Departmental Assessment Update - Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Report

Department: Animal Sciences
Program: MS
Level: Graduate

1. List in detail your graduate Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for each degree/certificate offered.


The learning objectives of the Animal Sciences program are that students will:
    
a.     Demonstrate mastery of fundamental knowledge in the field of animal science.

b.    Demonstrate advanced scholarship in their specialty area in the field of animal science.

c.    Communicate both orally and in writing at a high level of proficiency.

d.     Conduct and interpret animal science research.

e.    Function as a professional in their chosen discipline

2. Where are these SLOs published (e.g., departmental web page)?


Student learning objectives are published on the program’s departmental website, and in the program’s Guide for Graduate Students given to all admitted students.

3. Explain how your SLOs map onto your curriculum, i.e., how does your program of graduate studies produce the specific SLOs in your students?


    a.  Fundamental knowledge in the disciplinary area is mapped into the program by requiring prerequisite courses covering the basics of the discipline in the student’s undergraduate preparation, or that these prerequisite courses be taken early in the student’s MS program. An oral candidacy exam conducted by graduate faculty with appropriate expertise is administered half way through the student’s program and any deficiencies in fundamental knowledge uncovered in the exam are required to be remedied by additional course work or other appropriate approaches, such as independent studies, teaching assistant duties, faculty mentoring, and internships.

    b.  Advanced knowledge is mapped into the program by requiring 18 credits of graduate level course work, at least 12 of which must be at the 600 level or higher with at least 7 credits being advanced disciplinary courses.  Scholarship in the student’s specialty area is mapped in by the chair and the student’s advisory committee, who guide the student in the selection of elective courses to shape that specialty area, as well as by mentoring the student in that area during the research and thesis writing processes.

    c.  Oral communication skills are mapped in by requiring the students to take at least two departmental seminar classes where they present a critical evaluation of a research topic, by the oral/written candidacy exam, by requiring all students to act as a teaching assistant during at least one semester of their program, and by requiring an oral presentation of their research at their final examination.

    Written communication is mapped in by writing assignments and essay type exams in courses, a written proposal for the student’s research, and by a written thesis or Plan B research report required for the final examination.

    d.  Conducting research is mapped in by the requirement of a thesis or Plan B research project conducted under the guidance of a research advisor (Chair of the thesis or Plan B project) and a research committee.  Interpretation of research is mapped in by seminar courses requiring the oral presentation of a research paper or proposal, by proposal writing, by journal clubs, by the written literature review required in a thesis or Plan B report, and by the literature review presented orally at the final examination.

    e. The ability to function as a professional in the field is mapped in by the requirement of an oral candidacy examination on basic knowledge in the field, the requirement of at least one semester as a teaching assistant, and the production of a research based thesis or Plan B report of publication quality which is defended during a final examination.

4. What population(s) is covered by your assessment(s)?


The population covered by this assessment is all classified MS students in the Animal Sciences MS program.

5. Please list/describe all the assessment events and devices used to monitor graduate student progress through the program. Consider the following questions:


    a.  Candidacy examination (given after one year in the program). Prior to the examination, the student’s advisor and examination committee review the student’s  academic progress. The purpose is to ensure that the student has taken, or plans to take, required courses as well as any deficient prerequisites.  In addition, timely progress on the student’s proposed research is evaluated.

    The candidacy examination itself is used to evaluate whether the student has a mastery of fundamental knowledge in their discipline and related fields, and can express this knowledge orally in a professional manner.  If deficiencies in fundamental knowledge or communication skills are uncovered, the examination committee recommends course work, independent study, mentorship by a faculty member, seminar presentations, or other appropriate means to remedy the deficiency.

    b.  Required seminar presentations. At least two seminar presentations focusing on research literature are required during the student’s program. These presentations are used to evaluate the students’s ability to interpret research literature and present literature reviews in a professional format (e.g. Powerpoint) using appropriate oral communication skills. There presentations are used by the seminar instructor and the student’s advisor to evaluate the student’s proficiency and any needs for further development.

    c.  Required teaching assistant experience. All students are required to assist a faculty member with instructional-related work for at least one semester during their MS program. The faculty member and the student agree on a set of instructional-related duties prior to the start of the semester.  At the end of the semester, their instructor evaluates the student’s performance in writing with a copy forwarded to the graduate chair.  If the evaluation is unfavorable, the experience must be repeated until a favorable evaluation is achieved.  This teaching experience is used to evaluate the student’s ability to work in a professional educational context.

    d. Thesis defense/final examination. This culminating experience evaluates the student’s ability to conduct research at the MS level, write a research report in publication format, and orally present research findings in a professional manner. The final examination committee evaluates these abilities by reading the written report, listening to the oral presentation, and conducting and oral examination covering all aspects of the written report and presentation. If any aspect of the final examination is unsatisfactory, the student is asked to remedy the situation. This may involve rewriting the report, conducting more research, preparing a new presentation, or deepening their understanding of the research in order to demonstrate that they can functional the professional level as a researcher in the field.

6. Please list/describe how your graduate students contribute to your discipline/academic area? Consider the following questions:


    a.  Publications. Most graduate students (over 90%) contribute to the discipline by    publishing a Plan A Master’s thesis. About 50% of MS theses are further published in peer-reviewed professional journals.

    b. Presentations at professional conferences. Most students (over 75%) present their MS research at some type of professional-level conference. These conferences include the CTAHR symposium, an in-house professional conference sponsored by our college, as well as national and international research conferences sponsored by professional  research organizations such as the American Society for Animal Science.

7. What attempts are made to monitor student post-graduate professional activities?


    We conduct a written survey of graduates via e-mail.  About 33% go on to PhD or professional programs, about 33% find work in the nutrition field as teachers, research assistants or other professions, and 33% work in areas outside the animal sciences field

8. How were the assessment data/results used to inform decisions concerning the curriculum and administration of the program?


a.    Program changes: The department coordinated its three MS programs (in Nutritional Sciences, Food Science and Animal Sciences) under one administrative graduate chair and created uniform entrance and program requirements and similar expectations for all MS students in the HNFAS department.

 b.    Course changes: A course in the science of food systems was revised in order to serve as a required core course for all MS students in HNFAS.  This course challenges students to critically evaluate interdisciplinary issues and exposes them to a broad range of approaches beyond their narrow disciplinary focus. It also increased the interaction    among students from all three of our MS degree programs.

c.    Prerequisite changes: Prerequisites were made more uniform across the specializations by upgrading lower requirements.

9. Has the program developed learning outcomes? Please indicate yes or no.


 Yes

10. Has the program published learning outcomes? Please indicate yes or no.


Yes

11. If so, please indicate how the program has published learning outcomes.


            On the program/department website (indicate URL) – No
     
           On the course syllabi – Yes,  for individual course learning objectives
     
           In program brochures – No (not used anymore by program).
     
           In departmental handbook -  Yes, in our Guide for Graduate Students
     
           Other (Please describe)

12. What evidence is used to determine achievement of student learning outcomes?


           a. Mastery of fundamental knowledge in the field of animal sciences is determined by an oral candidacy exam.  The candidacy exam is used to evaluate the student’s fundamental knowledge in their discipline and related fields, and if the student can express this knowledge orally in a professional manner.  If deficiencies in knowledge or  communication skills are uncovered, the examination committee recommends course work, independent study, mentorship by a faculty member, seminar presentations, or other appropriate means to remedy the deficiency.   
    b.  Advanced scholarship in the student’s specialty area is determined by the student’s thesis committee or Plan B research committee. The committee evaluates the student’s  scholarly work on their thesis or Plan B research paper, their performance on the oral  presentation of the research, and their performance on the final exam that is based on the students understanding of their specific research focus.

    c.  The student’s ability to communicate both orally and in writing at a high level of    proficiency is determined by required seminar presentations, an oral candidacy exam and the writing of a thesis or plan B research paper. At least two seminar presentations are required during the student’s program, plus an oral presentation of their thesis or Plan B   project, and an oral candidacy exam. These presentations are used to evaluate the student’s’ ability to present nutrition information and research in a professional manner using appropriate oral and visual communication skills. The writing of a thesis or Plan B research paper acceptable to the student’s research committee is used to determine writing skills.
     
    d.  The student’s ability to conduct and interpret nutrition research is evaluated by the thesis or plan B research committee during the process of conducting the thesis or plan B research, and   in the defense of the research project during the final exam. Interpretation of nutrition research is also evaluated in seminar classes and topics courses where the tudent reviews current research papers.

    e.  The ability of a student to function as a professional in their chosen discipline is evaluated during the oral candidacy exam, final exam, required instructional experience, required seminars, and at presentations made at professional meetings.

13. Who interprets the evidence?


    The evidence is interpreted primarily by the student’s major advisor (i.e. the chair of their thesis or plan B research committee) in consultation with the faculty that make up the  student’s research and candidacy exam committees, as well as the graduate chair of the program.

14. What is the process of interpreting the evidence?


    The student’s thesis advisor, the graduate faculty members that make up the student’s candidacy exam and thesis committees, along with the graduate chair discuss the evidence, and as a group, try to interpret it and make appropriate recommendations

15. Indicate the date of last program review.


    1995 

Self-study - 2006