English BA

Program Purpose

A bachelor's degree in English forms students into skilled, knowledgeable, and ethical interpreters of texts in the English literary tradition and offers students the opportunity to nurture their ability to produce literary texts. The English major is designed to help students understand the process of communicating and interpreting human experience through literary representation; in doing so they develop reading, writing and analytic skills; learn historical contexts and disciplinary methodologies; and become ethical communicators. As students study how individuals in specific historical, cultural, and rhetorical circumstances represent their experience and ideas through the medium of language, they learn how to formulate their own ideas critically, creatively, and persuasively. They learn to raise significant questions, gather relevant evidence, reach well-reasoned conclusions, weigh alternative systems of thought, and write as means of intellectual inquiry and creative expression, all crucial skills necessary to be effective thinkers and communicators in the current information-intensive society. Students also develop an ethical orientation to living as their study of literature encourages them to value human actions, motivations, and differences.

Curricular Structure

All English majors complete a shared set of core classes (203, 303, 302, 291-294). Students select one of four tracks through the major (Literary Studies, Literary Media and Cultures, Creative Writing, or Professional Writing and Communication). Each track has options for a capstone tailored to that track. Details about the curricular structure and tracks of the redesign major can be found here: https://english.byu.edu/majors.

Learning Outcomes

English BA graduates learn the skills, contexts, and ethics of interpreting texts, particularly of the English literary tradition, and of communicating their interpretations through written and oral mediums. Each program learning outcome is followed by elaborations of how the department interprets the outcome and what activities the students perform to achieve the outcome.

Interpretive and Communicative Skills

English graduates employ critical reading strategies, disciplinary writing expertise, and sophisticated analytical skills in their written and oral communication.

Courses that Contribute: ENGL 198 ENGL 211 ENGL 212 ENGL 218 ENGL 230 ENGL 232 ENGL 235 ENGL 236 ENGL 251 ENGL 268 ENGL 291 ENGL 292 ENGL 293 ENGL 294 ENGL 295 ENGL 300R ENGL 317R ENGL 318R ENGL 319R ENGL 320R ENGL 321R ENGL 322 ENGL 324 ENGL 325 ENGL 326 ENGL 327R ENGL 328R ENGL 330 ENGL 333 ENGL 336 ENGL 337R ENGL 338 ENGL 341 ENGL 343 ENGL 345 ENGL 355 ENGL 358R ENGL 359 ENGL 360 ENGL 361 ENGL 362 ENGL 363 ENGL 364 ENGL 365 ENGL 366 ENGL 371 ENGL 372 ENGL 373 ENGL 374 ENGL 375 ENGL 376 ENGL 380 ENGL 381 ENGL 382 ENGL 383 ENGL 384R ENGL 385 ENGL 390R ENGL 391 ENGL 392 ENGL 394R ENGL 396 ENGL 397R ENGL 398 ENGL 399R ENGL 451 ENGL 452 ENGL 495 WRTG 310
Linked to BYU Aims: Intellectually Enlarging
Interpretive and Communicative Applications

English graduates translate the skills of the humanistic tradition, including critical inquiry, scholarly research, communication, and creativity, to professional environments and narrate the value of these skills to prospective employers.

Courses that Contribute: ENGL 198 ENGL 394R ENGL 398 ENGL 420
Linked to BYU Aims: Intellectually Enlarging, Lifelong Learning and Service
Interpretive and Communicative Contexts

English graduates know how to trace the development of literary traditions, investigate authors, and differentiate genres, and they know how to discuss disciplinary methodologies and scholarly conversations; they use these contexts to frame their written, oral, and visual work.

Courses that Contribute: ENGL 211 ENGL 212 ENGL 218 ENGL 230 ENGL 232 ENGL 235 ENGL 236 ENGL 251 ENGL 268 ENGL 291 ENGL 292 ENGL 293 ENGL 294 ENGL 300R ENGL 317R ENGL 318R ENGL 319R ENGL 320R ENGL 321R ENGL 322 ENGL 324 ENGL 325 ENGL 326 ENGL 327R ENGL 328R ENGL 330 ENGL 333 ENGL 336 ENGL 337R ENGL 338 ENGL 341 ENGL 345 ENGL 358R ENGL 359 ENGL 361 ENGL 362 ENGL 363 ENGL 364 ENGL 365 ENGL 371 ENGL 372 ENGL 373 ENGL 374 ENGL 375 ENGL 376 ENGL 380 ENGL 381 ENGL 382 ENGL 383 ENGL 384R ENGL 385 ENGL 390R ENGL 391 ENGL 392 ENGL 396 ENGL 397R ENGL 420 ENGL 451 ENGL 452 ENGL 495 WRTG 310
Linked to BYU Aims: Intellectually Enlarging
Interpretive and Communicative Ethics

English graduates embrace literature and writing as sources of wisdom, spiritual insight, and aesthetic pleasure; as mediums for encountering and reflecting upon the diversity of human experience; and as guides for building relation and discerning value.

Courses that Contribute: ENGL 198 ENGL 212 ENGL 230 ENGL 232 ENGL 235 ENGL 236 ENGL 268 ENGL 291 ENGL 317R ENGL 318R ENGL 319R ENGL 320R ENGL 327R ENGL 328R ENGL 330 ENGL 336 ENGL 338 ENGL 358R ENGL 381 ENGL 382 ENGL 383 ENGL 384R ENGL 391 ENGL 392 ENGL 394R ENGL 397R ENGL 399R ENGL 495 WRTG 310
Linked to BYU Aims: Character Building, Lifelong Learning and Service

Evidence of Learning

The program aims to develop direct and indirect measures to collect relevant and reliable evidence in ways that are intentional, systematic, and actionable. Interpreting this evidence encourages the program to make changes to improve our students' learning.

Direct Measures

Course Embedded Evaluation

In the past, we've used rubric scores from the prior writing sequence (295, Major Authors, 495) to direclty assess student work. The major redesign requires us to rethink this approach. The assessment coordinator has explored common reflective writing assignments in 203 (what kind of reader am I?), 302 (what kind of writer am I?), and the capstones (revisiting what kind of reader and writer am I?) as a possible replacement for direct assessment. The new assessment coordinator and DEC will revisit this question of direct assessment measures moving forward.

English Symposium

Students display their professional skills and abilities at the annual English Symposium. Committees of undergraduate and graduate students organize the conference, review the abstracts, and schedule the sessions. Undergraduate and graduate students submit abstracts and present academic conference papers, creative writing readings, internship presentations, and 3MP (3-minute Thesis Presentations). The English Symposium offers students a forum to contribute to the scholarly conversation in the discipline of English Studies.

The students' presentations are performances that demonstrate their execution of interpretive and communicative skills, understanding of interpretive and communicative contexts, and reveal their interpretive and communicative ethics. In addition, student presenters, panel chairs, faculty in attendance, and the general audience are invited to complete surveys assessing the quality and effectiveness of the delivery and content of the presentations. The assessment coordinator compiles the information from the surveys. The coordinator reports conclusions to the English Symposium organizers and the department executive committee who use the information to improve future English Symposiums.

 

Indirect Measures

Senior Surveys

Surveying students completing the program share insight into both the achievement of learning outcomes and overall satisfaction with a program.The questions encourage the students to reflect the objectives of the program, scope and sequence of the curriculum, and perceived value of their knowledge and skills attained during the program. The College Advisement Center administers senior surveys when students apply for graduation. The survey data is reported annually to the department.

Alumni Surveys

Alumni surveys focus on the relationship of the student's knowledge and skills to their professional and personal lives after graduation. This measure of satisfaction with a program is useful in checking the match between program objectives and perceived usefulness after graduation. The Alumni Center administers surveys to students approximately five years after graduation. The English Department submits ten questions to survey former English majors. This survey data is reported annually to the department.

Student Focus Groups

Periodic interviews with groups of students provides insight concerning the perceptions and opinions of current students about the functioning of the program and their acquisition of skills. Students provides feedback about logistics, such as scheduling problems. They also identify gaps in the curriculum or suggest ways to sequence the curriculum for optimal student development and performance. The assessment committee typically organizes focus groups with senior students enrolled in ENGL 495. The discussions are recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by the assessment committee. A report is submitted annually to the department executive committee.

Curriculum and Syllabus Analysis

Course coordinators oversee the required classes taught in multiple sections (203, 291-294, 303, 302, capstones). The coordinators annually review the overall performance of the course. They collect and review the syllabi, student ratings, and other relevant material from the different sections to ensure that each section facilitates student learning of the stated course outcomes. The coordinators are also caretakers of the course document and rubric and make adjustments as necessary and when agreed on by the instructors of the course. They also help collect course-specific assessment materials.

Learning and Teaching Assessment and Improvement

Department Assessment Procedure

The Assessment coordinator and assistant coordinator work with the department executive committee and the course coordinators to plan and execute assessment initiatives with the faculty who teach the core courses. The assessment coordinator communicates assessment progress and updates as well as presents evidence to the whole faculty during the fall assessment retreat and department meetings.

Curriculum Modifications

Core Writing Sequence

The major redesign now requires two core writing courses of all English majors: English 303 (formerly 295) is a course in writing literary criticism that also fulfills the GE Advanced Writing and Oral Communication requirement for English majors. English 302 is a course in writing with style that invites students to experiment with and develop style and grammar in a variety of genres.

Designing the Major Innovations

In Fall 2019, the Department Executive Committee (DEC) convened a Designing the Major Committee to review assessment materials and major curricula from other institutions and suggest changes to the major. The core of the current major has been on the books since at least 2000, and because of changes in student enrollments, the dept leadership thought it wise to explore curricular revisions. The seven-member committee held faculty focus groups in fall and then presented several line-item proposals for changes to the major and two full-curriculum beta models. The DEC then solicited faculty feedback on a revised proposal in a survey, individual meetings, and a full department meeting. Each item up for revision received at least 80% support from the 56 faculty who responded to the survey. Finally, the DEC organized subcommittees from the department at large to work out the details of courses, sequences, or concentrations. The DEC expects to present a refined proposal to the dept for approval in Fall 2020. 

 

In the process of drafting proposals, DTM and then the DEC consulted the following sources: