Program: Astrophysics (BS)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Fri Nov 20, 2020 - 10:57:26 am
1) Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs)
1. Apply basic physical principles to astronomical situations
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research)
2. Formulate scientific problems in mathematical terms and find solutions.
(1a. General education, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth, 3c. Stewardship of the natural environment)
3. Design research projects using professional telescopes, archival data, or numerical simulations.
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research)
4. Establish competence in focused areas of astrophysics.
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2b. Conduct research)
5. Value science as a way to illuminate our place in the universe.
(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, 3c. Stewardship of the natural environment, 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/learning-objectives/ UHM Catalog. Page Number: Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: Other: 3) Please review, add, replace, or delete the existing curriculum map.
- File (11/20/2020)
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) 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 November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2020?
Yes No (skip to question 17)7) What best describes the program-level learning assessment activities that took place for the period November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2020? (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 other pressing issue related to student learning achievement for the program (explain in question 8) Other: 8) Briefly explain the assessment activities that took place since November 2018.
1. Evaluated student performance in capstone project (ASTR 399/494).
2. The faculty teaching ASTR 300, 300L, 301 and 242 met regularly to improve the alignment of these three semesters of core ASTR course work. The ASTR 300 and 300L schedules were adjusted to better synchronize the course content. Specific content in all 4 courses was adjusted to allow learning achievements to flow from one level to the next.
3. Course content in 300/300L was revised to reinforce topics discussed in 242.
4. Faculty in these core courses identified specific competencies where students had a diversity of success, and implemented interventions to equalize student outcomes .
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: Student outcome in grad school applications Other 2: 10) State the number of students (or persons) who submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
Approximately 30 students completing upper-level courses.
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 from the evaluation, analysis, interpretation of evidence (checked in question 12). For example, report the percentage of students who achieved each SLO.
By looking at the results of exams, we decided that students were not effectively learning topics which needed to be reinforced. Student exit interviews supported this conclusion. We therefore reviewed the content of ASTR 242, 300, 300L, and 301 to better emphasize key topics.
We also examined discrepancies in performance between BA and BS students.
We created and provided computing resources for students who were lacking appropriate hardware/software.
We implemented pre-tests at the start of core courses to identify topics in need of additional reinforcement and individual students in need of additional assistance or remediation.
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 its findings/results.
Please see #13.
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.
Concluded that we need to do a better job of including the SLOs in individual class syllabi. We are now taking steps to do so.
We clearly need better mechanisms to teach necessary programming skills. We are reviewing options for aligning the programming elements of our courses.