-high standards. The department has in fact already revived its course in History through Film, which attracted large numbers of students in the winter quarter.

The numbers here are very encouraging and suggest that whatever our shortcomings at present, our survey classes do kindle an interest in history on the part of the students that take them. Only 19% of all respondents say that they would not take another history class. Nearly 40% of all respondents say they are "very likely" to take another history class, and another 16.5% of all respondents say they will try to do so. Nearly a quarter of all respondents say that they would take another history class but that they cannot fit it into their schedules (the word "cant" above is due to a computer programming problem). Since 89 first year students responded in this fashion, perhaps we can think of ways in which such students can pursue their developing interest in history to a greater degree than seems possible at present.

Note: This table is broken down not by student classification but by the course in which the students are enrolled.

These figures are telling. Regardless of the course of enrollment, 59% of all respondents stated that they would take a class in US history. Perhaps this is due to the greater familiarity with US described above, or perhaps students feel that US history is more relevant to their lives.

On the other hand there is a definite trend toward the desire to take additional classes in fields to which students have been exposed, which thus adds force to the argument for that very exposure. For instance, students are far more likely to want to take another class in Non-Western history once they have been exposed to the Non-Western history survey (33% of these students wish to take more such classes). The same is true for the history of Europe (30% of those in Western History want to take more European history). Simultaneously, students in the United States surveys are statistically far less likely to want to take European or non-western history than their fellow students who have been exposed to these areas (only 8% of those wish to take more Asian, African, or Middle Eastern history). The conclusion that we should draw, perhaps, is that a broad survey base does indeed kindle students’ interest in a variety of fields, and that they should thus receive as broad a survey base as possible. In any event, we should continue to study this trend.

The final table suggest that the survey classes are inspiring some degree of long term interest, since the choice of a major involves a far greater commitment than the choice of another course or two. 58% of all respondents stated that they would not major in history under any circumstances, but if we remove juniors and seniors – who have presumably already declared a major – from the sample, then this number falls to just under 48%. Impressive is that 22% would consider a major in history if it could be demonstrated to them that the major would result in a related career. 100 of those who made this response were first year students. It would thus be in the interest of the history faculty to impress upon incoming students the variety of possibilities that a major in history could offer.

Steps in this direction have already been taken. The Undergraduate Committee and the Curriculum Committee are currently discussing a new course entitled "Careers in History," and the possibility of a workshop along these lines for the fall quarter has also been discussed.

B. THE B.A. PROGRAM

Institutional Research Polling on "Student Involvement":

Research of the First Year and Senior Classes over the past five years shows that 89% of first year history majors and 100% of senior majors were "very" to "somewhat satisfied" with the instruction in their major courses (as opposed to 68% and 78% university-wide). Similar numbers (75% and 100%) were "very" to "somewhat satisfied" with the academic and intellectual atmosphere of their major program (as opposed to 76% to 80% university wide). On the other hand student interest in their studies seems to decline a bit over the course of the program for some. 88% of first year students and 78% of seniors said that they were "very" to "somewhat satisfied" with their own interest in their studies (as opposed to 71% and 76% university-wide) while 75% of first year students and 78% of seniors stated that they are "very" to "somewhat satisfied" with their own personal motivation for success (as opposed to similar numbers – 71% and 76% university-wide). These latter figures, while certainly not poor (particularly in comparison with the entire student population), do tend to reflect room for improvement with regard to motivating our majors and holding their interest through the program. Of related concern is that study habits of majors seem to decline over the course of the program. When asked how many hours they studied each week, the mean for first year students was nearly 21 hours per week, while the mean for seniors was 17.3 hours (as opposed to 15 and 14 hours university-wide). Reading habits do not tend to increase dramatically either. First year students in the major report that they read a mean of 11 books per year that are not assigned (not necessarily in history) while seniors reported a mean of 12.4 books. While these habits are astronomical compared to the 3 to 4 non-assigned books per year that first year students and seniors throughout the university read per year, the faculty would prefer that the numbers were higher and that they increased more decidedly with time. On the other hand, one must remember that many history majors (at least based on GPA) are not the most motivated students. Of the 45 most recent ABs (June 1997-March 1998) fully 60% had GPAs below 3.0.

Entrance and Exit examinations:

Three years’ worth of entrance examinations have been administered to history majors, in the fall quarters of 1995, 1996, and 1997. These cohorts have not graduated yet. When they do, an assessment based on these test scores will be possible.

Exit Polling by Office of Institutional Research and Department of History:

The results of the polling conducted by the Office of Institutional Research of graduates from the years 1992-1996 is instructive, but small in its statistical base (11-19 history major respondents in any given year with a less-than 50% response rate). Nonetheless, when asked about satisfaction with major courses, 31% to 42% of graduates from 1992 to 1995 responded that they were "very" or "extremely satisfied," which is consistent with the results for graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences as a whole. 25% to 62% responded that they were "somewhat satisfied," which exceeded the College of Arts and Sciences percentages in some years. When asked how well their major prepared them for their career goals, history graduates responded either "very well" or "extremely well" between 43 and 58% of the time from 1992 to 1995 which is a bit better that the percentages for the College of Arts and Sciences on the whole for those same years. It should be kept in mind, however, that an appreciable number of history majors have relatively low GPAs, and tend often to gravitate toward fields unrelated to history as such. 60% of majors in 1995 and 70% in 1996 gravitated toward one sort of business or another while those enrolled in graduate study were a small minority.

The results of the "1995-1996 Career and Further Education Study Questionnaire for Department of History Graduates" (put together last year by the History Department and administered for the first time) is encouraging, though the response rate was only 24% and the number of respondents was only 11 in number. 91% "agree" or "strongly agree" that their courses developed abilities to read materials and communicate ideas; 82% "agree or strongly agree" that their courses gave them a good introduction to different countries and their backgrounds (1 student remained neutral and one strongly disagreed); 73% "agree" or "strongly agree" that their courses helped them to understand the background of many of the current problems in the world with 27% (3 students) remaining neutral on the issue; 55% "agree" or "strongly agree" that their advisers helped them choose courses for graduation requirements (with 2 students remaining neutral, 1 disagreeing and 1 strongly disagreeing); and 88% "agree" or "strongly agree" that faculty were available to talk about problems that students were having with courses (12% remained neutral on this issue). With regard to B.A. graduates who are in the process of continuing their education, 100% "agree" or "strongly agree" that History 301J helped develop their research and writing skills while 83% "agree" or "strongly agree" that their courses helped them to develop a sense of the sweep and breadth of history (1 student remained neutral). 66% "agree" or "strongly agree" that their courses helped prepare them for further education (with 2 students remaining neutral). Narrative comments forwarded with these largely numerical surveys totaled five and tended to make the following points.

• Students are pleased with their research and writing skills upon graduation. A current paralegal writes that his/her research skills are very useful in his/her paralegal work and that he/she enjoys advantages over his/her peers as a result. Another student comments that 301J, though demanding, clearly provided benefits. (From 2 surveys).
• Courses and professors, says one survey, provided "superior preparation" for the student’s current studies at Yale. "As a result of my experiences in the Contemporary History Institute and the History Department, I feel confident and prepared for my career as a historian….The mix of serious teaching and gifted students made the OU History Department and the Contemporary History Institute an unparalleled scholarly environment…."
• The professors, says one survey, were also excellent. "Without a doubt, the best part of OU’s History Department is its professors. At the end of nearly every quarter, I would have a new favorite….This is simply due to the fact that they are all outstanding!"
• There was some dissatisfaction concerning the structure of the major program itself. One graduate commented: "My only gripe is with the program itself. I feel that it has no real focus or direction. I skipped from era to era and country to country and feel that I seldom built upon things quarter to quarter. As a result, I feel that I know very little about history; instead I know miscellaneous facts from here and there."

The History Department has administered this in-house questionnaire this year for the second time, and in June 1998 we received nine responses. The respondents, six of whom plan to attend law or graduate school in history next year, answered twenty-two objective questions and three essay questions.

All respondents agreed "considerably" or "a great deal" with the proposition that the curriculum broadened their intellectual horizons and improved their understanding of the past. 66% agreed that their critical thinking skills had been enhanced either "considerably" or "a great deal", while the same percentage responded in kind to the improvement in their writing skills. All respondents agreed " considerably" or "a great deal" that the curriculum helped them to understand the context of world affairs better than before. Eight of nine felt that faculty expertise and dedication was either "excellent" or "very good," while all respondents described as "excellent" or "very good" their overall satisfaction with the program. Eight of nine respondents said that the quality of curriculum courses and the department’s sensitivity to gender issues in the classroom were "good" to "excellent." Written comments recapitulated these themes. "[The] faculty is exceptional in its knowledge," "the instructors are the greatest strength of the program," "the dedication and energy of the professors seem superior to other departments," "I…hope the department continues to hire good professors," and so on were typical of the comments on this issue.

On the other hand there was less satisfaction with teaching assistants. T.A expertise, T.A. dedication, and T.A. approachability and responsiveness were only "acceptable" to "good" for six of the nine respondents, and one graduate stated that "the T.A. program needs help." Perhaps a comprehensive workshop for new T.A.s which will train them better for the variety of tasks and problems that they will face, particularly in larger classes, can address these concerns.

The most negative comments were reserved for the physical facilities. Questions concerning the classrooms and Bentley Hall itself were the only ones that drew responses of "unacceptable." Written comments included statements such as "the building is terrible…it needs to be addressed asap," "…the classrooms need a lot of updating," and "Bentley is an outdated building, and I wouldn’t mind if the department moved or got a new building." Neither would we.

C. THE GRADUATE PROGRAM

Follow up research on our Ph.D. graduates from academic year 1994-5 and 1995-6 shows that our department has been very adept at producing productive and successful young scholars. Half of these graduates (four of eight) have already published their first books, and with some of the best university presses in the country (University of North Carolina Press, University Press of Kansas, New York University Press, Columbia University Press). The books are all on important topics, and one of them, Stephen Taaffe’s MacArthur’s Jungle War, became the featured monthly selection of the nationwide History Book Club.

With regard to job placement, the History Department’s recent graduates have also been successful, an impressive feat indeed given the current job market in our field. All five graduates for the academic year 1997-8 have already been placed, one in a tenure track job, two in term positions, and two in educational administration. Of all graduates from academic years 1994-5 through 1997-98, one is already tenured, six are in tenure track positions, three hold temporary academic appointments, two hold non-history positions, and two have not been placed.

• More data is needed for some of the issues covered in Section V/A above, and the department intends to conduct another survey during the 1998-99 academic year, partially composed of more pointed questions concerning students’ interests. In the meantime, the possible discussions and workshops suggested are included in Section V/A above beneath each graph.
• Given that there exists a correlation between students in the Non-Western history survey and the desire to learn more about Non-Western history, the Undergraduate Committee is currently studying the possibility of a second introductory Non-Western history class.
• Given the possible interest in majoring if it can be demonstrated to students that a career will result, the Assessment and Undergraduate Committee has discussed the possibility of a "Careers in History Workshop" to be offered each fall for possible majors.

B. FOR THE B.A. PROGRAM

• To create greater coherence and focus within the major, the History Department’s Undergraduate Committee has submitted a proposal for the reworking of the major program, described in Section II/B above.
• The new major will make necessary closer undergraduate advising in the selection of upper-level classes. Thus the rate of student satisfaction with the advising they received (55% according to the "1995-1996 Career and Further Education Study Questionnaire for Department of History Graduates") should increase as a result.
• To address the issue of non-graduate school careers, the Undergraduate Committee has submitted a draft for a new course entitled "Careers in History." The draft is currently under consideration in the department’s own Curriculum Committee.
• To address concerns of graduates about the expertise and approachability of teaching assistants (expressed in the "Department of History – BA Program Assessment Questionnaire for Graduating Majors") some members of the department are planning a yearly workshop for new teaching assistants to acquaint them with and prepare them more comprehensively for the issues that they will face.
• To address the dissatisfaction with Bentley, the History Department would support planning to redress the state of our physical facilities.

C. FOR THE GRADUATE PROGRAM

The History Department is maintaining its desired goals and outcomes while continuing to encourage students to pursue timely, cutting edge research which will speed the transition from the dissertation to the first book. The department has also begun, as of academic year 1997-8, to provide yearly workshops on the nature of the academic job market and the application and interview process. In their oral comments, current graduate students have expressed satisfaction with both trends.