Sociology Undergraduate Program Evaluation and Renewal Project

This project will map courses currently offered as part of the Sociology undergraduate program leading to a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. The department has established program learning outcomes for the Sociology BA and now needs to assess whether students are meeting these learning outcomes upon completion of the program.

We intend to:

1. engage with faculty to determine how their courses contribute to helping students achieve the program learning outcomes;
2. engage with alumni and community stakeholders to determine whether graduates of the program demonstrate knowledge/skills that would suggest the program outcomes have been met;
3. engage with current senior students to determine what gaps exist in the program in relation to helping them achieve the program learning outcomes as well as to obtain a sense of their experience of the program and its opportunities for real world skill development; and
4. examine program learning analytic data to determine course enrollment pathways to articulate clear connections across courses and course streams.

These efforts will help determine what gaps exist, how to better sequence our courses and assessment strategies, communicate to our students and community stakeholders the value of the Sociology degree, help students choose course streams and sequences, aid new faculty meet program learning outcomes by developing course summaries/templates of expected outcomes and assessment strategies and help determine our future hiring needs in relation to our program objectives. We will review and revise our program learning outcomes as we progress through the analysis and planning process and aim to develop a program assessment plan to be used after implementation of our curriculum changes.

Guy Stecklov, Professor / Head, Sociology, Faculty of Arts
Silvia Bartolic, Instructor / Chair, Pedagogy and Curriculum Committee / Chair, Family Studies Minor, Sociology, Faculty of Arts

Project Support:

Kerry Greer, Instructor / Undergraduate Chair, Sociology, Faculty of Arts
Katherine Lyon, Instructor, Sociology, Faculty of Arts

Project Consultants:

Gerry Veenstra, Professor, Sociology, Faculty of Arts
Neil Guppy, Professor / Senior Advisor to the Provosts, Academic Freedom, Sociology, Faculty of Arts
Neil Armitage, Lecturer, Sociology, Faculty of Arts / Learning Strategist, Centre for Student Involvement and Careers

Guy Stecklov, Professor / Head, Sociology, Faculty of Arts
Silvia Bartolic, Associate Professor of Teaching / Chair, Pedagogy and Curriculum Committee / Chair, Family Studies Minor / Undergraduate Chair, Sociology, Faculty of Arts

Project Support:

Katherine Lyon, Assistant Professor of Teaching / Undergraduate Chair, Sociology, Faculty of Arts

Project Consultant:

Neil Armitage, Lecturer, Sociology, Faculty of Arts / Learning Strategist, Centre for Student Involvement and Careers