Unit: Chemistry
Program: Biochemistry (BA, BS)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Tue Sep 16, 2014 - 12:12:19 pm

1) Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs) and Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

1. Cognitive Learning Objectives: Students will become well grounded in laws and theories of chemistry, including how to use quantitative measurements and spectroscopy to analyze molecular structure.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

2. Cognitive Learning Objectives: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental principles of biochemistry, including structural and mechanistic understanding of the major pathways of metabolism, biosynthesis, replication, transcription, and translation.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

3. Cognitive Learning Objectives: Students will demonstrate a qualitative and quantitative understanding of biomolecular structure and reactivity, and the manner by which enzymes can catalyze chemical reactions that transform biomolecules.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

4. Cognitive Learning Objectives: Students will develop the ability to use the scientific method to ask meaningful questions, to design experiments to address these questions, to acquire and critically analyze the data, to draw appropriate conclusions, and to communicate the results and conclusions in both written and oral format.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

5. Cognitive Learning Objectives: Students will learn how to use the biochemical literature and databases to obtain relevant published information.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

6. Skills-Based Learning Objectives: Students will be able to prepare solutions, buffers, and standards, to use appropriate instrumentation to make accurate measurements, and to statistically analyze the data.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

7. Skills-Based Learning Objectives: Students will be able to use modern instrumentation and computational tools to record data pertaining to the structure of molecules, to interpret the data using 4 appropriate mathematical models and statistical analysis, and to propose structures consistent with the data.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

8. Skills-Based Learning Objectives: Students will be able to grow microorganisms in order to purify, characterize, and manipulate small biomolecules, proteins, and DNA.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

9. Skills-Based Learning Objectives: Students will be able to use modern instrumentation to monitor biochemical reactions catalyzed by enzymes and to analyze the resulting data to extract meaningful thermodynamic and kinetic information.

(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.

Department Website URL: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/chem/index.php?c=Biochemistry&s=undergraduate-program
Student Handbook. URL, if available online:
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/chem/index.php?id=28
UHM Catalog. Page Number:
Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/chem/index.php?c=Biochemistry&s=undergraduate-program
Other:
Other:

3) Select one option:

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2014:

4) For your program, the percentage of courses that have course SLOs explicitly stated on the syllabus, a website, or other publicly available document is as follows. Please update as needed.

0%
1-50%
51-80%
81-99%
100%

5) Did your program engage in any program assessment activities between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014? (e.g., establishing/revising outcomes, aligning the curriculum to outcomes, collecting evidence, interpreting evidence, using results, revising the assessment plan, creating surveys or tests, etc.)

Yes
No (skip to question 14)

6) For the period between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the SLOs that were targeted, if applicable.

Gather preliminary baseline data to assess SLOs 1, 2, and 3 over the next 2 years.

7) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #6.

ACS test given to biochemistry students in CHEM 462, the capstone course for the program., and compared these results to national averages.

Exit survey sent to students via email when nearing graduating date

8) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.

5—entire graduating class sampled

9) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected? (Check all that apply.)

Course instructor(s)
Faculty committee
Ad hoc faculty group
Department chairperson
Persons or organization outside the university
Faculty advisor
Advisors (in student support services)
Students (graduate or undergraduate)
Dean/Director
Other:

10) How did they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence? (Check all that apply.)

Used a rubric or scoring guide
Scored exams/tests/quizzes
Used professional judgment (no rubric or scoring guide used)
Compiled survey results
Used qualitative methods on interview, focus group, open-ended response data
External organization/person analyzed data (e.g., external organization administered and scored the nursing licensing exam)
Other:

11) For the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goal(s) stated in Question #6:
Summarize the actual results.

The initial graduating class scored above the national average on the ACS exam. 

Students who responded to the survey feel prepared for the next phase in their career path based on the education they received through the program.

12) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.

We plan to use these results to support the move from a provisional program to a permanent program.  We will also use these results to make changes to the program.

13) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries?
This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, program aspects and so on.

Not at this time.  This is the first year assessment activities were performed for the program.

14) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please explain.
Or, if the program did engage in assessment activities, please add any other important information here.

NA