Program: Geology & Geophysics (BS, BA Geology)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Thu Oct 08, 2015 - 1:27:49 pm
1) Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs) and Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
1. Students can explain the relevance of geology and geophysics to human needs, including those appropriate to Hawaii, and be able to discuss issues related to geology and its impact on society and planet Earth.
(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 1c. Understand Hawaiian culture and history, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth, 3b. Respect for people and cultures, in particular Hawaiian culture, 3c. Stewardship of the natural environment)
2. Students can apply technical knowledge of relevant knowledge base, theory, laboratory methods, field methods, computer applications and the supporting disciplines (math, physics, chemistry, biology) to solve real-world problems in geology and geophysics.
(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth, 3b. Respect for people and cultures, in particular Hawaiian culture, 3c. Stewardship of the natural environment)
3. Students use the scientific method to define, critically analyze, and solve a problem in earth science
(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)
4. Students can reconstruct, clearly and ethically, geological knowledge in both oral presentations and written reports.
(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, 3b. Respect for people and cultures, in particular Hawaiian culture)
5. Students can evaluate, interpret, and summarize the basic principles of geology and geophysics, including the fundamental tenets of the sub-disciplines, and their context in relationship to other core sciences, to explain complex phenomena in geology and geophysics.
(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)
2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.
Department Website URL: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/resources/docs/gg-undergrad-SLO_Master_Checklist_Final.pdf Student Handbook. URL, if available online: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/resources/docs/Undergrad_Survival_Guide.pdf Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/resources/docs/gg-undergrad-SLO_Master_Checklist_Final.pdf
UHM Catalog. Page Number: Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: Course syllabi for Fall 2015 are listed: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/academics/gg_syllabi.html Other: A web link to all course syllabi exists: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/academics/gg_syllabi.html Other: Our BA program has been revised, and its SLOs might need to be revised. This is under discussion now.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: Our assessment coordinator (Stephen Martel) attended the August assessment workshop. We have revamped our BA program to try to differentiate it more from our BS program and to try to increase our undergraduate enrollment.7) Briefly explain the assessment activities that took place in the last 18 months.
1 Our assessment coordinator attended the August assessment workshop.
2 We have revamped our BA program to try to differentiate it more from our BS program and to try to increase our undergraduate enrollment.
3 We have collected data from four required classes in Spring 2014 and have analyzed some of it.
4 At least two of our classes (GG303 and GG413) have collected data on how well students have retained key information from pre-requisite courses.
5 Our assessment coordinator has hosted two meetings this fall on assessment matters with colleagues from other departments.
6 The department has been briefed on the status of our assessment efforts.
7 The WASC assessment rubric has been circulated to all members of the department to aid them in developing rubrics for assessment of courses.
8 The department has set a goal of getting useful assessment data from all required Fall term courses by the end of this term.
9 Our assessment coordinator is working with the 2015-2016 curriculum committee to re-evaluate the curriculum map for our BA and BS programs.
10 Many more of our courses (>80%) now include SLOs in the course syllabi posted on the department web site.
11 The information on the status of our assessment activities is much better organized.
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: Number of students pursuing the BA degree. 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: Shortcomings in the assessment data collected in the spring term have resulted in a change in the type of data to be collected this fall. Other 2: 9) State the number of students (or persons) who submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
Data have been collected from four required courses for assessment purposes. The faculty members who collected the data have examined the data and submitted the data to the assessment coordinator. The data came from all or nearly all the students in these classes, so the sampling rate of the students was of 100% or close to it.
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: The assessment coordinator for the department.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.
1 We have revamped our BA program to try to differentiate it more from our BS program and to try to increase our undergraduate enrollment.
2 We have collected data from four required classes in Spring 2014 and have analyzed some of it.
3 The department has set a goal of getting useful assessment data from all required Fall term courses by the end of this term.
4 We are re-evaluating the curriculum map for our BA and BS programs.
5 Many more of our courses (>80%) now include SLOs in the course syllabi posted on the department web site.
6 The information on the status of our assessment activities is much better organized, and we have preliminary plans for how to organize it better.
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: In part because of assessment results, the BA program has been completely redesigned. In one course, the instructor has opened up a study session for the students.14) Please briefly describe how the program used the results.
The department has revamped our BA program to try to differentiate it more from our BS program and to try to increase our undergraduate enrollment.
Our assessment coordinator is recommending changes in the assessment data that we will collect in the Fall term of 2015 based on the kind of data collected in the Spring term of 2015.
Our curriculum committee is coordinating efforts with our assessment coordinator.
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.
The department has conducted assessment activities for many years, but they have been funneled primarily to the department chair. The department needs to develop routine procedures to make this information more readily available to the faculty as a whole, including our assessment coordinator. This could be as simple as posting material to Google docs initially, but might be better pursued eventually by posting much of the material on the department web site. The department's assessment coordinator is also recommending some new ways to collect data on the SLOs that would provide for a broader evaluation of how well the SLOs are being met (e.g., using multiple labs or multiple assignment rather than single questions or single assignments).
16) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please explain.
The program did engage in assessment activities.