Unit: Geography and Environment
Program: Geography (PhD)
Degree: Doctorate
Date: Thu Oct 24, 2013 - 1:37:09 pm

1) Below are your program's student learning outcomes (SLOs). Please update as needed.

Our program statement includes the following objectives:

"The PhD is an advanced degree and graduating students are expected to be able to perform according to the standards of professionals in the field. The academic objectives of the degree are rigorous and students are expected to develop the following during their course of study:

* a basic understanding of the discipline of geography as a whole, its relationship with cognate fields, and its contribution to knowledge (this entails a working knowledge of the general literature in geography, familiarity with the structure of the discipline and sub-disciplines, and principal philosophical approaches and concepts);

* a detailed understanding of at least one specialty within the discipline (this entails thorough knowledge of a particular literature, its major works, historical development, main theories and empirical findings);

* an ability to conduct original, independent research of professional quality which requires gaining theoretical and practical knowledge of specific research techniques and demonstrating this knowledge in the conduct of original research;

* an ability to communicate the results of research in both oral and written forms which requires the demonstration of skills in oral presentations and formal papers within the context of graduate coursework (the dissertation ultimately provides evidence of the ability to communicate research);

* a familiarity with and adherence to the codes of practice established for academic study at UHM: Campus Policies (www.catalog.hawaii.edu/about-uh/campus-policies1.htm), Academic Policies (www.catalog.hawaii.edu/grad-ed/academicpolicies.htm), and the Student Code of Conduct (www.hawaii.edu/student/conduct/)."

2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.

Department Website URL: http://www.geography.hawaii.edu/gradOverview.html
Student Handbook. URL, if available online:
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online:
UHM Catalog. Page Number:
Course Syllabi. URL, if available online:
Other: Graduate Division approved program statement
Other:

3) Select one option:

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2013:

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 assessment activities between June 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013? (e.g., establishing/revising outcomes, aligning the curriculum to outcomes, collecting evidence, interpreting evidence, using results, revising the assessment plan, creating surveys or tests, etc.)

Yes
No (skip to question 14)

6) For the period June 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the SLOs that were targeted, if applicable.

SKIP

7) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #6.

8) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.

9) 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:

10) 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:

11) For the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goal(s) stated in Question #6:
Summarize the actual results.

12) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.

13) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries?
This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, program aspects and so on.

14) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please explain.
Or, if the program did engage in assessment activities, please add any other important information here.

We continue to implement our recently established assessment system.