In support of the mission of St. Petersburg College, faculty committees established several General Education Goals. These goals are to provide an open admission general education curriculum that results in students' achievement of several educational outcomes. This Assessment Report addresses Appreciation of the Arts, one of the options identified within the following educational outcome: "Students should be able to participate actively as informed and ethically responsible citizens in social, cultural, global, and environmental matters.."
It is the intent of St. Petersburg College to incorporate continuous improvement practices in all areas. Assessment reports provide comparisons of present and past results which are used to identify topics where improvement is possible. The following section illustrates how SPC has traditionally used past results as a vital tool in achieving its commitment to continuous improvement.
Use of Past Results - Appreciation of the Arts:
Method 1: Assessment Administered by Instructors
2005-06 Assessment Report Results
On-Campus Classes: Overall, there was a marked improvement from the spring 2004-05 results to the spring 2005-06 results. In face-to-face classes, the Domains for Ancient Greece (Questions 1 & 2), Early Renaissance (Questions 9, 10 & 11) and Rome (Questions 3 & 4) showed improvements: the mean for Ancient Greece increased from 64.16% in 2004-05 to 67.04% in 2005-06; the mean for Early Renaissance increased from 62.90% in 04-05 to 66.9% in 05-06; and the mean for Rome increased from 54.06% in 04-05 to 58.49% in 05-06.
The Domains for Middle Ages (Questions 5, 6, 7 & 8) and High Renaissance (Questions 12, 13, 14 & 15) showed minimal improvement from spring 2004-05 to spring 2005-06: the mean for Middle Ages was 68.32% in 2004-05 and 69.98% in 2005-06; the mean for High Renaissance was 69.06% in 2004-05 and 70.36% in 2005-06.
On-line Classes: Although a smaller sample was assessed for spring 2005-06 online classes, the mean for all the Domains except Middle Ages showed improvement in comparison to the combined mean scores for 2004-05. The Domain mean scores for online classes follow: the mean for Ancient Greece was 71%; the mean for Rome was 63%; the mean for Early Renaissance was 74%; and the mean for High Renaissance was 79%.The mean score for the Domain Middle Ages remained the same with 68.32% in 2004-05 and 68% in 2005-06.
2008-09 Assessment Report Results
On-Campus Classes: Overall, there was little change between the spring 2007-08 results and the spring 2008-09 results. In face-to-face classes, the domain for Ancient Greece (Questions 1 & 2) showed an improvement of 0.04. The declines ranged from 0.4 in Rome (Questions 3 & 4) to -4.3 in Middle Ages (Questions 5, 6, 7 & 8). Early Renaissance (Questions 9, 10 & 11) and High Renaissance (Questions 12, 13, 14 & 15) also had declines of 1.9 and 0.9, respectively. Only two items in the spring 2008-09 on-campus administration met the 70% critera for sucess: Early Renaissance (71.5%) and High Renaissance (73.3%).
On-line Classes: While a smaller sample was assessed in the online classes, there was also little change between the spring 2006-07 results and the spring 2007-08 results. In online classes, the domain for Early Renaissance (Questions 9, 10 & 11) and Ancient Greece (Questions 1 & 2) displayed improvements of 5.9 and 0.1, repectively. While the remaining domains declined ranging from 5.0 in High Renaissance (Questions 12, 13, 14 & 15), to 1.5 in Middle Ages (Questions 5, 6, 7 & 8), The last domain, Rome (Questions 3 & 4), declined by 1.6. No items in the spring 2008-09 on-line administration met the 70% critera for sucess. High Renaissance was the closest with a mean of 69.0%.
For the participation survey item, 66.9% of the respondents from the spring 2008-09 on-campus classes attended two or more cultural activities outside of class, while 63.6% of the respondents from the spring 2008-09 on-line classes attended two or more cultural activities.Method 2: Comparison of Entering and Graduating Student Surveys
The six items related to the Humanities and Fine Arts were compared between the Entering Student and the Graduating Student Surveys in 2005-06. Five of the six items resulted in a statistical significant difference between the Entering Student and the Graduating Student Surveys. The last item, 'Performing in or creating a work of drama, music, or dance', resulted in a mean increase of 0.12 points which was not statistically significant.
The six items related to the Humanities and Fine Arts were compared between the Entering Student and the Graduating Student Surveys in 2006-07 and 2007-08. Four of the six items resulted in a statistical significant difference between the Entering Student and the Graduating Student Surveys in both administrations. The second to last item, 'Creating a painting, sculpture or other work of visual art' was statistically significant in 2006-07. However, it only had an increase of 0.03 in 2007-08, which was not statistical significant. The last item, 'Performing in or creating a work of drama, music, or dance', resulted in a mean increase of 0.09 points in 2006-07, and a mean decrease of 0.01 in 2007-08, neither of which was statistically significant.
This analysis while cross-sectional in nature, suggested an increase in the self-reported perceptions of students regarding their experience with Humanities and Fine Arts during their College stay.
Means of Assessment: The Appreciation of the Arts option within the Global Socio Cultural Responsibility goal was assessed using three methods. The first method includes a comparison of the Entering and Graduating student survey data collected during two years; the second method includes a comparison of graduating student survey satisfaction data collected during two years; and the third method includes assessment data collected from several administrations of a new online general education assessment which was implemented in 2010.
Date(s) of Administration: 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011
Method 1: Comparison Between Entering and Graduating Student Surveys Beginning in 2008-09, the Entering Student Survey was revised to eliminate redundancy, and reduced in size in order to minimize the impact on students. As a result, three of the prior six items related to Humanities were removed from the survey. During 2008-09 and 2009-10, three items related to the participation in and appreciation of humanities and fine arts were compared between the Entering and Graduating Student Surveys.
Method 3: Online General Education Assessment The purpose of the new online general education assessment, which was developed in 2010, is to improve the general education assessment process by establishing a model that evaluates students' general education competencies near the end of the completion of their degree. The assessment was developed as a collaborative effort between the general education deans and their faculty in each discipline, and the department of Academic Effectiveness and Assessment. The assessment is available to students in the ANGEL environment, and was first administered in Spring 2010.
Assessment Instrument: The online general education assessment consists of 50 multiple-choice items, and contains 10 items from each of SPC's five general education goals. One of the five goals is Global Socio - Cultural Responsibility which includes Humanities/Fine Arts.Population: Students who had completed 45-55 credits in Spring, Summer, and Fall 2010, and in Spring 2011, were invited to complete the online assessment.
Method 1: Comparison Between Entering and Graduating Student Surveys
Goal: A significant (at the alpha 0.05 level) positive change in means. Above Average (3 out of 5) means.
Method 2: Satisfaction data from Graduating Student Survey
Goal: Above average (4 out of 7) means.
Method 3: Online General Education Assessment
Goal: Students must score at least 70% to be successful.
Method 1: Comparison Between Entering and Graduating Student Surveys Two of the three areas displayed mean increases, while one area showed a slight decrease between the Entering and Graduating student surveys in 2008-09 and 2009-10 In addition, 2 of the 3 items were rated above 3.0 on the Graduating student survey in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Humanities and Fine Arts - 2008-09 Mean Scores
In which of the following activities do you participate? (5-point scale). Entering Student Survey Graduating Student Survey % Difference Attend a concert, dance performance or live drama 3.11 3.33 +0.22 Visiting an art museum or show of ancient artifacts 2.55 3.10 +0.55 Creating a painting, sculpture or other work of visual art 2.29 2.28 -0.01
Humanities and Fine Arts - 2009-10 Mean Scores
| In which of the following activities do you participate? (5-point scale). | Entering Student Survey | Graduating Student Survey | % Difference |
| Attend a concert, dance performance or live drama | 3.12 | 3.29 | +0.17 |
| Visiting an art museum or show of ancient artifacts | 2.55 | 3.05 | +0.50 |
| Creating a painting, sculpture or other work of visual art | 2.33 | 2.27 | -0.06 |
Method 2: Satisfaction data from Graduating Student Survey In 2009-10, data regarding the students' satisfaction with the preparedness they received at SPC in humanities increased slightly (6.05), from 2008-09 (6.02), with 7 being the highest.
Method 3: Online General Education Assessment
The new online general education assessment was administered for the first time in Spring 2010, and again in Summer 2010, Fall 2010, and Spring 2011. The mean score, standard deviation and number of students for each term are shown in the tables below. In Spring and Summer 2010, the assessment was administered using one form. During Fall 2010 and Spring 2011, the assessment was administered using three forms.
General Education Assessment - Global Socio Cultural Responsibility Spring 2010 Summer 2010 Mean Std Dev N Mean Std Dev N 73.95 18.24 470 74.38 19.12 280
| General Education Assessment - Fall 2010 Global Socio – Cultural Responsibility | ||||||||
| Form 1 | Form 2 | Form 3 | ||||||
| Mean | Std Dev | N | Mean | Std Dev | N | Mean | Std Dev | N |
| 73.78 | 17.64 | 95 | 62.35 | 16.88 | 99 | 61.82 | 16.43 | 115 |
| General Education Assessment - Spring 2011 Global Socio – Cultural Responsibility | ||||||||
| Form 1 | Form 2 | Form 3 | ||||||
| Mean | Std Dev | N | Mean | Std Dev | N | Mean | Std Dev | N |
| 75.99 | 18.56 | 159 | 59.97 | 17.79 | 161 | 66.69 | 16.98 | 164 |
In keeping with our College emphasis on the arts for all students, we have initiated the collection of data and examples of applications of learning activities using arts, in all of the academic disciplines. The intent of this process is to demonstrate and quantify the value of arts applications to the learning of math, science, social science, ethics, business, and all other fields. These additional measures related to the use of arts in our educational programs will be used to evaluate SPC students.
Method 1: Comparison Between Entering and Graduating Student Surveys
In the area of Fine Arts and Humanities, we compared the entering student survey and graduating student surveys for the years 2008-2009, and 2009-2010. Although they were not the same cohort of students, the data suggests an upward trend in two of the three categories.
This trend suggests that SPC has provided some influence toward appreciation and participation in the arts, primarily in attending concerts, dramas, performances, and art museums. It also suggests that there is a general upward trend of awareness and appreciation for performing and visual art participation and appreciation, related to a student's experience at SPC. However, the effect on visual arts creativity is not seen in this measure. Perhaps this question is too specific to conservatory arts skills and other measures would be more indicative of the positive affects of Humanities and Fine Arts on SPC students.
Based on the analysis of the results the following Action Plan Items have been selected for implementation:
The Academic Round Table and Humanities faculty champion, are assisting in the development of an e-portfolio of reusable learning objects, assessment measures, and resources to assist in the effective delivery of active learning activities in Humanities and Fine Arts courses.
#1May 2012
We are in the process of adding opportunities for students to earn experiential learning via co-operative education in arts courses.
#1Jun 2011
We are gathering data regarding applications of fine arts-related learning activities across multiple disciplines. We will provide a matrix of results to cross-discipline faculty for their use in applicable courses.
#1Jun 2012
The Humanities and Fine Arts department is developing cross-campus creative activites involving Digital Arts, Photography, and Music, in collaboration with industry, students, and faculty.
#1Jan 2012
Fine and Applied Arts faculty and chairs are working with the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art (LRMA) educational programs staff, to foster improved and relevant educational activities, events and programs.
#1May 2012
The 16-question Humanities General Education Assessment instrument was not administered to Humanities classes in 2010 or 2011. Improvements are being made to this instrument, and the new test will be administered in various humanities classes beginning with Spring 2012.
#1Jun 2012