QEP Impact Report 2012 - Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences
Contacts: Tom Martin, past-Chair, and Kathy Mathews, Chair, Biology QEP Committee
90
80
70
60
50
100
90
80
70
60
50
100
Goal 2: Communication Skills
Meets or Exceeds Expectations (%)
Goal 2: Quantitative Skills
Meets or Exceeds Expectations (%)
60
70
80
90
100
Goal 1: Ability to apply and
integrate knowledge
50
Figure 1. Summaries of outcome
assessments for Biology QEP
Educational Goals 1-3.
Meets or Exceeds Expectations (%)
The Biology department has defined three discipline-specific Educational Goals for Biology
majors in our QEP: 1) students will be able to apply and integrate biological knowledge across the diverse
areas of biology and related disciplines, 2) students will develop sets of quantitative skills,
communication skills, and technical skills that will enable them to be successful contributors to the
sciences and to society, and 3) students can conduct scientific investigations. Goal 1 addresses WCU's
QEP learning outcome, "integrate information from a variety of contexts," and Goal 2 addresses the QEP
outcome, "communicate effectively and responsibly."
Our assessment protocols addressing specific criteria under each Educational Goal are
implemented in four focal courses in the curriculum: Introduction to Ecology and Evolution (BIOL 241),
the final course in the core introductory sequence, which most students take in the sophomore year; Cell
and Molecular Biology (BIOL 333) and Methods in Ecology and Evolution (BIOL 375), of which all
majors are required to take one, typically as juniors; and Research in Biology (BIOL 480), which serves
as the senior capstone experience for most of our students.
In our first integrated attempt to assess the learning outcomes of our students using the
framework proposed in our QEP we saw a increase in the proportion of students who were capable of
applying and integrating their knowledge of biology (Goal 1) from their sophomore year through their
senior year, but we found more variable responses for the components of Goals 2 and 3 (Figure 1).
The observed variability
among courses suggests that
either the students assessed
did not show a clear
progression of abilities
during their tenure in the
program, or more likely,
that we need to revisit our
approach to assessing these
learning outcomes. As evidence of the latter explanation, note that under Goal 2, 100% of students in
BIOL 333 were found to meet or exceed expectations for technical skills, yet under Goal 3, only 66% of
those same students met or exceeded expectations for equipment and instrumentation use.
We also found that some assessment methods that we had proposed in our plan were either
infeasible or did not produce reliable data. We had intended to use the students’ electronic educational
briefcase as part of the assessment, but due to our misunderstanding of the nature of the briefcase and
technical difficulties experienced by the University in deploying the technology, we were unable to do so.
This assessment does not include any information about our fourth Educational Goal: Students
will have skills to develop their career path. We found that students did not respond or did not respond in
a responsible manner to self-assessment survey instruments during advising or with our senior capstone
class that we had proposed as assessment tools for this goal, so the use of those instruments was
discontinued and not used in this assessment.
In the QEP assessment plan, we proposed using results from standardized exams such as the GRE
or MCAT to assess learning outcomes associated with all four educational goals. But this overly
ambitious plan was economically infeasible.
Over the coming year, we will attempt to modify our assessment tools using what we’ve learned
thus far to get a more clear assessment of our Educational Goals. We will also endeavor to increase
faculty participation in QEP assessment so as to decrease the workload on individual participants,
particularly those instructors in our QEP focus courses, while getting a broader perspective on student
performance.
BIOL.333
BIOL.375
BIOL.480
BIOL.241
BIOL.333
BIOL.375
BIOL.480
BIOL.241
BIOL.333
BIOL.375
BIOL.480
Goal 3: Ability to use
Equipment and Instrumentation
in Scientific Investigations
Goal3: Ability to Execute and Complete
Scientific Investigations
BIOL.333
BIOL.375
Course
BIOL.480
BIOL.241
BIOL.333
BIOL.375
Course
BIOL.480
90
80
70
60
50
90
80
70
60
50
100
90
80
70
60
BIOL.241
100
Goal 2: Technical Skills
Meets or Exceeds Expectations (%)
Course
100
Course
Meets or Exceeds Expectations (%)
Course
50
Meets or Exceeds Expectations (%)
BIOL.241
BIOL.241
BIOL.333
BIOL.375
Course
BIOL.480