Program: Oceanography (Phd)
Degree: Doctorate
Date: Tue May 29, 2018 - 10:33:14 am
1) Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs)
1. Define, explain and summarize the basic principles of Oceanography, including the basic tenets of the sub-disciplines, and to explain complex phenomena in their own discipline
2. Evaluate the hypotheses, methods, results and conclusion of published scientific literature and apply conclusions to their own work
3. Present and defend their scientific findings in front of public audiences
4. Write a scientific thesis which contributes to the field
5. Comprehensively synthesize, evaluate, and interpret the fundamental knowledge in their subdiscipline and how it relates to the other subdisciplines
6. Independently construct scientific hypotheses and design and carry out research to evaluate them
7. Critically analyze and synthesize the results of their research to derive conclusions which advance the field and are of a quality suitable for publication in the peer-reviewed literature
2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update asneeded.
Department Website URL: www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/SLO-2016-02.pdf Student Handbook. URL, if available online: www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/GradHandbook17.v2.pdf
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online: UHM Catalog. Page Number: Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/courses.html Other: Other: 3) Please review, add, replace, or delete the existing curriculum map.
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) Does the program have learning achievement results for its program SLOs? (Example of achievement results: "80% of students met expectations on SLO 1.")(check one):
No Yes, on some(1-50%) of the program SLOs Yes, on most(51-99%) of the program SLOs Yes, on all(100%) of the program SLOs6) Did your program engage in any program learning assessment activities between June 1, 2015 and October 31, 2018?
Yes No (skip to question 17)7) What best describes the program-level learning assessment activities that took place for the period June 1, 2015 to October 31, 2018? (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) No (skip to question 17) Investigate other pressing issue related to student learning achievement for the program (explain in question 7) Other: 8) Briefly explain the assessment activities that took place.
The Oceanography Curriculum Map wa updated in February 2016.
The Department requires annual Division Symposiums (presentations by the graduate students) that are evauated by the faculty using a form and rubric.
Exit intervews continue to be conducted for every graduate student that graduates from our program.
The Department collects input from Alumni through surveys distributed every other year.
9) What types of evidence did the program use as part of the assessment activities checked in question 7? (Check all that apply.)
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 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 Assessment-related such as assessment plan, SLOs, curriculum map, etc. Program or course materials (syllabi, assignments, requirements, etc.) Other 1: Other 2: 10) State the number of students (or persons) who submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
19 students graduated with PhD in Oceanography during June 2015 through May 2018.
All students gave a formal annual presentation at their respective Division Symposium, and were evauated under a form and rubric.
Alumni were contacted, and 68 completed the survey to get their response regarding the program's success.
11) 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: 12) 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: 13) Summarize the results of the assessment activities checked in question 7. For example, report the percentage of students who achieved each SLO.
All graduating students met all program SLOs, as required by the departmental Degree Requirements.
14) 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: 15) Please briefly describe how the program used the results.
Faculty meetings are held to discuss the results of the graduating students' exit inteviews, as well as the results of the Division Symposiums. A subgroup of the faculty make recommendations on changes to the curriculum in order to improve student and faculty experience.
The Department Chair and the Teaching Evaluation Committee evaluate the cours evaluation responses after every semester to assess the success o suggested improvements for the courses and program itself.
16) 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.
Program SLO assessment at the graduate level has been an integral part of the Department's degree program since its formation, and continues to work well. After assessing the progress toward degree completion, the Department now encourages students to request to waive UH courses that are equivalent to courses they've already completed from other Universities. This has been a change implemented from over four years ago, and the Departmet has yet to assess if this has been improving the progress toward degree completion.