Program for the Study of Religion
Student Outcomes Assessment Plan
(March, 1999)

Brief Introduction

The Program for the Study of Religion is a small (6.92 FTE), interdisciplinary unit comprising faculty from a variety of fields in the humanities and social sciences. Although the ProgramÕs faculty includes four University Scholars and two winners of the Luckman Award, it is the only unit in LAS that lacks a graduate program. Historically, the Program has also had relatively few undergraduate majors Ñ rarely more than a dozen in any year Ñ and its primary role in undergraduate education has thus been to provide general education courses. In the fall semester of 1998, for example, more than 1,300 students

Process Used in Developing the Plan

Documents reviewed included course syllabi and outlines, the 1997-98 Religious Studies Planning Document, the 1998-99 Planning Cycle document, textbooks, examinations, and ICES questionnaires. Particular use was made of Spotlight on Teaching, a semi-annual publication of the American Academy of Religion that explores both the theoretical and practical dimensions of teaching in the field of religion.

Drafts of the plan were then circulated electronically to all faculty in the Program, who returned their comments and suggestions to the Interim Director. In the fullest sense, therefore, the Student Outcomes Assessment Plan is the collective work of the entire Religious Studies faculty.

Desired Learning Outcomes

Despite having relatively few majors, our faculty have a clear sense of what their students should learn. Organized under the rubric provided by the Center for Teaching Excellence, these are:

Declarative Knowledge

We expect our students to master certain facts, definitions, vocabulary, etc. But we also expect them to develop a deeper, more critical understanding of their own religious tradition Ñ from the perspectives of history, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, etc., as well as religious traditions significantly different from their own. Students are thus expected to learn about the history, concepts, beliefs, doctrines, practices, etc., of pre-historical religious traditions (e.g., native American, Australian, Melanesian, etc.), Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto, the ancient Hebrews and Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They are also expected to understand how these different religious traditions reflect the social contexts in which they emerge, and in turn affect and transform other institutions and cultural symbols of these societies.

Intellectual Skills

The three most important skills for our students to develop are the ability to express themselves clearly and concisely in writing and speaking; to read sometimes quite difficult texts carefully and analytically; and to think about ideas critically. To this end, our students are typically required to do a significant number of writing assignments; to read some difficult texts-- e.g., the Bhagavad Gita, Analects, Tao-te Ching, Hebrew Bible and New Testament, Quran, etc.-- from various traditions covering several thousand years of religious history; and our classes are less concerned with the dispensing of information that with the critical assessment of concepts, ideas, and arguments.

Attitudes

Increasingly, we live in a global society characterized by enormous cultural diversity. Differences of religious tradition are among the most important and deeply held differences of the world's cultures. Consequently, we think it is very important for our students to develop an attitude of curiosity and appreciation for the diversity of cultural beliefs and practices.

Learning Measures

1. Declarative Knowledge Measures

The Program is also planning a senior seminar for Religious Studies majors, which will provide us with another measure of the extent to which our expectations of their declarative knowledge have in fact been realized.

2. Intellectual Skills Measures

The primary measure for success in the development of intellectual skills will be the Graduate Record Examination, administered to our graduating senior majors by the Division of Management Information. By comparing these scores to those of other UIUC seniors with other majors, we should be able to assess the extent to which our students have learned to express themselves clearly and concisely, read and understand difficult texts, and think critically.

3. Attitudinal Measures

The same survey will be used to assess the degree of integration among the three components of declarative knowledge, intellectual skills, and attitudinal dispositions.

¥ February, 1999 Obtain a list of names and addresses of our graduating senior majors.

¥ March, 1999 Request questions for survey from Religious Studies faculty.

¥ May, 1999 Items for the survey revised and extended through other tools.

¥ May, 1999 Survey sent to graduating senior Religious Studies majors.

¥ June, 1999 Evaluation of survey data.

¥ August, 1999 Letter sent to all senior Religious Studies majors, inviting them to enroll in the spring senior seminar, and also encouraging them to set a specific date for taking the Graduate Record Examination.

¥ January, 2000 Senior seminar for Religious Studies majors offered for first time.

Support Needs

Because the Program for the Study of Religion currently has so few majors, the costs of mailing and following up on the survey should be minimal, and can be handled out of departmental funds. Because we expect to increase the number of our majors, however, we might require some external support in the future.