Understand concepts and methods of studying human behavior, culture, and society
Developing this competency, we require students to take one course in either anthropology, economics, or political science. In economics, only one course is used for distribution, Economics 101, of which there are multiple sections. The courses in anthropology that may count towards this requirement include all 100 and 200 level courses and one 300-level course that students may take without pre-requisites. This is a total of fifteen courses currently listed in our catalog, not all of which are taught on a regular basis. In the fall semester of 2006, for example, eight courses (out of twelve offered) are available for students looking to fill the requirement. The Political Science Department currently offers all of its courses to freshmen and sophomores without pre-requisites, all counting for distribution. That amounts to twelve differently numbered courses, some offered in multiple sections, in the current semester.
In all three disciplines the faculty will seek to determine the extent to which students understand key concepts in the discipline and are able to use those concepts to analyze social action, institutions, policies and/or social structures. The specific assessment methods used will vary by department.
Anthropology
In the courses counting for distribution in anthropology, faculty will ask a question or questions on the final exam to assess the extent to which students can understand anthropological concepts or theories and apply them to empirical data. Students’ essays will be read blindly by another faculty member after the semester ends, and at the first department meeting of the following semester, faculty will report to each other the numbers that exhibited the competency. These numbers will be reported to the General Education Committee.
Anthropology: Sample questions to assess the mastery of key concepts and methods from different Introduction to Cultural Anthropology sections:
A. What is culture? Why do humans need it? How does it work? In your answer,please define the relevant terms (such as "culture"), and use course readings to supply data that helps to flesh out your perspective.
B. The author of
In Search of Respect wants us to understand how his subjects exercise agency within the structures that give their lives both its constraints and its opportunities. What are the structures that most shape the lives of these Puerto Ricans in Harlem? How do they exercise agency within those structures? Be specific. Can you think of ways that their own agency reinforces or reproduces the structures that shape their lives?
From a 200-level course in Anthropology of Education:
The US Department of Education has decided that ethnographic research will no longer be acceptable as a research methodology to conduct federally supported research on schools, classrooms, teaching and learning. Please respond to this edict by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of ethnographic research for increasing our understanding of education. You may argue for or against this. In either case be sure to include your own findings to support your argument.
Economics
In the courses counting for distribution in economics, all faculty will use the same instrument to determine if students have acquired the minimum competency. The instrument will be determined after further departmental consultation and will take the form of either an essay question or a set of objective questions on the final exam. The instrument will assess the extent to which students can understand economic concepts and apply economic models. If an essay instrument is used, it will be graded by the course instructor after the semester ends using a common grading rubric. At the first departmental meeting of the following semester, faculty will report to each other about the numbers of those who pass the minimum competency. These will be reported to the General Education Committee.
Economics 101 Sample Essay
Consider the market for gasoline which is in the news because of high prices:
(a) Use the supply/ demand model to show and explain how the following hypotheses could explain an increase in the price of gasoline (Note: you should use a different diagram for each hypothesis and you should be specific about why demand or supply is shifting):
(i) Uncertainty over oil supplies in the mid-east because of the conflict between Iran and the Western world over Iran’s ambition to become a nuclear power. (Note: the uncertainty over oil supply disruptions in the future is increasing the expected future price of oil)
(ii) Rapid economic growth in China and India.
(iii) The increasing price of ethanol, a gasoline additive in the refining process. (Note: a shortage of ethanol has been caused by the refineries changing over from MBTE as an additive to ethanol because of concern about liability associated with the use of MTBE)
(b) Some have called for regulating the price of gasoline through a price ceiling. Would regulating the price of gasoline via a price ceiling be a good solution to the problem of high prices in the gasoline market? Explain and show using your supply/demand model.
(c) “While analysts are expecting a decline in the price of gasoline because of a release of oil from the strategic oil reserve, some observers have pointed out that this will increase the demand for gasoline, offsetting much or all of the decline in gasoline expected from the initial release of oil from the reserve. These observers have concluded that any release from the reserves will not lead to lower gasoline prices.”
Use the model of demand and supply to explain why you agree or disagree with this statement.
Grading Criteria
33 1/3% Correct use of terms
Demand and Supply
Distinction between terms denoting shift of curves and terms denoting movement along a curve
Shortage versus Surplus
33 1/3% Correct Application of Model
Correct labeling of axes, demand curve, supply curve, equilibrium price, equilibrium quantity and shortage/surplus.
Correct changes in curves and prediction about price and quantity
33 1/3% Correct Explanation of Why Changes Do or Do Not Occur in the Model
Political Science
In the courses counting toward satisfying the core curriculum requirement in political science, faculty will designate two identification questions and one analytical essay question on an exam to determine if students understand key concepts and theories and can use them to analyze political behavior, institutions, and structures. Without knowing the names of the authors, faculty members who are not graders in the courses will assess students’ responses on a pass/fail basis. The grades on the assessment instruments will be reported to the dean of the College and the general education committee by the department chair at the end of each semester.
The department faculty members have identified a list of courses, mainly at the 100- and 200- levels that students may take to satisfy the core requirement. For the identifications, students will be asked to identify and give the significance of key political science terms such as “power,” “realism,” “idealism,” “logic of collective action,” “pluralism,” “participation,” “representation,” “cleavage structure,” and “equality.” In analytical essays, faculty will determine if students are able to apply key concepts and theories to data covered in the course.
The following questions serve as examples of the type of question faculty will ask:
How democratic is the Congress (or other structure of government)? Analyze the structure according to criteria elaborated in two theories from the course.
Is political participation necessary for freedom? Discuss this question with reference to three political theorists.
Drawing on the experience of three countries, analyze the relationship between economic inequality and political inequality.
