Overview of Assessment Activities for B.A. and B.S. Programs



2018-2019 Annual Program Assessment Report GuidePlease submit report to your department chair or program coordinator, the Associate Dean of your College, and to james.solomon@csun.edu, Director of the Office of Academic Assessment and Program Review, by September 30, 2019. You may, but are not required to, submit a separate report for each program, including graduate degree programs, which conducted assessment activities, or you may combine programs in a single report. Please include this form with your report in the same file and identify your department/program in the file name.College: Science and MathematicsDepartment: BiologyProgram: B.A., B. S., M.S.Assessment liaison: Cheryl HoguePlease check off whichever is applicable:A. ___x_____ Measured student work within program major/options.B. _____x___ Analyzed results of measurement within program major/options.C. ________ Applied results of analysis to program review/curriculum/review/revision major/options.D. _________ Focused exclusively on the direct assessment measurement of General Education Arts and Humanities student learning outcomes Overview of Annual Assessment Project(s). On a separate sheet, provide a brief overview of this year’s assessment activities, including:an explanation for why your department chose the assessment activities (measurement, analysis, application, or GE assessment) that it enactedif your department implemented assessment option A, identify which program SLOs were assessed (please identify the SLOs in full), in which classes and/or contexts, what assessment instruments were used and the methodology employed, the resulting scores, and the relation between this year’s measure of student work and that of past years: (include as an appendix any and all relevant materials that you wish to include)if your department implemented assessment option B, identify what conclusions were drawn from the analysis of measured results, what changes to the program were planned in response, and the relation between this year’s analyses and past and future assessment activitiesif your department implemented option C, identify the program modifications that were adopted, and the relation between program modifications and past and future assessment activitiesif your program implemented option D, exclusively or simultaneously with options A, B, and/or C, identify the basic skill(s) assessed and the precise learning outcomes assessed, the assessment instruments and methodology employed, and the resulting scoresin what way(s) your assessment activities may reflect the university’s commitment to diversity in all its dimensions but especially with respect to underrepresented groupsany other assessment-related information you wish to include, including SLO revision (especially to ensure continuing alignment between program course offerings and both program and university student learning outcomes), and/or the creation and modification of new assessment instruments3. Preview of planned assessment activities for 2019-20. Include a brief description as reflective of a continuous program of ongoing assessment.Overview of Assessment Activities for B.A. and B.S. ProgramsThe Biology Department is committed to providing a learning environment where all students can thrive. We value the role assessment plays in continually enhancing and improving the success of our students. This assessment reporting period we measured student work and analyzed the results for academic years 2017-18 and 2018-19. We assessed student learning outcomes (SLO) in five core classes, a 300-level microbiology course, and an upper division elective course. The assessment tool used was multiple choice questions that are usually embedded in a final exam. These questions are often administered on Canvas. Core Curriculum Action Groups (CCAG), consisting of faculty that often teach our core classes, developed assessment questions that are used in BIOL 106 (Biological Principles I), BIOL 107 (Biological Principles II), BIOL 322 (Evolutionary Biology), BIOL 360 (Genetics), and BIOL 380 (Cell Biology). Our current performance goal for students on assessment questions is a score of 60% correct or better. The Microbiology area faculty used multiple choice questions in BIOL 315 (Principles of Microbiology), an important prerequisite for many of the 400-level courses offered in the microbiology option of the B. S. BIOL 468 (Human Genetics) is an upper division elective course and faculty that teach this course also use a set of multiple choice questions for assessment.Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) The four SLOs assessed during academic years 2017-18 and 2018-19 are:SLO 1: Students can demonstrate knowledge of: a) the structure and metabolism of cells, b) the transmission and expression of genetic information, and c) the immediate and long term (evolutionary) consequences of interactions between organisms and their environment. The core classes were used to assess SLO1.SLO 2: Students can demonstrate specialized knowledge in one or more disciplines of Biology. BIOL 315, 360, and 468 were used to assess SLO2.SLO 3: Students are aware of and/or capable of using new and existing methods and technologies in these disciplines. BIOL 315, 360, 380, and 468 were used to assess SLO3.SLO 4: Students must demonstrate critical thinking in applying the methods of a scientific inquiry, including observation, hypothesis testing, data collection and analysis.BIOL 380 was used to assess SLO4.Core Classes That Measured Student Work1. BIOL 106 BIOL 106/L and BIOL 107/L are prerequisites for many upper divisions courses that our Biology majors take. A grade of “C” or better is needed in these lower division courses for students to progress in the program. It is imperative that students have a good foundation in the material covered to continue in the upper division core courses, i.e., BIOL 322, 360, and 380. A total of 270 students participated in assessment in BIOL 106 in 2017-18 and 554 students were assessed in 2018-19. A total of 10 assessment questions were embedded in the final exam. Many of these questions deal with part c of SLO1—students can demonstrate knowledge of the immediate and long term (evolutionary) consequences of interactions between organisms and their environment.Results of assessment of SLO 1 in BIOL 106The mean percent correct for assessment of SLO1 was highest (70%) in BIOL 106 during 2017-18. Performance on individual questions varied with students consistently scoring higher on questions 1, 8, 9, and 10 in both academic years. Performance on questions 2, 4, and 6 fell below 60% correct in 2018-19 and questions 5 and 7 were below 60% correct for both academic years sampled. Question 5 has partial credit built into it, but the percentage of students who received the maximum points on this question was low, as it has been in past years. This question will be revised in the next assessment of BIOL 106. 2. BIOL 107A total of 419 students were assessed in BIOL 107 in 2017-18 and 279 students in 2018-19. A total of 20 assessment questions were embedded in the final exam.Results of assessment of SLO 1 in BIOL 107The mean percent correct for assessment of SLO1 in 2017-18 and 2018-19 was 61% and 60%, respectively. This has varied little from the results presented in the last assessment report. Question 14 continues to be one that students in the course perform poorly on and it covers part b of SLO1—students can demonstrate knowledge of the transmission and expression of genetic information. Students continue to perform best on questions 8, 9, and 17 that cover cellular structure and the transmission of genetic information.3. BIOL 322A total of 312 students participated in assessment in 2017-18 and 179 students in 2018-19 in evolutionary biology. A total of 10 assessment questions were embedded in the final exam. Pre- and post-assessment testing was done in three sections of BIOL 322 over three semesters. The pre-test was administered the first week of the class and the post-test was part of the final exam.Results of assessment of SLO 1 in BIOL 322The mean percent correct for assessment of SLO1 was 62% in 2017-18 and increased to 65% in 2018-19. In 2018-19 over 70% of the students correctly answered more than half of the assessment questions. Students did not do well on questions 1, 3, and 7 and these may need to be reviewed by the CCAG for BIOL 322.Pre- and Post-Testing assessment was done in BIOL 315 in our last assessment report. This type of testing helps the instructor to track student learning. It assists in identifying early on areas where students need more instruction. This reporting period pre- and post-tests of assessment questions were administered in three sections of BIOL 322 over three semesters, fall 2017 (n= 59 for pre-test, n=51 for post-test), spring 2018 (n=36 for pre-test, n=37 for post-test) and spring 2019 (n=59 for pre-test and n=58 for post-test). The mean score on 10 multiple choice questions was 3.81 for the pre-test and 7.40 for the post-test in fall 2017. In spring 2018 the mean score on the pre-test was again 3.81 and 7.24 on the post-test. The mean pre-test score increased slightly in spring 2019 to 3.90 and post-test score decreased to 6.95. These results in comparison to the yearly trends presented earlier show how students can improve on the post-test, and in some cases score much higher e.g., for question 3 students achieved 80% correct on the post-test. However, percent correct on questions 1 and 7 was still low on the post-test. Pre- and Post-assessment tests are another tool we can use to help us improve student success in our classes. We have also found that the PLF (Peer Learning Facilitator) Program can assist student learning affording students more opportunities to cover course material. The Department offers PLF sessions for each of our core classes. A preliminary analysis of students who consistently participated in PLF sessions compared to those who did not attend or did so intermittently spring 2019 in one section of BIOL 322 revealed that the PLF students had a higher mean score on the 10 assessment questions, 7.13 (n=45) compared to the other group with a mean score of 6.31 (n=13). We encourage more faculty to do pre- and post-testing in BIOL 322.4. BIOL 360The number of students that were assessed in BIOL 360 from spring 2018 to spring 2019 was less than in previous years. Three sections of genetics were assessed over the past two years, specifically in spring 2018 (n=115), fall 2018 (n=61), and spring 2019 (n=60). A total of 20 assessment questions were embedded in the final exam.Results of assessment of SLOs 1, 2, & 3 in BIOL 360Mean percent correct for assessment of SLOs 1, 2 & 3 was highest in fall 2018, 78%, compared to 65% in spring 2018 and 61.4% in spring 2019. Student performance on questions 6, 9 and 10 are still low. Student scores on question 12 improved compared to results from previous years.5. BIOL 380In 2017-18 a total of 317 students participated in assessment in BIOL 380 and 290 students were assessed in 2018-19. A total of 20 assessment questions were embedded in the final exam.Results of assessment of SLOs 1, 3, & 4 in BIOL 380As in previous years, assessment of SLOs 1, 3, and 4 in BIOL 380 greatly exceeded the 60% benchmark. For the past two years mean percent correct on assessment questions in this course was over 80% compared to 75% in 2016-17. Only question 9 (that covers part a of SLO1) continues to result in lower scores, although for 2017-18 and 2018-19 the mean percent correct on this question increased to over 45% compared to a little over 30% of students achieving the correct answer in past years.Other Courses That Measured Student Work1. BIOL 315Pre- and post-assessment tests were done in BIOL 315. This is a high enrollment course in the microbiology option of the B. S. program and we present data in this report for two sections of the course, one section taught in fall 2017 (n=117 for both pre-test and post-test) and spring 2019 (n= 123 for pre-test, n=114 for post-test). BIOL 315 is a prerequisite for several 400-level course in the microbiology option including Applied Microbiology, Medical Microbiology, Microbial Physiology, Bacterial Diversity, Microbial Ecology, Biology of Fungi, Bacterial Genetics, and Mechanisms of Bacterial Pathogenesis. The pre-test was given the first week of class and the post-test was part of the final exam. A total of 11 questions were used for assessment of SLOs.Results of assessment of SLOs 2 & 3 in BIOL 315Mean percent correct for pre- and post-tests fall 2017 were 47.3% and 74.9%, respectively. In spring 2019, the mean percent correct on the pre- and post-test were 37.4% and 63.2%, respectively. In both semesters performance on post-assessment showed students improved on almost every question, and in some cases the differences between pre-test and post-test scores were large (e.g., in fall 2017 the greatest percent change in correct answers was seen for question 11, almost 44%). Question 5 was changed on the post-test in fall 2017 and this may be why only a 4.3% change was seen in student performance on this question between pre- and post-tests.2. BIOL 468In fall 2018 a total of 40 students were given 10 multiple choice questions to assess SLOs 1, 2, and 3. The mean percent correct on these questions was 57%. This is the first assessment we have reported in this course and assessment questions will be revisited.Assessment Activities for M. S. ProgramAssessment of our graduate program in biology focuses on the graduate student’s thesis research project. Performance on the thesis research project is used to assess student learning outcomes for the Biology M. S. graduate program.Student Leaning Outcomes (SLO)The biology graduate program has four SLOs:SLO 1: Students can demonstrate specialized knowledge in one of more disciplines of Biology.SLO 2: Students are aware of and/or capable of using new and existing methods and technologies.SLO 3: Students can demonstrate facility in applying the methods of scientific inquiry, including observation, hypothesis testing, data collection, and analysis.SLO 4: Students can demonstrate professional level oral and written communication skills within a discipline of Biology.Activities That Measured Student Work1. Thesis Research ProjectWe analyzed assessment data over the past few years that examines how students perform early in their graduate program, the thesis proposal stage, and late in the program, the thesis evaluation (or thesis defense stage). An external reviewer (in a different area of the department than the graduate student’s thesis advisor) is present at the student’s thesis defense and also scores the student’s performance on their research project. The rubric used to measure the student performance at each stage of the thesis includes: time to completion of the thesis proposal or thesis defense, scientific merit of the research project, methodology, writing skills, presentation skills, the quality of the research, and the student’s prospects or likelihood to have a career in the biological sciences. These areas of the rubric are ranked on a scale of “1” to “5”. The specific rankings are as follows: “1”, very deficient; “2”, somewhat deficient; “3”, acceptable; “4”, very good; and “5”, outstanding.The mean score on the thesis proposal was 3.67 (ranging from 3.4 for time to complete this activity to 3.94 for scientific merit, n=54). The mean score for the thesis evaluation was 3.97 (ranging from 3.33 for time to complete thesis to 4.43 for prospects, n=49). The mean score for the external review was 3.90 (ranging from 3.1 for time to complete the thesis to 4.4 for prospects, n=36). In the categories of scientific merit, knowledge, methodology, writing skills, presentation skills and quality of research, scores at the thesis evaluation/defense stage increased. The completion and successful defense of the thesis is a culminating experience in the graduate program. Overall, our graduate students are doing very well. The thesis proposal stage provides students with critical and helpful feedback on research questions and study design, and has led to successful completion of the students’ graduate program. 2. 500-level coursesOne of the courses that graduate students can take to fulfill their required coursework is BIOL 502, Biometry. This course was used to assess SLO4 of the graduate program. In Fall 2018 this course was assessed using 22 questions. Mean percent correct was 85.3 and indicates that most graduate students are mastering the concepts in this course. Future Assessment ActivitiesFuture activities to assess our undergraduate programs will continue to include our core courses as well as BIOL 315. We will continue to identify upper division Biology courses that can be used to assess SLO4 and SLO 5 (ability to engage the biology literature and to communicate scientific information verbally and/or in writing) and encourage faculty that teach these courses to do assessment of SLO4 and SLO5. Pre- and post-testing assessment will be encouraged in more sections of BIOL 322. ................
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