Natural Science Requirement
Assessment Plan
2007-2008 Coordinator of Natural Science Requirement:
Dr. Marianne Robertson, Associate Professor of Biology
Learning Outcome Goals
The learning outcome goals for students taking a natural science course with a lab are that students will able to:
- use logic and the scientific method to analyze the natural world and solve problems;
- analyze issues in science which are important both personally and globally; and
- connect theories and descriptions found in lectures and textbooks with real-world phenomena utilizing appropriate technology in laboratory and field environments.
Snapshot
The assessment report will provide a brief overview of our curricula, facilities, and faculty/staff.
The Learning Story
The report will include a discussion of the different audiences served by the university with respect to this requirement – science majors, non-science majors with an emphasis on science in their education, and the rest of the students, who primarily take science to fulfill graduation requirements, as well as the different kinds of courses which students can take, and some of the experiences they will have in those courses.
Assessment Methods
- A subset of courses will be chosen each year so that every course is assessed once every three years. Faculty from each course will choose a set of artifacts for analysis. These artifacts may be lab books, exams, papers, or whatever the faculty member has chosen to represent student learning for each goal.
- A committee formed from members of the three NS departments will assess the artifacts using rubrics approved by the faculty and make recommendations based on that assessment.
Assessment Data
The report will include the resulting data on each assessment method.
Analysis of Assessment Results
The report will analyze the results from our assessment methods and rate the quality and extent of student learning in the natural science with laboratory MPSL requirement.
Improvement Plans
The annual report will be created by a committee formed by one member of each natural science department and shared with the science faculty as a whole in order to suggest ways to improve the quality of student learning experiences. Discussion and development of improvement plans and initiative will take place in a meeting among natural science faculty focused on previous year’s assessment results. |
