Bakersfield II. Summary of Program Review, Assessment Findings, And
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Reported to the CSU Board of Trustees for the March 2014 Annual Academic Update Bakersfield II. Summary of program review, assessment findings, and improvement actions Biology BS/MS In response to student demand and changing market conditions, the Department of Biology added a concentration in Biotechnology and developed a pilot program for a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Human Biological Sciences. The department elected to discontinue the concentration in Agricultural Biology and redirected its resources to its Master of Science Degree in Biology. The department faculty have a clear vision of themselves as “teacher-scholars” which is evidenced in their numerous grant and publication activities, student mentoring, and professional development for junior faculty. The department of Biology has assessed and documented some portion or component of the 8 student learning outcomes (SLOs) for the BS in Biology. In the 2010-11 AY the department focused on examining students understanding of the scientific method. Biology majors in all majors level courses offered in the Spring of 2011 were given the same 5 questions in a "pre-test" exam on the first day of class related to the application of the scientific method. Our target pass rate was 70% for each of the five questions asked at the 400-level. In addition we expected to see significant improvement from 200- to 300- to 400- level courses. We met the target of a 70% pass rate at the 400-level for all questions we included in the assessment. We also met the target for improvement from 200 level to 300 level to 400 level for all of the questions assessed. We were encouraged by the results that our students are demonstrating improvement through the different levels of course offerings and mastery at the 400-level with their understanding of the scientific method. Our plan is to continue current effective teaching of the scientific method but to improve the clarity of the assessment mechanism. The 2011-12 and 2012-13 AY focused on two components: the department assessed students ability to interpret data and present results (2011-12) and their ability to write a proper discussion section in a written report (2012-13). In 2011-12 the results section from lab reports from all majors level courses (with a required lab report) taught in the Fall of 2011 were collected from the students, distributed to all faculty and assessed to determine if students can follow the proper format presented in the Department of Biology document: How to Write a research Report. Tenured/tenure-track faculty each received (at random) 2 200- level, 2 300-level and 2 400-level research reports written by students in Biology majors courses. Each faculty member evaluated the results section of each of the reports they were given using a common rubric. Students were assessed on 4 basic skills required in the results section of a research report (1. organizing data into tables; 2. organizing data into figures; 3. use of appropriate statistical tools; 4. quality of writing.). For skill 1, we observed little change from 200 to 400 level courses. However for skills 2, 3, and 4, there was improvement from 200 to 300 to 400 level courses. For skills 2, 3, and 4 CSUB Biology students are demonstrating improvement as they advance from 200 to 400 level courses. This Reported to the CSU Board of Trustees for the March 2014 Annual Academic Update demonstrates that the curriculum is designed in a way to meet its SLOs. We do however note that although students are earning an average score with respect to skill 1, as a group the department would like to see this score improve from 200 to 400 level students. The department plans to revisit its guidelines on writing research reports, specifically focusing on the portion dealing with organizing data into tables. In 2012-13 lab reports were assessed using a common rubric to determine students’ ability to interpret results by writing a discussion section that explains their results in the context of published scientific literature. Mean scores for each class level were examined and compared to determine if there was improvement in students’ ability to write a proper discussion section as they progressed through the program. The department determined that certain skills students were improving while others were not. After careful discussion the department determined that the nature of the assignment in advanced courses did not lend itself to demonstrating improvement. The department concludes that it needs to revisit/update its guideline for writing research reports and fine tune its assessment tool. In the current academic year (2013-14) the department has developed its own multiple choice exam that represents the key concepts to be learned in the lower division curriculum. The exam will be taken by students in Biology 301, which is required by all Biology majors, and serves as a pre-requisite to the upper division elective courses. The department will utilize this exam to determine if our lower division courses are providing the foundation in biology for our students to progress to more specialized courses. The exam will be divided into separate subject matter areas to allow us to identify areas of strength and weakness depending on student results. Economics BA/BS The Economics Department houses CSUB’s Environmental Resource Management program which also includes a concentration in Occupational Safety that was developed in collaboration with the Bakersfield Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers and local oil industry professionals. This concentration is also available to Chemistry students and is funded by an endowment by Aera Energy. The department also hosts the flagship program, Enterprise College: Economics for Future Leaders, which is a summer-enrichment course for high school seniors. After completing the course, students can earn credit for an introductory college-level Economics course, The Economic Way of Thinking (Econ 100), and the required senior-year Economics course from the local High School District. In addition to teaching principles of economics, the course draws upon the expertise of several community members who offer leadership lessons for success in an economic environment. Communication Skills. Written communication was assessed several times and micro-level adjustments within course assignments were implemented. While the 2011-2012 Senior Seminar class met program writing expectations, the faculty are Reported to the CSU Board of Trustees for the March 2014 Annual Academic Update committed to continued reinforcement of this skill. Oral presentations of the 2011-2012 senior class fell short of the program benchmark. Pedagogical responses have focused on three issues: • What type of writing should be reinforced in the major? What is the proper mix between concise (five pages or less) technical assignments and more lengthy academic research papers? The department is changing requirements in the senior capstone course from a single, large academic research paper to a series of concisely written shorter papers addressing different program learning objectives. • To improve oral presentation skills, we have committed to requiring more presentations (with feedback) throughout the upper division major. To cope with increasing class sizes, development of Power Point presentations is required in several of the larger classes, with presentations occurring in the smaller classes. • Recently, CSUB acquired an institutional site license for My Writing Lab that enables reinforcement of writing skills to be integrated into any course (e.g., by allotting a modest number of homework points to completing and passing several My Writing Lab modules). According to the GWAR administrative coordinator, pass rates on the GWAR exam have been improving and it is possible this is due to integration across the curriculum of My Writing Lab. We are exploring if it is feasible to integrate My Writing Lab into the major, and if so, where and how. Quantitative Skills. Attaining the Department's vision to be recognized in Kern County as the quality provider of graduates with intellectual breadth, a good work ethic, and data-driven analyst skills rests to a large extent on our graduates attaining quantitative skills. The required econometrics course for the major enables majors to meet quantitative program objectives relating to statistics and econometric modeling. However, students did not meet expectations relating to the non-statistical areas (e.g., modeling and problem solving with basic functional forms; accurate calculations, including simple calculations involving percentage and growth rate calculations; using differential calculus as a tool for modeling rate of change and optimization problems). We learned from indirect, formative assessment (i.e., frequent discussions with employers) that spreadsheet skills of graduates fall below employer expectations for the types of positions appropriate for an economics graduate. Improvements include: • Developing a new course, Econ 220 (Quantitative Tools for Economists) in order to teach the non-statistical math skills in-house. The department maintains two running dialogues -- one between course instructors and students involving how and where the topics being covered will show up in subsequent courses; the other among program faculty and course instructors regarding topics and concepts needing reinforcement. • The department created a new course, Econ 210 (Analyzing Economic Data) to ensure majors have intermediate-level spreadsheet