APP 8

Criminal Justice courses have specific course outcomes that are measured through various tools and strategies such as exams, presentations, class discussions, papers, and projects. These tools are designed to examine the depth of learning, modify and/or reinforce information learned and to encourage a deeper learning of the course material. The outline below will chronicle the assessment strategies designed for the Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Course that will promote an in-depth understanding of the course and expected outcome because effective assessment and learning arise from the classroom.

Learning Plan

Topic: Criminal Justice: Law Enforcement

Key characteristics of student population

• Devotion to specialized educational and physical training

• Ability to handle stress and difficult situations

• Ability to develop a set of core attributes to adapt to evolving challenges for law enforcement

• Students must have personal traits such as honest, integrity, ethics and tolerance

• Students must possess leadership skills and an inner sense of right and wrong because officers are considered role models and trusted within the community

• Students must have a calm demeanor and a well-developed sense of ethics to succeed in criminal justice.

• Criminal justice is a physically demanding career; therefore, students are required to have a great deal of physical strength in order to fulfill the role of police officer because their potential of having to run, climb, and jump to apprehend offenders.

Characteristics of the subject matter that may present special challenges

• Students’ inability to learn the course material

• Teacher’s inability to effectively create a learning plan that is conducive to students’ academic success

• Teacher’s inability to engage the students

• Teacher’s methods of teaching are not innovative and doesn’t incorporate/cover today’s law enforcement issues and learning material.

Learning Goals and Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the Criminal Justice: Law Enforcement course students should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the nature, function, and score of criminal justice ideas, issues and programs.

• Understand the issues and component parts of a police organization.

• Understand criminal laws and procedures and comprehend the nature and scope of the American court system.

• Evaluate situations and determine sound moral, ethical, and legal implications.

• Produce competent, honest, well-rounded officers

Assessment Strategies Outline

1. Introduction to Law Enforcement-Week 1

1. Familiarize students with basic law enforcement terms

2. Establish foundation of law enforcement practices

3. Familiarize students with the core missions and values of law enforcement

4. Test student’s knowledge through weekly discussion boards and papers to determine if students understand the concept of the basic principles of law enforcement.

1. Police Administration and Operations-Week2

1. Focuses on uniformed police operations of both patrol and traffic

2. Discusses the principles of organization, management, planning, and crime prevention.

1. Criminal Procedure-Week 3

1. Course emphasizes criminal procedure, including the laws of arrest and search and seizure

2. Focuses on the rights of the accused

3. Focuses on the roles of the prosecutor, judge, jury and defense counsel in the judicial process.

1. Criminal Law-Week 4

1. Study of the basic elements of criminal law

2. Purpose of course is to identify and describe the various relationships between the criminal law and the needs of society.

3. Students learn the basic principles of the criminal law in various categories, definition of criminal offense, defenses, standards of use.

4. Course explains the relationship of knowledge of the criminal law as a vital part of professional law enforcement.

5. Course develops the thought-process of critical thinking problem-solving in criminal law situations.

1. Topics in Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement-Week 5

1. Introduces a series of critical issues facing law enforcement personnel.

2. Examines the diverse roles of the public police and how to achieve effective community policing.

3. Focuses on the evolution of community policing

4. Implements community policing and communicating with a diverse population

5. Building partnerships in the community

1. Criminal Justice Internship-Week 6

1. An internship program that provides the student with field experience with municipal, county, state, and local criminal justice agencies.

2. Internship allows students to perform the duties of law enforcement professionals at the staff level.

3. Students receives hands on experience in their chosen field working with and performing the duties of criminal justice professionals.

Course Assessments: Exercises that aids in identifying the aspects of critical thinking through emphasis on clarity of thought and objective evaluation to support conclusions such as weekly discussion boards. Other effective assessments utilized in this course will consist of written multiple choice exams and end of course projects that will be comprised of critical thinking scenario-based assignments and/or oral presentations.

Outcome: Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

characterize the importance of ethics and ethical decisions at all levels and processes within the criminal justice system. Students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the function, issues and ideas of the program. Students should also be able to apply case law, criminal procedure, and custodial law by analyzing fact patterns and situations, as well as analyze critical issues in law enforcement and their impact on day to day operations of police departments.

Criminal Justice: Law Enforcement Syllabus

Course Description: This course provides an introduction to law enforcement practices, policies and procedures as well as its establishment. It also focuses on the criminal justice system and its basic components. The primary goal of this course is to develop an in-depth understanding of the criminal justice system as it applies to law enforcement and the primary roles and responsibilities of law enforcement officers.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course students should be able to

• define and discuss criminal behavior

• define and identify the various law enforcement agencies

• Know common law enforcement practices as well as expectations

• know the Constitutional Rights of the people

• articulate the reason for public concern

• Understand the criminal justice system and criminal trial process

Desired Learning Outcome:

• Each student will fully understand the practices of law enforcement officers as well as due process

• Students will gain an understanding of the critical role police play in today’s society as well as understand how police departments function.

• Students will gain an understanding of how the police departments are structured and their strategies in combating crime.

• Students will learn how modern police departments function; understand their structure, and their strategies used in combating crime.

• Students will also get an insight on how police are hired and also their rights as police officers.

Through thorough and strategic planning students will gain insight and knowledge of law enforcement procedures and operations. Class assignments and exams are designed to engage the students and to promote “deeper learning” of the material. As learned this semester, creating innovative ways to engage students in the learning process motivates students to learn and they are more susceptible to learn. It is also important to evaluate or measure students’ learning through various assessments. To ensure a successful learning outcome, it is important to effectively and efficiently plan each course with goals and a desired outcome so teachers can track students learning process while students are engaged in the learning process.

Criminal Justice Syllabus

Weekly Assessment Methods

Students who score 90%-100% are considered to demonstrate exceptional knowledge of the material and able to demonstrate this knowledge through various exercises.

Students who score 71%-89% are considered to demonstrate mediocre knowledge of the material demonstrate this knowledge through various exercises. However, student may need more guidance or additional learning mechanisms to become exceptional in the course.

Students who score 71%-79% are considered to demonstrate marginal or little knowledge of the material and may need more instruction and better understanding of the material in order to excel in the course.

Below 70% the student demonstrate little to no knowledge of the material