A lecture by Prof. Peter Ecke in the Department of German Studies colloquium series. Please join us!
Abstract: This presentation provides strategies and examples of how program administrators can monitor a variety of potentially important indicators for the health of a university language program and how they can utilize technological tools and resources for the collection and analysis of program-relevant data. It identifies and addresses four challenges of a language program: (1) the long-term tracking and monitoring of student enrollments and their meaningful interpretation taking into account both internal (departmental and institutional) and external (regional and national) data, (2) the identification of potential issues of the program and subsequent intervention, (3) the establishment of student profiles that could be relevant for program planning and design, and (4) the tracking of individual students’ success and special achievements in their career paths. The paper makes a case for the use of internal student surveys, complemented by internal and external data as essential components of a continuous, internally-driven program evaluation that will also be of importance for periodic academic program reviews.
