Summary of Program Assessment – AY 2002/03

Program of_Biology

Program – Initiated Goal or Objective	Where, When, and How Monitored	Expectation for Satisfactory Performance	Observations of Student Performance	When and By Whom Were Results Analyzed?	Outcome of Analysis	Dept. or Program Follow-up
Students will have a knowledge base in biology which compares favorably with freshmen of other such programs throughout the nation.	After completing the freshmen year biology sequence (BIOL106,107)	75% of majors will meet or exceed overall class average score on selected subarea question subsets. 4 subareas assessed.	How many students ______exceeded ___*__met ___*__did not meet expectations ______exempted __54__TOTAL	Dept. meeting date or Individual analysis (describe)? Memo to Biology Faculty July 28, 2003 from Dr. Hunter	Objective wholly satisfied ý Objective not wholly satisfied. Follow-up strategy is: 3 or 4 subareas met goal, one did not – increased emphasis on molecular biology	None required Follow-up completed on date___________ ýWill re-examine by date__June 2004___
Students will be able to apply the scientific method to address a question in biology.	Senior year Organismal Physiology lab report collected near the end of the semester. Rubric scored (panel) lab report after convergence exercise	75% of seniors will score at a level of 3 or higher on the rubric.	How many students ______exceeded __14__met __19__did not meet expectations ______exempted __33____TOTAL	Dept. meeting date or Individual analysis (describe)? Presented in assessment poster	Objective wholly satisfied ý Objective not wholly satisfied. Follow-up strategy is: W.E. designation in BIOL107 – greater emphasis in upper level classes on writing style	None required Follow-up completed on date___________ ý Will re-examine by date__June 2004
Freshman Lab skills developed in each sub-area for areas tested.	End of semester laboratory practical examination both fall and spring	75% of majors will score 70+% in each skill area.	How many students ______exceeded __**___met __**__did not meet expectations ______exempted __58____TOTAL	Dept. meeting date or Individual analysis (describe)? Hunter analysis e-mailed in October 21, 2003. Presented in assessment poster	Objective wholly satisfied ý Objective not wholly satisfied. Follow-up strategy is: Objective met in 3 of 4 areas. Continue lab repetitions.	None required Follow-up completed on date___________ ýWill re-examine by date__June 2004

Other observations? Unexpected findings? Overall what changes/improvements are planned as a result of the assessments shown in the table?

Data for four knowledge areas are *Genetics: 48 students met, 6 did not meet; Molecular Biology: 38 students met, 16 did not meet; Evolution: 42 students met, 12 did not meet; Biology: 41 students met, 13 did not meet)

Data for the four sub-areas in lab skills are **Skill 1: research (39 students met, 19 did not meet); Skill 2: microscope use (45 students met, 13 students did not meet); Skill 3: instrumentation (44 students met, 14 did not meet); Skill 4: graphing (50 students met, 8 did not meet).

Program changes include greater writing emphasis in all labs, implementation of writing in other level classes (sophomore, junior, senior). Skill enhancements will be made by more repetitions in labs, labs will be redesigned to include more practice, particularly in the research protocol area which is the weakest area.