Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Department of Division of Biological Sciences
Academic Year 2014-15 Assessment Report
All areas shaded in gray are to be completed by the department/program.
MISSION STATEMENT
The Division of Biological Sciences delivers high-quality academic programs in the biological sciences. The Division educates students at all levels from
the baccalaureate to the doctoral, so that they develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to succeed as professional biologists and as citizens in a
rapidly changing world. We foster strong research programs that create new knowledge, understanding, and approaches in biology. These programs
enhance the learning environment for students by involving them directly in mentored research and provide solutions that benefit the university, state,
region, nation, and the world.
DEPARTMENT OBJECTIVES and ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC ISSUES
1. Delivery of high-quality academic programs in the biological sciences (Partnering for Student Success, Education for the Global Century, Dynamic
Learning Environment) – see portion of self-study (“DBS Alignment with UM strategic plan.docx”), attached
2. Prepare students to succeed as professional biologists and citizens (Partnering for Student Success, Discovery and Creativity to Serve Montana and
the World, Planning-Assessment Continuum) – see portion of self-study (“DBS Alignment with UM strategic plan.docx”), attached
3. Fostering strong research programs that create new knowledge, understanding and approaches in biology (Education for the Global Century,
Discovery and Creativity to Serve Montana and the World, Dynamic Learning Environment) – see portion of self-study (“DBS Alignment with UM strategic
plan.docx”), attached
4. Providing solutions to benefit the university, state, region, nation, and the world (Education for the Global Century, Discovery and Creativity to Serve
Montana and the World) – see portion of self-study (“DBS Alignment with UM strategic plan.docx”), attached
1
5.
STUDENT LEARNING GOALS AND MEASUREMENT TOOLS
<Measurement
Tool>
1. Have a fundamental knowledge and conceptual
understanding of biology (including proximal,
ultimate, and applied levels)
2. Integrate knowledge and concepts across
biological sub-disciplines and cognates
3. Learn skills required of a modern biologist
4. Understand the conduct of science and adopt the
scientific method (logical generation of testable
predictions based on hypotheses)
5. Critically think about and evaluate scientific
methods, data and evidence (including statistical
inference)
6. Develop careers and a lifelong education process
<Measurement
Tool>
Pre- and postcourse
comparison of
answers to
standardized
questions In
BIOB 160, 170
Performance on
pre-course
standardized
questions based
on lower-division
course content
Achieved
competence in
laboratory
courses based
on lab reports
Achieved skills in
mentored
research and lab
courses
Performance on
higher-order
synthesis
questions in
upper-division
coursework
Senior exit
survey for data
on career
placement, goals
2
<Measurement
Tool>
<Measurement
Tool>
<Measurement
Tool>
7. Be able to communicate science clearly and
concisely
Performance in
UD writing
courses (see
Course Map)
3
RESULTS AND MODIFICATIONS
In Fall 2011, BIOH 365 (Human Anatomy
and Physiology for the Health
Professions), comparison of student
performance in pre-course and postcourse assessment exams showed a 70%
increase in % correct answers (from an
average of 53% to 74% correct). However,
41% did not pass the course (grade of Cor better)
Comparison of the spring-semester continuation of this course showed both the expected enrollment drop
(those students who failed to pass the preceding fall course, a requirement to move on to the spring course)
and a significant increase in average performance, with only 23% of the students failing to pass the course.
Given this experience, in fall 2012, we started to enforce the prerequisites for the course (which had not
been possible before then) and saw both the expected decrease in enrollment and a marked improvement
in the average scores on exams.
In 2012-13 and 2013-14, pre-and postexams have been given in our upperdivision Genomics course. Learning gains
are dramatic, from nearly‐complete
inability to answer the sample questions
upon entry to the course to substantial
mastery of the material (average: 78%
correct) at the end of the course
Final performance was as expected, so no major changes in course delivery or content are being proposed.
We have conducted senior exit surveys in
2009 and 2014, requesting answers and
feedback on all aspects of the student
experience in our majors, including
instructional quality, student advising,
opportunities for mentored research, postgraduation plans.
For the most part, seniors were highly satisfied with their courses and professors. It became apparent that
many seniors wished they could have engaged in mentored research earlier; in response, we are hosting
research ‘meet-and-greet’ events for biology majors during the fall semester to allow them to meet
research-active groups who can take on undergraduate trainees. While students were very happy overall
with the undergraduate advising staff in DBS, the students expressed a desire to obtain career (or
advanced degree) advice from the faculty directly. We are discussing solutions to this need, including
forming two faculty subcommittees willing to hold ‘career fair’ office hours during the academic year.
4
APPENDICES
1. DBS course map 2014.xls
2. DBS Alignment with UM strategic plan.docx
3.
FUTURE PLANS FOR CONTINUED ASSESSMENT
As in the past, we continue to pay close attention to student performance (and failings) in our 2nd-year and 3rd-year courses. These are the courses that
reveal the deficiencies in biological understanding that students bring from previous courses. As a result of faculty feedback on student performance in
these important ‘mid-career’ courses, we have modified the presentation and emphasis on particular aspects of lower-level courses. Anecdotal evidence
from the faculty suggests that these improvements are effective in increasing student performance and reducing the failure rate in more advanced
courses.
More recently, one of our faculty (Mark Grimes) has adopted a scientific approach to evaluating student success in his very demanding 200-level core
course. Students are asked to fill out a survey as part of the course, including a broad suite of questions on prior coursework, non-University
employment, study habits, and use of online materials, including pre-recorded lectures. These data are then compared to student performance on a
variety of exam questions, divided into levels of difficulty using Bloom’s taxonomy. Results are too complex to report on, but several significant
correlations were found, and students often fell into ‘clusters’ of highly-correlated variables. Those aspects of student background and behavior that
correlate positively with performance on higher-order cognitive questions will be followed up with more detailed study. For instance, results showed
differences in preparation before lectures and study habits that reflected less diligence early in the semester when the material was more familiar. This
behavior created problems later when more challenging and unfamiliar topics were presented. Therefore the instructors decided to shift some more
difficult and unfamiliar topics to earlier in the semester to test the hypothesis that more students would recognize the amount of effort required to achieve
the desired learning outcomes. Comparison of data about study habits, and demonstrated learning gains, will reveal to what extent this modification was
successful.
5
Alignment with UM’s strategic plan. The mission of DBS is broadly consistent with President Engstrom’s 2020 strategic plan. This plan consists of five broad themes: 1) Partnering for Student Success; 2) Education for the Global Century; 3) Discovery and Creativity to Serve Montana and the World; 4) Dynamic Learning Environment; 5) Planning‐Assessment Continuum. Contributions and activities that support each of these themes are summarized briefly here. 1) Partnering for Student Success includes key strategies: a. engaging students in their freshman year. Dr. Erick Greene took over the design and teaching of our major freshman course (BIOB 160), completely rewriting the laboratories to make them discovery‐based instead of routine following of instructions. As a result the enrollment of BIOB 160 has steadily increased over the past 4 years, even as overall UM enrollments have declined (to the point that we have completely filled the largest lecture hall on campus). b. strengthening student support. DBS students continue to benefit from our long‐term professional advisor, Dr. Kerry Bright, whose expertise and dedication to student success is attested to by glowing reviews from our graduating seniors. We have moderately expanded Dr. Bright’s hours to deal with increasing enrollments, but our ability to do so any further is constrained by budget. c. supporting faculty and staff development. During the period of the Montana Ecology of Infectious Diseases training grant, we hosted several annual faculty workshops on STEM education best practices, including foci on levels of conceptual complexity (using Bloom’s hierarchy), use of clickers in the classroom, and support for integrating math into biology education. Since that grant ended, some faculty have pursued more advanced training as members of the Summer Institutes of the National Academy of Sciences or attending workshops offered through UM’s Faculty Development Office. As competition for limited federal funding caused funding rates to drop nationally (including in DBS), faculty have set up internal review panels to vet each other’s grant proposals prior to submission to federal agencies. 2) Education for the Global Century has components: a. Strengthen foundational academic programs. Part of the reworking of our introductory biology courses BIOB 160 was to strengthen student preparation for later courses in cell and molecular biology. In addition, we added a new option in the biology major (Genetics and Evolution) that reflects the increasing importance of genetics in modern biology both as a tool for basic research and to explore human health and disease b. Promote global engagement and leadership at the baccalaureate level. We encourage students to get involved in mentored research with our faculty as soon as they can, both by multiple emails during their first two years and recently through a research ‘meet and greet’ evening, where interested undergraduates can meet up with graduate students representing research projects in many different labs in DBS. c. Enhance discovery and innovation. Because graduate students are among the best ‘multipliers’ of research activity in academia, we have worked to make our programs increasingly attractive to the best students, through improved stipends, active recruiting, improved foundational courses, and flexible (but modest) research support. 3) Discovery and Creativity to Serve Montana and the World a. Contributions by faculty and students through research. DBS faculty continue to be leaders at UM in grant production, journal publications, especially in high‐profile journals, and citations to their work. Many of the specifics of these achievements are detailed below. b. Advance today’s discoveries to create tomorrow’s products. Although most focus on basic research discovery, 11 DBS faculty applied for 13 patents or inventions during the review period. 4) Dynamic Learning Environment a. Provide programs of distinction. Two programs of the three Programs of National Distinction (PoND) recently recognized by the University involve DBS faculty: the OBE graduate program and the Wildlife Biology Program. This recognition is based on faculty productivity and impact in their field. Broadly speaking, ecology and environmental biology are already signature programs at UM and could become even more so in the future. b. Use technologies and practices that optimize the learning experience. Most of our lower‐level courses benefit from one of more technologies to engage students more directly with their own learning, particularly in large‐section courses. These technologies include use of clickers, ‘flipped’ classroom presentation, short lecture segments broken up with problem application and solving in small groups, and online instruction of non‐majors courses to allow students flexibility in attending/scheduling their class participation. c. Integrate the character of the campus environment into discovery and instruction. The strength of DBS in ecology and environmental biology derives in large measure from the outstanding access the campus enjoys to natural areas for research, discovery, and teaching. Many DBS courses feature strong field components to laboratory exercises, and one entire option in biology, the field ecology option, is based on a sequence of unique intensive field‐immersion courses offered at the Flathead Lake Biological Station. 5) Planning‐Assessment Continuum. a. Use data‐driven decisions and goal‐setting. We have recently developed (with the help of Qualtrics software) senior exit surveys to assess the experiences of our students, their successes and frustrations, as well as basic data on expected future careers. We have not had time to incorporate the results into a formal feedback loop, but the data have already provided topics of lively discussion in the DBS curriculum committee that will likely provoke suggested curricular changes to the faculty as a whole. b. Gather objective and timely assessment of outcomes. Summative assessment based on entry vs exit performance on standardized questions is being practiced in a small number of courses in the curriculum (see part C: Educational outcomes and assessment). This long‐term feedback is complemented with more immediate data on student performance and comprehension, such as ‘minute quizzes’ taken during class time with clickers. When instructors obtain evidence that students are having trouble mastering a given concept, they can slow down and present the idea in different ways until the large majority of students ‘get it’. c. Mentoring of junior faculty teaching. Pre‐tenure faculty are assigned a single overall faculty mentor to supervise their progress, but in addition, 1‐2 faculty members are asked to visit the junior faculty member’s class(es) and provide feedback using a form DBS developed for this purpose about a decade ago. The junior faculty appreciate the involvement and help with their teaching, but we have not taken data (e.g., pre‐visit vs. post‐visit student evaluations) to gauge the effectiveness of the mentoring directly. KEY to Course Map
Goal 1
Have a fundamental knowledge and conceptual understanding of biology
Goal 2
Integrate knowledge and concepts across biological sub‐disciplines and cognates
Goal 3
Learn skills required of a modern biologist
Goal 4
Understand the conduct of science and adopt the scientific method
Goal 5
Critically think and evaluate scientific methods, data and evidence
Goal 6
Develop careers and a lifelong education process
Goal 7
Be able to communicate science clearly and concisely
Note: all entries are approximate skill levels: 1 = introductory, 2 = intermediate, 3= advanced
"required" = required by one or more of our majors/options
"option" = is on a list from which our students must choose / elective BIOL/MICB course
"service" = required by another major / satisfies a general education requirement for non-majors
Course number and name
status
BCH 110/111: The Biochemistry of Life/Lab
Goal1
Goal 2
Goal 3
Goal 5
1
1
BCH 380: Biochemistry
required
2
2
2
2
BCH 480: Advanced Biochemistry I
required
3
3
3
3
BCH 482: Advanced Biochemistry II
required
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
1
1
BCH 486: Biochemistry Research Lab
option
BCH 499: Senior Thesis/Capstone
BIOB 101N: Discover Biology
service
1
BIOB 160N: Principles of Living Systems
req./ser
1
1
BIOB 170N: Princpls Biological Diversity
req./ser
1
1
BIOB 171N: Princpls Biological Dvrsty Lab
req./ser
1
1
1
BIOB 260: Cellular & Molecular Biology
req./ser
2
2
BIOB 272: Genetics & Evolution
req./ser
2
2
BIOB 298: Internship
BIOB 301: Developmental Biology
required
2
2
BIOB 375: General Genetics
required
3
3
BIOB 390: Undergrad Research
1
2
2
2
2
2
required
BIOB 425: Adv Cell & Molecular Biology
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
BIOB 498: Internship
3
3
BIOE 172N: Introductory Ecology
service
1
1
BIOE 370: General Ecology (equiv to 270)
req./ser
3
3
BIOE 371: Gen Ecology Lab (equiv to 271)
req./ser
BIOE 428: Freshwater Ecology
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
1
3
3
option
3
3
3
3
3
3
required
3
3
3
3
option
3
3
3
3
req/serv
3
3
3
3
3
option/ser
3
3
3
3
3
BIOE 439: Stream Ecology
req./ser
3
3
3
3
3
BIOE 440: Conservation Ecology
req/serv
3
3
3
3
3
BIOE 447: Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology
option
3
3
3
BIOE 448: Terrestrial Plant Ecology
option
3
3
3
BIOE 449: Plant Biogeography
option
3
3
3
BIOE 451: Landscape Ecology
req/serv
3
3
3
3
3
BIOE 453: Ecology of Small & Large Lakes
req/serv
3
3
3
3
3
BIOE458: Forest & Grassland Ecology
req/serv
3
3
3
3
3
BIOE 482: Evolution & Development
3
3
BIOB 499: Undergrad Thesis
BIOE 416: Alpine Ecology
3
3
BIOB 494: Seminar in Biology
BIOE 406: Behavior & Evolution
3
3
BIOB 490: Adv Undergrad Research
BIOE 403: Vert Design & Evolution
2
3
BIOB 492: Independent Study
BIOE 394: Seminar/Workshop
2
3
option
BIOB 486: Genomics
2
3
required
BIOB 468: Endocrinology
2
3
2
required
3
3
1
2
BIOB 410: Immunology
3
2
1
1
service
BIOB 480: Conservation Genetics
1
Goal 7
1
BIOB 226N: Gen Science: Earth & Life Sci
BIOB 411: Immunology Laboratory
Goal 6
1
BIOB 198: Internship
BIOB 440: Biological Electron Microscopy
1
Goal 4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
BIOE 494: Behavior & Evolution
3
3
BIOH 112: Human Form & Function I
1
1
BIOH 113: Human Form & Function II
1
1
req./ser
3
3
BIOH 370: Human A&P for Health Prof II
req./ser
3
3
BIOH 405: Hematology
required
BIOH 365: Human A&P for Health Prof I
option
3
3
1
1
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
BIOH 423&424: TA Form & Function I&II
2
2
2
2
2
BIOH 456&457: Cadaver dissection I&II
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
BIOH 461&463: Anat & Phys I Tutor I&II
option
3
3
3
BIOH 462: Principles of Med Physiology
req./ser
3
3
BIOH 470: Summer Clinical Laboratory
required
3
3
3
3
BIOH 471: Professional Training I
required
3
3
3
BIOH 472: Professional Training II
required
3
3
3
BIOH 480: Teaching A&P I Honors
3
3
3
3
BIOH 481: Teaching A&P II Honors
3
3
3
3
BIOB 130N: Evolution & Society
1
1
1
BIOL 315: Peer Advising Internship
1
1
option
3
BIOE 342: Field Ecology
3
3
BIOL 435: Comp Animal Physiology
3
3
BIOL 483: Phylogenetics and Evolution
3
BIOL 484: Plant Evolution
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
1
BIOM 135N: Biol of Yellowstone Hot Spr
1
1
BIOM 227: Vectors and Parasites
2
2
2
2
2
2
BIOM 250N: Microbiology for Health Sciences
service
BIOM 251: Microbiology Hlth Sciences Lab
service
BIOM 360: Gen Microbiology (equiv to 260)
required
2
2
2
option/ser
3
3
BIOM 402: Medical Bacteriology & Mycology
required
3
3
BIOM 403: Medical Bacteriolgy & Myclgy Lb
required
BIOM 361: Gen Microbiology Lb (equiv 261)
BIOM 400: Medical Microbiology
required
BIOM 407: Clinical Diagnosis
required
BIOM 408: Clinical Diagnosis Lab
required
BIOM 410: Microbial Genetics
required
BIOM 411: Exprmntl Microbial Genetcs lab
BIOM 415: Microbial Dvrsty Eclgy & Evltn
BIOM 427: General Parasitology
BIOM 428: General Parasitology Lab
2
3
3
3
option
3
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
required
3
3
option
3
BIOM 490: Adv Undergrad Research
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
BIOM 491: Special Topics
3
3
3
option
3
3
option
BIOM 450: Microbial Physiology
3
3
3
option
3
BIOM 499: Undergraduate Thesis
3
service
BIOO 105N: Introduction to Botany
service
1
1
required
2
2
BIOO 335: Rocky Mountain Flora
req./ser
2
option/ser
required
3
1
BIOO 320: General Botany
BIOO 340: Biology & Mgmnt of Fishes
2
2
required
3
BIOO 433: Plant Physiology
2
3
3
3
BIOO 101N: Survey MT Wildlife & Habitats
2
1
2
3
required
BIOM 494: Seminar
2
3
BIOM 435: Virology
BIOM 451: Microbial Physiology Lab
3
BIOO 434: Plant Physiology Lab
3
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
2
3
3
3
3
3
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
BIOO 462: Entomology
required
3
3
3
3
3
BIOO 470: Ornithology
option/ser
3
3
3
3
3
3
BIOO 475: Mammalogy
option/ser
3
3
3
3
3
BIOO 486: Field Techniq in Mammalogy
service
3
3
3