Unit: Physics & Astronomy
Program: Astronomy (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Wed Oct 29, 2014 - 9:06:29 pm

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

1. Apply basic physical principles from a broad range of topics in physics to astronomical situations

(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2b. Conduct research)

2. Be able to formulate scientific problems in mathematical terms and apply analytical and numerical methods towards its solution

(1a. General education, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth, 3d. Civic participation)

3. Develop skills to design observing projects with research telescopes and projects drawing upon data in the literature and in archives

(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research)

4. Establish competence in focused areas of astrophysical theory and experiment

(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2b. Conduct research)

5. Generate fluency in the scientific enterprise and awareness of possible career paths available to the undergraduate astronomy and astrophysics major

(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth, 3d. Civic participation)

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

Department Website URL: manoa.hawaii.edu/astronomy
Student Handbook. URL, if available online:
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online: manoa.hawaii.edu/astronomy
UHM Catalog. Page Number: p. 103
Course Syllabi. URL, if available online:
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.

SKIP

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

The programs were just approved this semester, and there has been no time to assess them.  We have commenced a curriculum mapping exercise with the IfA faculty to fill in the details of our curriculum map and identify how each course contributes to progress in each category.  This will provide a framework for tracking the success of our program.