Unit: Chemistry
Program: Biochemistry (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Tue Nov 17, 2020 - 4:42:32 pm

1) Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs)

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 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 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: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/chem/academics/undergraduate/
UHM Catalog. Page Number: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/catalog/schools-colleges/arts-sciences/nat-sci/chem/
Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/chem/course-program/undergraduate/
Other:

3) Please review, add, replace, or delete the existing curriculum map.

Curriculum Map File(s) from 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 SLOs

6) 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.

Placement exam:  we modified the placement exam scoring and required the placement exam for students enrolling in Chem 131 (Prep Chem), which restricted this class to only students that needed additional preparation, allowing the instructor to focus the course content and delivery.

Chem 131:  working with local high schools and with Chem 161 instructors, we determined which essential chemistry and math skills needed to be reviewed to bridge between high school and college chemistry, and we redesigned the course curriculum to focus on those skills.  Analysis of success rates of former 131 students in Chem 161 suggests a 20% improvement in average grade.

Chem 162: we created 4th hour recitations led by undergraduate learning assistants which focused on problem solving skills.  Comparison of sections with and without the recitations shows a roughly 10% improvement in average grade.

Chem 272 and 273: we instituted instructor- and/or TA-led 4th hours that focus on essential critical thinking skills needed for success in organic chemistry. Assessment of the success of these changes is ongoing.

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.

Chem 131/161 analysis:  approximately 150 students who took Chem 131 in Fall 2019 enrolled in Chem 161 in Spring 2020 and their exam and course grades were analyzed and compared to similar data from Fall 2017.  Recently, one instructor has instituted the American Chemical Society first year general chemistry exam as a method to obtain external validation of SLO success.

Chem 162 analysis:  In Spring 2019, two sections of Chem 162 with approximately 200 students in each section were compared to determine the effectiveness of LA-led recitations.  Weexamined exam scores and final grades.  We also conducted surveys of approx. 200 students in LA-led recitations to obtain feedback on ways to improve the student experience in these recitations.

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.

Analysis of exam scores for students who prgressed from Chem 131 into Chem 161 validated the success of our Chem 131 curriculum redesign., with approximately 20% decrease in DFWI among those students in Chem 161.  Anecdotal evidence collected by the course instructor led to incorporation of fundamental math skills refreshers into Chem 131, daramatically improving student performance in 131 and presumably having a carryforward positive effect on 161.

Analysis of exam scores in sections of Chem 162 using LA-led recitations demonstrated a 10% average improvement for students in those sections as compared to prior years that did not use LAs.  We have now expanded the LA-led recitations to all sections of Chem 162.

Administration of the ACS first-year general chemistry exam to one section of Chem 161 resulted in exam scores ~20% above the national average, validating achievement of SLOs 1&3. 

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.

We have continued the use of LA-led recitations in all sections of Chem 162 and continue to monitor student success and to conduct surveys of student satisfaction.  We instituted instructor- and/or TA-led recitations in Chem 272 & 273 and will be collecting data in 2021 to determine the success of these changes.

In 2021, faculty discussed and decided to incorporate in all sections the use of the American Chemical Society general chemistry exams in an effort to improve consistency of instruction across sections with different instructors, and to identify topics that need additional attention in the course design.

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.

The recent forced move to online instruction has led several faculty to experiment with different methods of online instruction and to determine that many students respond well to online instructional tools.  For example, the use of online textbooks with instructional videos allows students to review the course content mutiple times while  working through homework assignments.  We are exploring ways to retain some of the best of these online methods once F2F instruction resumes.

17) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please justify.

N/A