Program: Biochemistry (BA, BS)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Wed Sep 30, 2015 - 1:59:55 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, 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, 2b. Conduct research, 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.
(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, 2b. Conduct research, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth, 3c. Stewardship of the natural environment)
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.
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth, 3c. Stewardship of the natural environment)
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.
(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, 3c. Stewardship of the natural environment)
2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.
Department Website URL: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/chem/academics/undergraduate/
Student Handbook. URL, if available online: Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online: UHM Catalog. Page Number: http://www.catalog.hawaii.edu/schoolscolleges/arts-sciences/departments/chem.htm Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/chem/course-program/undergraduate/ Other: Other: 3) Please review, add, replace, or delete the existing curriculum map.
- File (03/16/2020)
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 learning assessment activities between June 1, 2014 and September 30, 2015?
Yes No (skip to question 16)6) What best describes the program-level learning assessment activities that took place for the period June 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015? (Check all that apply.)
Create/modify/discuss program learning assessment procedures (e.g., SLOs, curriculum map, mechanism to collect student work, rubric, survey) Collect/evaluate student work/performance to determine SLO achievement Collect/analyze student self-reports of SLO achievement via surveys, interviews, or focus groups Use assessment results to make programmatic decisions (e.g., change course content or pedagogy, design new course, hiring) Investigate curriculum coherence. This includes investigating how well courses address the SLOs, course sequencing and adequacy, the effect of pre-requisites on learning achievement. Investigate other pressing issue related to student learning achievement for the program (explain in question 7) Other: 7) Briefly explain the assessment activities that took place in the last 18 months.
Students in the capstone course, CHEM 462, were administered the American Chemical Society Biochemistry Exam (2012 edition).
Students in the capstone courses, Chem 462 and 463L, completed written NSF-style research proposals and journal-style laboratory reports.
Recent graduates were asked to complete an exit survey 3-6 months after graduation.
Laboratory teaching assistants were consulted regarding the effectiveness of our laboratory course in teaching various modern research skills.
8) What types of evidence did the program use as part of the assessment activities checked in question 6? (Check all that apply.)
Direct evidence of student learning (student work products)
Artistic exhibition/performance Assignment/exam/paper completed as part of regular coursework and used for program-level assessment Capstone work product (e.g., written project or non-thesis paper) Exam created by an external organization (e.g., professional association for licensure) Exit exam created by the program IRB approval of research Oral performance (oral defense, oral presentation, conference presentation) Portfolio of student work Publication or grant proposal Qualifying exam or comprehensive exam for program-level assessment in addition to individual student evaluation (graduate level only) Supervisor or employer evaluation of student performance outside the classroom (internship, clinical, practicum) Thesis or dissertation used for program-level assessment in addition to individual student evaluation Other 1: Other 2: Indirect evidence of student learning
Alumni survey that contains self-reports of SLO achievement Employer meetings/discussions/survey/interview of student SLO achievement Interviews or focus groups that contain self-reports of SLO achievement Student reflective writing assignment (essay, journal entry, self-assessment) on their SLO achievement. Student surveys that contain self-reports of SLO achievement Other 1: Other 2: Program evidence related to learning and assessment
(more applicable when the program focused on the use of results or assessment procedure/tools in this reporting period instead of data collection)
Assessment-related such as assessment plan, SLOs, curriculum map, etc. Program or course materials (syllabi, assignments, requirements, etc.) Other 1: Focus group meeting of prior year laboratory Teaching Assistants to evaluate instructional methods Other 2: 9) State the number of students (or persons) who submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
8 - entire graduating class was sampled
10) 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: 11) 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: 12) Summarize the results of the assessment activities checked in question 6. For example, report the percent of students who achieved each SLO.
The graduating class scored approximately 10% higher than the national average on the ACS Biochemistry Exam.
Student proposals and reports were collected and evaluated for effective communication skills.
Students that responded to exit surveys felt the were well-prepared for the next phase in their career based on the education they received through the program. However, the response rate to exit surveys is very low (<25%).
Teaching assistants were consulted in redesigning the syllabus of the capstone laboratory course to allow students to learn research skills through hands-on training. TAs also urged the purchase of additional equipment so that students themselves could conduct critical experiments, rather than having TAs demonstrate these experiments with students just observing.
13) What best describes how the program used the results? (Check all that apply.)
Assessment procedure changes (SLOs, curriculum map, rubrics, evidence collected, sampling, communications with faculty, etc.) Course changes (course content, pedagogy, courses offered, new course, pre-requisites, requirements) Personnel or resource allocation changes Program policy changes (e.g., admissions requirements, student probation policies, common course evaluation form) Students' out-of-course experience changes (advising, co-curricular experiences, program website, program handbook, brown-bag lunches, workshops) Celebration of student success! Results indicated no action needed because students met expectations Use is pending (typical reasons: insufficient number of students in population, evidence not evaluated or interpreted yet, faculty discussions continue) Other: 14) Please briefly describe how the program used the results.
Standardized exam was used to identify scientific topics not covered in current courses. A plan was discussed to introduce new upper-division courses when sufficient new faculty have been hired to cover those courses.
Data are still being collected regarding the effectiveness of current lecture courses.
The Advance Biochemistry Lab course, CHEM 463L, was restructured such that students are split into 2 groups that work separately under direct TA and Instructor guidance. New equipment was purchased. One additional TA was appointed for this course.
15) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries? This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, and great achievements regarding program assessment in this reporting period.
While data are still being collected, it appears that two issues have been identified through students surveys and discussions:
1. There are currently very few options for major electives within the Chemistry Department. New topical courses need to be introduced that teach modern areas of science. However, there are currently insufficient faculty to teach the existing courses, and so faculty hiring has been identified as a high priority for the department.
2. Students have difficulty choosing major electives and are given guidance only through advising sessions. We will considering organizing "major elective tracks" built around specific educational goals; i.e. medicine, pharmacy, graduate school, etc.