Criminal Justice - Undergraduate
Results of Assessment
2002-2003 (submitted 05/06/03)
1.
DESIRED OUTCOME: Tolerance of
Legitimate Cultural Differences in Diverse Society
HOW ASSESSED: Focus
groups – verbatim accounts from the students who comprised the focus groups.
WHO DID THE
ASSESSMENT: Dr. Scott Senjo
METHODOLOGY: One group of students was formed for purposes of
this focus group research (N=18). All
of the respondents were presented a 5-slide PowerPoint slide show which
described the use of focus group research.
The students were then informed about the purpose of the focus group in
which they were participants. Everyone
was told “there are no wrong answers,” and to “be as open and candid as
possible” with their answers to the specific questions for the study.
The topic “Tolerance of Legitimate Cultural Differences
in Diverse Society” was broken-down into five (5) subtopics and placed into
the form of questions for the respondents to answer.
This provided for the operationalization of the main topic.
The five questions that the respondents were asked are as follows:
- What
do you think is meant by the saying “the U.S. is a ‘culturally
diverse’ society”?
- How
do you define the term “cultural tolerance?”
- In
which ways do you think American society is culturally tolerant?
- In
which ways do you think American society is culturally intolerant?
- What
more do you think could be done to promote tolerance of legitimate cultural
differences in our diverse society?
The respondents’ answers to the five questions above were
immediately transcribed into a computer word processing application.
A tape recorder was not used. Hence,
a small amount of data was not captured (because I could not type on a keyboard
that fast, and simultaneous to the data entry, had to moderate the discussion,
provide validation of responses, and otherwise keep the discussion flowing along
and consistent with the question being answered).
Overall, respondent answers were long and detailed.
There was no need to make the effort to try and elicit more information
from the respondents. They did not need encouragement to answer or speak-up.
They’re answers were long and seemingly constructive.
RESULTS AND FINDINGS: The findings from the focus groups are
presented below. They will be
reported in order of the five questions that were asked concerning the topic of
Tolerance of Legitimate Cultural Differences in Diverse Society.
1.
What do you think is meant by the saying “the U.S. is a
‘culturally diverse’ society”?
“The U.S.
is made up of cultures throughout the rest of the world brought into one
place. It is like a melting pot.
We have our unique culture. There
are a lot of different races and cultural variations among groups.
It means we have different beliefs among religions too. Just people of all different backgrounds who come together to
form a society.”
2. How do you
define the term “cultural tolerance?”
“It would
be best described by that immigrants came here to learn together.
There is no ‘I’m better than you’ sort of thing.
I think it’s tolerance of other cultures and religions.
Um, the majority of the culture accepts other cultures.
Being able to be open minded and listen to other people’s opinion
regardless of culture. Looking at
ethnic backgrounds and seeing a tolerance for those backgrounds.”
3. In which
ways do you think American society is culturally tolerant?
“I think
it’s on paper. Meaning, in the
Constitution there is no established religion or way of living.
I think everyone believes that on paper, but there is a way of doing
things that is unique that all lends itself to one main group.”
“The way
that we can come together, specifically keeping in mind the disasters we have
had. You see how out country is
tolerant through holidays or traditions like Native Indian pow-wows or the
Chinese New Year.”
“I mean if
you just drive down the road and look to your right and to your left you see
all sorts of different foods. And
it is a good thing for everyone.”
4. In which
ways do you think American society is culturally intolerant?
“Um, I think, like right now
in times of crisis we are a little bit more intolerant and we guard ourselves
against other cultures.”
“Intolerant, um, that just
like makes me think of Hispanic people, and that, coming from a more diverse
place like Mexico and coming to Utah, it is assumed that people are just here
to bum off the system and we have all these stereotypes.”
“I think the answer to why we
are intolerant has to do with education.
If you look at the KKK and then the Black Panthers, and then the White
Supremacist groups, you can see that these people do not want to look at any
other viewpoints besides their known.”
5. What more do you think could be done to promote tolerance of
legitimate cultural differences in our diverse society?
“Um, I think just an increased level
of education.”
“I was just gonna say that.
She said my answer.”
“That’s basically my answer too. Starting from a young age in school. Teaching language and using an actual hands on approach to
education.”
“I would say in my infinite wisdom,
that as a parent to teach my kids at an early age.”
“Just take a road trip and take a
look at the world – get out of Utah and see California.”
“As an example in St. Louis, I went
to an all white school, then we were sent to an all black school.
It took me years to get over my hatred for blacks.
I needed to take a road trip and see other people.”
“My father was a racist and it took
me some time to get over it. But
I saw the injustice.”
“Like with Native Americans, we still
have a lot of problems with them. Are
we gonna open-up to them or are we gonna keep it like it is?”
“It is very hard to be tolerant and
it is hard to be culturally diverse.”
IMPLICATIONS:
Although greater education
concerning tolerance of legitimate cultural differences would never be a waste
of time, it was possible to sense that a clear
majority of the class has an understanding for the meaning of diversity
and also of cultural differences. More
importantly, it appears from the data as well as from the overall attitude of
the focus group that the students respect the idea of cultural differences.
2.
DESIRED OUTCOME:
Foundation in scientific investigation, crime lab procedures, and crime scene
processing
HOW ASSESSED: Questions
in comprehensive exam
WHO DID THE
ASSESMENT: Dr. David Collins
RESULTS:
After complete development of the forensic science track and the hiring of a
forensic science specialist, questions will be written and incorporated into the
comprehensive exam.
IMPLICATIONS:
See "Results" above.
3.
DESIRED OUTCOME:
Majors should demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate in writing. HOW
ASSESSED: Assessment of journals during Fall and Spring Semester Senior
Seminars (AY 2002-2003)
WHO DID THE
ASSESMENT: Dr. Paul Johnson
RESULTS:
This comprises the third year of this assessment, and the findings mentioned in
previous reports remain valid. While
it takes about three weeks for students to get in to the habit of daily writing,
they mention how, with practice, this activity helps them to clarify thoughts
and improve performance on examinations and writing requirements in other
classes. This year I added the
concept of “ thinking with a pencil,” i.e., informally jotting down ideas as
they come, giving substance to the abstraction of the thinking process.
Students consistently display the same problems
with spelling, grammar, and sentence structure in their writing (“I like to
wright,” “taken for granite,” “him and I”).
While the journals are not graded, I will pint out privately such errors
to the individual student. The
journals are an excellent means to identify, assist, and refer students with
significant writing problems. Students
have commented that writing the journal helps them to identify and integrate key
thoughts and ideas in Senior Seminar for their article briefing and presentation
requirements. Some have mentioned
that the journal requirements helped them to “get used to writing” in their
graduate school pursuits.
IMPLICATIONS:
The primary implication is that clarity of thought and expression improve with
writing. The implications of past
years remain consistent, pointing to the importance of formal and informal
writing in every aspect of life. Students
continue to confirm the value of the journal and it’s practical applications.
4. DESIRED
OUTCOME: Grasp fundamental concepts, nature of criminal law
HOW ASSESSED: Eight
questions dealing with basic criminal law concepts were embedded in the
Comprehensive Exam administered in Spring 2003 to Senior Seminar students.
WHO DID THE ASSESSMENT:
Dr. David Lynch
RESULTS:. Students
averaged 97 percent on the questions, with no single question being missed by
more than 10 percent of the students.
IMPLICATIONS: Students seem to have a firm grasp of
at least the fundamental concepts related to criminal law.
Criminal Law is a required core course of all majors and all students
would have been exposed to these concepts.
Students seem to have a good understanding of mens rea, actus reus,
standard of proof, basic defenses, and elements of major crimes such as murder,
rape, and burglary.
5. DESIRED
OUTCOME: Competent consumers of criminal justice research
RESULTS: Students were required to do a qualitative
and a quantitative research project in the Fall 2002 course offered by Dr.
Lynch. Students really put their
hearts into both of these projects which constituted a major portion of their
overall course grade. The substance
of their reports was quite impressive. Students
did particularly well on the more difficult quantitative project which required
the generation and presentation of statistical information.
Most students chose to present their data using graphs and charts
generated by their use of SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).
Use of SPSS indicated the acquisition of a valuable skill.
The major deficiency in their reports had to do with style rather than
substance. Most students seem to
have a lot of trouble producing reports that are significantly free of
grammatical errors. This latter
point is the major implication that something could be done about. It would seem to me that students at WSU are not graduating
with a writing ability that is up to speed, and some further practice in this
area is in order. I am not sure
though that this can be done to the extent necessary in this one class.
6.
DESIRED OUTCOME: Have
a marketable credential for employment or foundation for graduate school.
HOW ASSESSED:
Graduation Exit Surveys
WHO DID THE
ASSESMENT: Mrs. Faye Medd
RESULTS:
A total of 29 graduate exit surveys were taken. In reference to the
question about “current employment,” seven were currently unemployed and
eight had positions in the criminal justice industry. Question number 8 asked
“Are you actively seeking a position in the criminal justice field?” and
students replied that they were considering a position with the forestry
department, that they were looking out of state, that they planned to attend law
school, that they planned to join the military, that they were going to wait
until after graduation to pursue employment, that they planned to continue with
a current job, that they planned to attend graduate school, and that they would
rather work in the private sector. If they replied yes to “experiencing difficulty finding a
suitable placement” the reasons were: it is hard to find a job because of no
experience and crime scene investigations units are limited in this area. When
asked, “What, if anything, have you learned from your job search with regards
to finding suitable criminal justice employment that would be helpful to share
with others?”, they noted: You will have to be willing to relocate in order to
increase your chances, I stressed about my minor forever, but once you start
looking for employment, they mostly care about the major, go out of state, be
willing to travel to find employment, for students to be open-minded, don’t
settle for just anything, start sending for employment early, psych evaluations
and lie detector tests are mandatory, get involved with the law agency that you
plan on working for before applying, and the most important thing is experience.
Students answered the question about “What suggestions, if any, would you have
for the criminal justice department to help improve the marketability of its
majors?” by stating: possibility of more internships or part time positions,
work on writing skills for reports, you should try to incorporate more
applicability to real life, include more management related classes for those
seeking promotion within, don’t push law enforcement so much—there’s more
to criminal justice than police, senior seminar needs work, let people know how
incredible the faculty and staff are, have more job opportunity announcements
throughout the U. S. and overseas, specific program connecting to CJ sites, and
use more guest speakers in the classes that are from criminal justice
professions to allow students to meet and contact those working professionals.
The last question, “What suggestions, if any, would you have for the Criminal
Justice Department to help improve the quality of its educational program”
received the responses: 1). To screen the ability and competence of future
professors a little better, 2). Educational program is great, 3). I kind of wish
I had more group assignments and more “in front of class” presentations, 4).
Don’t overlap class that I have already taken in Military Science, 5). Require
more of the classes in different areas so that we have more of a variety upon
graduation, 6). Better assistance with finding internships, 7). Just keep having
practitioner teach us, 8). Increase the number of lower division classes, mostly
(CJ1340 and CJ1330), 9). Have more classes offered off the main campus, 10).
Adapt certain science classes to the actual emphasis of the individual
student, 11). Senior seminar is really the only class I’m disappointed with,
12). More criminalistic classes available, 13). Is great the way it is, 14). The
thing that I would have professors teach classes in which they have experience.
IMPLICATIONS:
See "Results" above.
7. DESIRED OUTCOME:
Competent Consumers of Criminal Justice Research.
HOW ASSESSED: Analyses of Research Projects competed
in Research Methods Class.
WHO DID THE ASSESSMENT: Dr. Robert C. Wadman
RESULTS:
In Dr .Wadman’s Fall 2002 Research Methods class students were asked to
complete a research project in criminal justice.
This project required the development of a research question, the
identification of appropriate data sources, data collection, data analysis, and
reporting. Students were required
to produce a research paper and to present their research findings in class.
From this process, students scored in a range of 75 to 93 with most
students receiving a grand of B or A. Several
students effectively utilized the statistical skills they gained in CJ 3600.
Most students demonstrated understanding and competence in the
development of criminal justice research.
Implications: The majority of criminal justice
students in CJ 4980 have mastered the ability to competently understand,
consume, and complete criminal justice research. The requirement of completing a research project appears to
be an effective way to teach criminal justice students how to be competent
consumers of criminal justice research.
8. DESIRED
OUTCOME: Appreciate major issues of policing.
HOW ASSESSED: Two exams given during the semester on
the topic of Community Policing.
WHO DID THE ASSESSMENT: Dr. Robert C. Wadman.
Results: Students consistently enter the Community
Policing class with a traditional understanding regarding police work in
America. This traditional
understanding is based on a firm commitment to “reacting” to crimes that
have been committed in America’s cities.
The costly process of reacting to crime is challenged in this course.
Most students learn to value the concepts of community policing.
The Spring 2003 class in Community Policing has completed exams and
debates regarding contemporary issues in community policing. Most students have
demonstrated a clear understanding of the principles of community policing.
As in the past assessment, some students still cling to the ideas found
in traditional policing.
Implications: Understanding the principles of
Community Policing gives students a distinct advantage in job opportunities in
criminal justice. The cost
effective strategies students learn in CJ 3040 create employment and promotional
opportunities in criminal justice agencies.
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