| Name of Program | MA TEFL |
| Date of Report | November 25, 2019 |
| Student Learning Outcome(s) Reviewed | To evaluate the effectiveness of SLO 4.2 where students and graduates are expected to “Exhibit attitudes and behaviors of reflective and lifelong learning practitioners” with a focus on their behaviors, i.e. ability to transfer their learning across contexts and show independent learning practices. |
| Assessment Methods and Descriptions | ∙ Early Feb. – Identify a few specific learning outcomes within TEFL courses
∙ Feb – April – Collect data to target specific SLOs that cut across multiple TEFL courses. Examples of data: lesson plans, activity design, teaching episodes observed by faculty. Assess how well the students are able to meet the selected learning outcomes in subsequent courses or learning opportunities. ∙ May – If needed, follow up on the results of the assessment by soliciting students’ opinions via survey, interviews, or focus groups. |
| Assessment Team (# and Positions. Names Not necessary) | Assessment is performed by all TEFL faculty teaching in Fall 2019, overseen by Irshat Madyarov.
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| Summary of Findings | ∙ Students seem to transfer some knowledge and skills from one course to another in non-teaching related contexts, e.g. lesson planning, activity design. It’s evident within one year (between Fall and Spring) and more so across a two-year span.
∙ Students do not transfer their learning in a teaching context from one lesson to another and from one year to the next as well. Perhaps this kind of learning takes longer time and needs more intensive practice opportunity. |
| Next steps | ∙ All instructors will look for ways to reinforce learning from previous courses by encouraging students to recall and apply previous learning in the current class or task (see examples of activities below).
∙ Have Teaching Internship students review and reflect on their strengths and areas of growth identified in Teaching Practicum and create a plan of action for further development based on this previous experience. ∙ Discuss ways in which Internship and Practicum mentors encourage reflective thinking among TEFL students during post-observation conferencing sessions. Consider video-recording conferences. Identify and address areas of improvement. |
