A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Revised I 0/21120 13
Course Prefo., Number and Title: BIOL 106-Introduction to Evolution and Adaptation
Division/Unit: Division of Sciences
Submitted by: Jim Collier
Contributing Faculty:
Academic Year: 2012-2013
Complete and electronically submit your assessment report to your Department Chair/Coordinator/Director. As needed, please attach supporting documents and/or
a narrative description of the assessment activities in your course.
Course Outcomes
In the boxes below, summarize
the outcomes assessed in your
course during the year.
Outcome #I
Students will demonstrate
cognitive knowledge of: the
scientific process, biological
evolution and adaptation.
Assessment Measures
Assessment Results
Use of Results
Effect on Course
In the boxes below, summarize
the methods used to assess course
outcomes during the last year.
In the boxes below, summarize
the results of your assessment
activities during the last year.
In the boxes below, summarize
how you are or how you plan to
use the results to improve student
learning.
Based on the results of this
assessment, will you revise your
outcomes? If so, please
summarize how and why in the
boxes below:
Three assessment measures were
used to assess understanding of
the scientific method:
I. Students discussed the
scientific process, biological
evolution and adaptation in group
discussions in class that the
instructor graded during the
discussion.
2. Students answered essay
questions on the scientific
process, biological evolution and
adaptation that were graded.
3. A pre and post-test was
administered with questions
pertaining to the scientific
process, biological evolution and
adaptation.
Post-test scores increased an
average of 48.42% over pre-test
scores. A statistical comparison
of pre and post test scores using
the student's t test indicated no
statistically significant
improvement in student scores
for the fall20 12 semester (p
value oft test= 0.07584). A
Hake score of0.360 is above
average for classes with a wide
range of pretest scores and a
diverse student population
(average= 0.23) indicating some
gain in student learning through
the course.
Refocus and spend more time on
specific content areas where little
gain was observed according to
post-test scores on the
assessment.
I plan to use the same assessment
plan to plot student success over
multiple semesters.
Analysis of individual questions
indicate that student success
increased between the pre-test
and post-test in all topics of the
assessment exam. However,
Page 1
A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: BIOL 106-Introduction to Evolution and Adaptation
Division/Unit: Division of Sciences
Submitted by: Jim Collier
Contributing Faculty:
Academic Year: 2012-2013
Course Outcomes
Assessment Measures
Assessment Results
Use of Results
Effect on Course
statistical results did not show an
increase as in student cognitive
learning.
Please enter your name and date be low to con finn you have reviewed this report:
Title
Name
Department Chair/Coordinator/Director
Melissa A. Deadmond
Dean
Ted Plaggemeyer
Vice President of Academic Affairs
Jane Nichols
Date
11/27/201 3
2/6/20 14
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I.._
2/26/201 4
A.
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: BIOL 106-Introduction to Evolution and Adaptation
Division/Unit: Division of Sciences
Submitted by: Jim Collier
Contributing Faculty:
Academic Year: 2012-2013
1. Summary of assessment activities:
a. Educational Philosophy, Course and Laboratory Curriculum
Biology 106: Introduction to Evolution and Adaptation is an introductory course examining evolution and adaptation in organisms. This course includes a review
and history of the scientific process, Darwinian and Neo-Darwinian evolution, introduction to genetic variation, natural and artificial selection, theories on the
origin of life, human evolution an genetically modified organisms (GMOs) . Classroom activities will include class and small group discussions on evolution and
organismal adaptations. Readings, library and internet research will be used to gather information on assigned discussion questions. Written assignments and
participation in classroom and small group discussions based on discussion questions will be required of all students. laboratory activities will provide
opportunities for observation and measurement of skulls, observations of adaptations in vertebrate limbs, experimentation with adaptation types and natural
selection, and construction of cladograms of hypothetical organisms.
b. Course Learning Outcomes:
Biology 106: Introduction to Evolution and Adaptation (3 credits)
Learning Outcome Statement 1:
Students will demonstrate cognitive knowledge of: the scientific process, biological evolution and adaptation.
Learning Outcome Statement 2:
Students will demonstrate competency in the ability to read, listen, interpret, and communicate the above biological concepts through appropriate spoken or
written forms.
Learning Outcome Statement 3:
Students will demonstrate knowledge of laboratory safety procedures and proficiency in the use of laboratory equipment and materials by attending four
science laboratories.
Page 3
A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: BIOL 106-Introduction to Evolution and Adaptation
Division/Unit: Division of Sciences
Submitted by: Jim Collier
Contributing Faculty:
Academic Year: 2012-2013
c. Methods
Assessment was accomplished in Biology 106 by administering a 10 question, multiple choice quiz to students the first day of class and again on the last day of
class. The questions were written to address a sampling of the course lecture curriculum. Data from students who took only the pre-test or only the post-test
were excluded from analysis. Hake gain <g> scores were calculated for comparing student learning relative to where they started. This was calculated as
follows:
<g> =(post-test score- pre-test score)/(100%- pre-test score)
In addition, data for this one section was aggregated to allow a question-by-question comparison of student performance on both the pre-test and the post-test.
A Student's t test was run on the pre-test and post-test raw scores for the fall, 2012 semester.
2. Results:
Assessments were performed and results reported for the fall semester, 2012 in Table 1.
Table 1- Fall, 2012- BIOL106 Assessment Data
Pre-test
Post-test
Section
N
Mean Score
Mean Score
Fall, 2012
15
42.67%
63.33%
Hake
%Increase
Gain
48.42%
.360
The data observed in Table 1 are moderate when compared to other biology courses. A Hake gain score of 0.360 is above average for classes with a wide range
of pre-test scores and a diverse student population (average Hake gain score for courses with a wide range of pre-test scores and a diverse student population =
0.23) indicating some gain in student learning through the course. However, a Hake score of 0.516 obtained in another biology class {2010-2011 Biology 191,
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A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Pref"o:, Number and Title: BIOL 106-Introduction to Evolution and Adaptation
Division/Unit: Division of Sciences
Submitted by: Jim Collier
Contributing Faculty:
Academic Year: 2012-2013
Organismal Biology) demonstrating that for each student relative to the number of questions they scored correctly on the pre-test, each student made
significant increases in their posHest scores.
The p value for the t test comparing pre-test and post-test raw scores for the fall, 2012 semester was= 0.07584. This p value indicates no statistically significant
gain in cognitive knowledge between the pre-test and post-test. In contrast in another biology course (2010-2011 Biology 191, Organismal Biology) p values of
11
1.25 x 10' and 4.09 x 10'13 indicate a statistically highly significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores. These p values are highly statistically
significant and indicate a highly statistically significant amount of cognitive learning occurred. This difference in Hake gain scores and t test results between
Biology 106, a class taught completely by discussion and Biology 191, a class taught through lecture with laboratory discussion, might indicate that the lecture
delivery transferred more cognitive knowledge than discussion only.
Individual Question Analyses
Table 2: Questions-by-question breakdown of aggregate data for 15 students in the fall, 2012 section. All values reported at the PRE and POST rows are
percentages of students who answered the question correctly. The DIFF row represents the difference between the PRE and POST rows. DIFF average was
20.7%
%Correct
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
PRE
40
27
53
27
27
60
47
67
40
40
POST
47
53
67
67
60
67
67
80
60
67
DIFF
7
26
14
40
33
7
20
13
20
27
Page 5
A
TMCC
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: BIOL I 06-Introduction to Evolution and Adaptation
Division/Unit: Division of Sciences
Submitted by: Jim Collier
Contributing Faculty:
Academic Year: 2012-2013
3. Improvement of assessment and student learning:
Assessment questions were designed to address the basic knowledge of a variety of course topics, and the results suggest that students know more about these
topics after the course than before as there was a 20.66% increase in their overall post-test scores. When examining each question, the class increased an
average of 20.7% for each question. All of the questions showed improvement in the number of correct answers between the pre-test and post-test. However,
there is a wide range of individual question improvement with some questions, numbers 2, 4, s, 7 and 9 and 10 showing significant improvement and others,
numbers 1,3, 6 and 8, showing a lesser improvement. These last questions involved a wide variety of scientific method and evolutionary topics with no common
concepts. Therefore, no conclusions could be arrived at regarding these questions.
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