ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK: USNA MODEL

GOAL: 

USNA will produce graduates who are geopolitically aware 

OBJECTIVES:

 Geopolitical awareness requires midshipmen to have

    1.      knowledge of U.S. geopolitical context with particular emphasis on democratic values, institutions and legal practices as represented by the U.S. Constitution;

    2.   a willingness and ability to recognize other points of view;

    3.      an appreciation of world history and a working knowledge of world geography and culture;

    4.      continuing interest in and awareness of ongoing world events and issues and the contribution of this knowledge to professionalism;

    5.      an ability to locate relevant and appropriate reference material, factual information and balanced commentary.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:  

1.      Knowledge of U.S. geopolitical context with particular emphasis on democratic values, institutions and legal practices as represented by the U.S. Constitution. A student can:

    A.      identify and apply the central principles of democracy;

    B.    explain the basic principles underlying the Constitution and Bill of Rights;

   C.   distinguish between political values and political ideology;

   D.   describe the public policy making process and discuss current policy issues;

   E.    explain the basic principles of the contemporary U.S. economy and describe its institutions.

2. Willingness and ability to recognize other points of view. A student can:

    A.    discuss controversial issues in a civil manner;

   B.    articulate alternative views of an issue;

   C.    recognize personal bias and exhibit self‑understanding.

 3.      Appreciation of world history and working knowledge of world geography and culture. A student can:

   A.    discuss how physical geography affects political and economic arrangements;

    B.    locate and identify major geographic entities ;

   C.    characterize the different national and international governmental and economic systems (to include non-governmental organizations);

   D.    analyze information to discover the trends in global events and discuss linkages;

   E.    identify cultural differences and the relationship these differences have to political and economic arrangements.

 4.      Continuing interest and awareness of ongoing world events and issues and the contribution of this knowledge to professionalism. A student can:

   A.    thoughtfully consume domestic and world news via daily newspapers, weekly magazines, the web or television;

   B.    discuss a wide range of current events;

   C.    maintain an awareness of current world events .

5.    Ability to locate relevant and appropriate reference material, factual information and balanced commentary. A student can:

   A.    evaluate sources of information;

   B.    gather objective information;

   C.    distinguish authority from opinion;

   D.    infer points of view of presenters.

THE PRACTICES TO BE USED TO ACHIEVE GOALS

1.      Core courses: FP130, HH205, HH206, HE111 & HE112

2.      Plebe Rates

3.      Forrestal Lectures

4.      Library bibliographic instruction

5.      Naval History Symposium

6.      Majors in Economics, History and Political Science, and humanities/social sciences electives

7.      Exchange Program with other academies

8.      Some summer internships

9.      Seapower lectures

10.  CDS 

ASSESSMENT METHODS FOR EACH OBJECTIVE 

1.      Knowledge of U.S. geopolitical context with particular emphasis on democratic values, institutions and legal practices as represented by the U.S. Constitution.

   A.    Require midshipmen to take FP130.

    B.    Provide a selection of questions to the Service Assignment Interview Committees to obtain officer assessment of midshipmen knowledge.  These questions would not appear as the Agouge@ questions on the web site.  

2.    Willingness and ability to recognize other points of view

   A.    Query faculty teaching FP130 and HH104 to obtain a baseline.

    D.    Collect midshipmen voter registration and participation information

5.      Ability to locate relevant and appropriate reference material, factual information and balanced commentary

    A.    Proposed NS40X assignment: AYou are the senior officer among a group invited to an embassy reception. The guest of honor is an important public figure from country X. Prepare and deliver within 24 hours a brief for the group explaining what they ought to know about country X.@

   B.    Require bibliographic instruction in FP130 and HH104

CONDUCT ASSESSMENT:

  A:     Use specified methods to collect the data.

 B:     Analyze evidence and compare against performance criteria using analysis appropriate to method chosen.