Unit: Geography and Environment
Program: Geography (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Tue Oct 29, 2013 - 2:21:25 pm

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

Human Geography Stream 

1a) students will be able to explain and critically evaluate the complex relationship between the environment, society, and culture
1b) students will be able to explain and critically evaluate how economic, political, and cultural processes at different scales are reshaping human experiences globally
1c) student will be able to apply appropriate analytic methods to describe spatial patterns and associations in the human environment
Environmental Geography Stream
2a) students will be able to explain the basic operation of environmental systems (biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere)
2b) students will be able to describe how human activities can influence the functioning of basic environmental systems
2c) students will be able to apply appropriate analytical methods and techniques to describe spatial patterns and change in the physical environment
Geographic Technologies Stream  
3a) students will be able to identify the specific characteristics of spatial data sources
3b) students will be able to apply appropriate techniques to display spatial patterns and change in the human and physical environment
3c) students will be able to produce maps in a professional manner

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

Department Website URL: http://www.geography.hawaii.edu/undergradOverview.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:
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.

All undergraduate majors in the Department of Geography are required to complete the GEOG 493 Capstone Undergraduate Seminar. This capstone seminar represents our most important assessment tool and includes both a broad evaluation of student learning through the submission of written and oral products; and feedback from students on their satisfaction with the overall Geography BA program. Assessment of departmental SLO focuses on the following questions:

1.     do students have an in-depth knowledge of complex relationships between environment, society, and culture?,

2.     do students understand the functioning and behavior of Earth systems and how humans influence these systems?,

3.     can students apply a range of analytical methods to studying geospatial phenomena? 

The instructor for the 2013 undergraduate capstone course is currently on sick leave and the UG Chair is on sabbatical, so we intend to assess capstone results for both 2013 and 2014 at the completion of the next capstone undergraduate seminar scheduled for the spring 2014 semester.