Calvin College - Psychology

About Us

History

The first psychology class at Calvin College dates back to 1876, the year that the college was founded. This class was offered, however, through the Philosophy Department. In subsequent years many other psychology courses were introduced, but these classes were offered through the Education Department. In 1939, all psychology courses were taken out of the Philosophy and Education departments and offered only through a newly formed Psychology Department.

Since its founding in 1939 the department, the list of classes it offers, and the number of faculty it employs has grown considerably. The department now employs 12 faculty members and 3 adjuncts, and offers about 25 different courses, as well as a variety of courses during the January Interim. The current staff, facilities, and courses provide an opportunity for students to establish a solid base of knowledge regarding the fundamental concepts of the field, and a chance to explore the various branches of the discipline.

Facilities and Equipment

The department maintains its own small library in the student lounge, next to the Psychology Department office, where a variety of books pertinent to psychological studies can be found. There is a departmental bulletin board in the lounge (SB310) as well as psychology bulletin boards in the halls near the office on which interesting articles, new book jackets, notices of upcoming events, and information concerning graduate programs and job opportunities are posted. Students are encouraged to use the lounge. Occasionally the lounge will be reserved for a department meeting or seminar.

To support and promote research in psychology the department has a wide range of facilities and equipment. These are most often used in conjunction with specific classes, but they can be made available for students pursuing independent studies or guided research projects under the supervision of faculty members. An entire block of rooms has been set aside for research use. Some of these rooms contain one-way mirrors for observation of activities in the adjacent rooms. Along interior corridors are small cubicles used for individual testing and interviewing. We also have an EEG (brain-wave) Lab funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

The department owns "shuttle boxes" and "Skinner boxes" which can be operated manually or programmed to operate automatically; these are used in the training of small animals. A wide variety of other research-related materials are available, including an extensive selection of group and individual tests. The department also has animal facilities located in the West Michigan Regional Laboratory. This includes a room for housing small animals, a preparation room and nine observation rooms.

The psychology department computer laboratory is found in SB352. It currently has 10 computers (2 Macs and 8 PCs). When it is not being used for specific classes or laboratories, psychology students are encouraged to use it for educational purposes.

ASSESSMENT PLAN

Objectives (articulated in 1998)	Method of Assessment Time-table	Criterion	Current status, proposed implementation procedure, and feedback
1. Disciplinary content (knowledge): Student completing the psychology major will demonstrate knowledge of the ten areas of psychology: abnormal, clinical/counseling, development, research design, history, human learning/cognition, personality, physiological, social, and statistics.	Each spring all graduating psychology majors will take an objective achievement test. Proposed additions: 1. Rotate the use of a commercially developed standardized instrument (e.g., PACAT, ETS subject, or GRE subject test). 2. Rotate the use of an essay component (or sample half of the seniors for testing with an essay) that tests for research methods (see below), critical thinking, and Christian perspectives - see later section (each area as a separate portion).	All majors will answer correctly 70% of the items on 70% of the content areas. All students will achieve a rank of 25th percentile or higher on ALL sections. The group as a whole will be at or above the 75th percentile for the test as a whole. To be determined after initial pilot testing.	The PACAT was reviewed (Oct. 2000) and decided against due to item quality and the ongoing cost ($10 per student). As an alternative, we developed our own assessment instrument. Suggestion: Could be given in psyc 399 as an alternative exam. Suggestion: The research method portion could be given as an exam or exercise in psyc 256 (and/or possible "second course" - not yet developed, or in 330 level courses). The other portions could be given in 399 as an exam or exercise.
2. Research Methodology (knowledge): Students completing the psychology major will demonstrate knowledge of the principles of research methodology. Students will be able to… ? Evaluate methods, designs and statistics - identifying the types and potential flaws in methods or conclusions ? Demonstrate working knowledge of SPSS - both data management and data analysis ? Design a study and implement data collection using appropriate controls. (For later development)	Students will turn in a copy of a data-analysis project to the assessment coordinator. Additional Assessment procedures: 1. Develop a fictitious (or real) research report that contains design flaws, statistical flaws and flaws in deductive reasoning. 2. Develop a rubric (rating scheme with 3 levels) that rates a students ability to format and develop a data file, and then select appropriate statistical procedures and produce and interpret appropriate statistical reports	All students will have completed at least one data-analysis project. To be determined after initial pilot testing. All students will achieve a level 3 in all areas. Students not achieving a 3 on all areas will repeat the test at a later time.	All students complete at least one data analyses project in Psych 255 (required of all majors). We have not yet worked out a procedure for these projects to be turned into the assessment coordinator. Could be given as an exam or exercise in psyc 256 (or possible "second course" - not yet developed, or in 330 level courses) Could be administered in 256. Students failing to achieve a 3 rating on all areas could repeat it during the course, as part of a second level course, or during a spring assessment activity.
3. Social Science Fundamentals (knowledge): Students completing the psychology major will demonstrate knowledge about the empirical fundamentals and their application.	Each spring all graduating psychology majors will take the PACAT achievement test. Additional items: See above: Objectives one and two.	All majors will score 70% or better on the Experimental Design and Statistics sections of the PACAT.	See endnote #1
4. Oral communications (skills): Students completing the psychology major will demonstrate oral communication competence.	Professors who assign oral presentations will give a copy of their assessment of the student’s report to the assessment coordinator.. The assessment will include at least some standardized categories for the dept. (professors will likely add other categories of their own). The assessment committee, in consultation with the professors who teach statistics and research methods, will develop the categories (and the rating scheme).	All students will have successfully given an oral presentation with a grade of C or better, in at least one of the following classes: 255, 308, 330-334, or 395. Revised Criteria: All students will achieve a rating of 3 on 75% of the categories and all students will have received at least a 1 (meaning they have simply completed an activity that addressed that category)	Most psych majors give several oral presentations (in required and elective courses). We have not yet developed a procedure to assure that they are scoring at least a C-grade on at least one of these presentations.
5. Written communication (skill): Students completing the psychology major will demonstrate written communication competence.	Students will turn in a copy of the paper to the assessment coordinator. Same as above	All students will have received a grade of C or better, either individually or in a group, on a research paper from either 308, 395, 380, or 399. This paper will conform to APA style standards. Revised Criteria: Same as section above	There is no formal procedure in place for assuring that this criterion is met. Could be given as an exam or exercise in psyc 256 (and/or possible "second course, or in 330 level courses)
6. Integration of Psychological Science and Christian Faith (value): students completing the psychology major will achieve a personal integration of science and faith.	Each spring the records of all graduating psychology majors will be reviewed. For 2 years we will add an essay component (or sample half of the seniors for testing with an essay) that tests for research methods (see below), critical thinking, and Christian perspectives (each area as a separate portion).	All students will have successfully passed 399. To be determined after initial pilot testing.	We are presently meeting this criterion. The portion dealing with Christian perspectives could be given in 399 as an exam or class exercise.
7. Service (value): Students completing the psychology major will demonstrate a commitment to service.	Instructors assigning service-learning projects will give a report of student completion to the assessment coordinator. Additional: Record sheet will be prepared	All students will have participated in at least one academic service learning project sponsored by the Psychology Department or another department.	The senior exit exam for 2001 grads that will ask students to indicate whether or not they have participated in service learning and approximately how many hours they participated over the course of their undergraduate education.
8. Students will show entry level competence in professional skill areas such as: Interviewing, listening, behavioral analysis, etc.	Each summer the internship coordinator will review ratings and comments from internship supervisors.
9. All objectives	Alumni survey This indirect measure will evaluate most of the major objectives.

Endnotes:
1 As noted in the report on the exit exam, students scored an average of 55% on the statistics portion of the exam and 72% on the research design portion of the exam. Because most students have had statistics by the time they take the exit exam, we will need to discuss whether this criterion for statistics is set too high or whether we need to require more statistical training (possibly requiring a second statistics/design course of all majors).

Feedback loop:
Each summer the assessment coordinator and the Curriculum committee will tabulate the results, review and make recommendations for curricular revisions. Each professor will also review the results of each test, survey, essay, etc. that are relevant to their course and make recommendations for changes (typically one paragraph in length).