Program: Earth Sciences (BS)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Mon Nov 02, 2020 - 5:46:21 pm
1) Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs)
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.
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.
3. Students use the scientific method to define, critically analyze, and solve a problem in earth science
4. Students can reconstruct, clearly and ethically, geological knowledge in both oral presentations and written reports.
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.
2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.






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.





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):




6) Did your program engage in any program learning assessment activities between November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2020?


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.)






8) Briefly explain the assessment activities that took place since November 2018.
The BS degree program is failing to attract and retain students in sufficient quantity to be healthy and sustainable. The CC is considering revamping the BS curriculum and we need input from the faculty at the outset of this process. In preparation for the faculty meeting on Monday, please answer the following questions using a Likert scale, where 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree and 5 = strongly agree.
The purpose of this poll is 2-fold. First, to assess faculty willingness to contribute to changes in curriculum, and second, to motivate all faculty members to come to our Monday meeting ready to share their ideas.
1. The curriculum is fine as is, we just need to do a better job recruiting.
2. I am willing to develop new course content as part of the effort to revamp our BS program.
3. I have specific ideas about how we could improve the BS curriculum.
4. I have specific ideas about how to improve recruiting.
5. It is OK to let our BS die and only offer a BA degree.
6. Please provide any comments you want to share about our curriculum and the prospect of changing it.
9) What types of evidence did the program use as part of the assessment activities checked in question 7? (Check all that apply.)





















10) State the number of students (or persons) who submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
11) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected? (Check all that apply.)










12) How did they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence? (Check all that apply.)







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.
Fifteen (71%) of the faculty participated in the survey. Curriculum Committee member Ravizza discussed results in detail with the CC chair. The average numerical score and single-term qualitative descriptor (where values 1 - 2.30 connote disagreement; 2.31 - 3.70 neutrality; and 3.71 - 5 agreement) for the Likert-type questions are:
1. The curriculum is fine as is, we just need to do a better job recruiting. 2.2 disagreement
2. I am willing to develop new course content as part of the effort to revamp our BS program. 4.1 agreement
3. I have specific ideas about how we could improve the BS curriculum. 3.8 agreement
4. I have specific ideas about how to improve recruiting. 3.5 neutrality
5. It is OK to let our BS die and only offer a BA degree. 1.5 disagreement
The open-ended question #6 yielded a variety of responses and several specific recommendations. Highlights: develop tracks, especially in environmental science, volcanology, and planetary science; build-in research engagement; hire an academic program coordinator.
Ravizza conducted a follow-up survey of the two faculty respondents, not serving on the CC, who indicated 4 or 5 (i.e., a high degree of willingness) on the question 3. These faculty participate from the HIGP group and indicated interest in developing new courses and links to programs outside UHM.
14) What best describes how the program used the results? (Check all that apply.)









15) Please briefly describe how the program used its findings/results.
Faculty indicating interest in creating specific courses or making other programmatic contributions will be contacted.