COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Revised 08/01/2011
Course Prefix, Number and Title: GEOL 100-Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Natural Disasters
School/Unit: School of Sciences
Submitted by: Dave R. Boden
Contributing Faculty: Jim Firby and Maureen Leshendok (adjunct instructors with each teaching one of the two sections offered)
Academic Year: 2011-2012
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 program or discipline.
Course Outcomes
In the boxes below, summarize
the outcomes assessed in your
course during the year.
Outcome #1
Student will understand basic
geologic processes involving
plate tectonics, the rock cycle,
the hydrologic cycle, and the
biogeochemical cycle. For
instance, earthquakes and
volcanoes are not random but
reflect defined internal processes
of the plate tectonic paradigm.
Outcome # 2
Student will realize that natural
hazards result from the interplay
of Earth’s internal and surficial
processes and juxtaposition of
human activities. Understanding
those processes can help mitigate
and circumvent potential natural
hazards.
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:
Seven questions of a 27-question
metric or course concept
inventory were used to measure
this outcome. The test was given
for the first-time for spring 2012
to students at the beginning and
again at the end of the semester.
Hake gain for one section was
0.13; for the other section it was
0.24 (see graph 2 below). Both
of these are in the low gain
region, indicative of traditional or
non-interactive teaching
methodologies.
A meeting is planned with the
adjunct instructors to help them
develop active learning strategies
to use when teaching the course.
I have no plans at this time to
revise this learning outcome.
15 questions of the 27-question
course concept inventory pertain
to this learning outcome, in that
this outcome covers much of the
course’s focus.
Hake gain was only 0.05 for one
section and 0.25 for the other
section (see graph 2 below). The
0.05 gain is extremely low and
because this is the first
assessment for this course, it is
not clear if this low result is a
fluke or real or whether students
in this section took the
assessment seriously or not.
Again the 0.25 gain is typical of
traditional lecture-dominated
class instruction.
As noted for outcome #1, a
meeting is planned to help the
adjunct instructors utilize more
active learning strategies in their
classes.
I have no plans at this time to
revise this learning outcome.
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COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: GEOL 100-Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Natural Disasters
School/Unit: School of Sciences
Submitted by: Dave R. Boden
Contributing Faculty: Jim Firby and Maureen Leshendok (adjunct instructors with each teaching one of the two sections offered)
Academic Year: 2011-2012
Course Outcomes
Outcome #3
Student will apply his or her
understating of geologic
processes to interpret how
humans have become a potent
agent of geological change and
how humans are affecting our
planet’s environment.
Assessment Measures
Assessment Results
Four questions of the 27-question
metric were devoted to this
outcome.
Hake gain was 0.25 in one
section and only 0.01 in the other
section (see graph 2 below). This
latter poor result suggests that the
students in this section probably
did not take the assessment
seriously as it would be difficult
to have such a poor result
otherwise. A contributing factor
may also have been the fewer
number of questions for this
outcome.
Page 2
Use of Results
Similar plans as noted for
outcomes 1 and 2 will be
pursued. Additionally, a couple
more questions reflecting this
outcome will be added to the
metric to make the result
statistically more robust.
Effect on Course
I have no plans to revise this
outcome at this time.
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: GEOL 100-Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Natural Disasters
School/Unit: School of Sciences
Submitted by: Dave R. Boden
Contributing Faculty: Jim Firby and Maureen Leshendok (adjunct instructors with each teaching one of the two sections offered)
Academic Year: 2011-2012
Graph 2--GEOL 100 Spring 2012
0.3
-- g > 0.7 High gain
-- 0.7 > g > 0.3 Mod. gain
(typical of interactive
engaged instruction)
-- g < 0.3 Low gain
(typical of lecture -based
instruction)
Hake Gain (g)
0.25
0.2
Hake gain (sec. 1001)
0.15
Hake gain (sec. 1003)
0.1
Overall g (sec. 1001) = 0.06
0.05
Overall g (sec. 1003) = 0.25
0
LO #1
LO #2
LO #3
Please enter your name and date below to confirm you have reviewed this report:
Title
Name
Date
Department Chair/Coordinator/Director
Dave R. Boden
5/22/2012
Dean
Ted Plaggemeyer
6/4/2012
Vice President of Academic Affairs and Student Services
John G. Tuthill
8/6/2012
Page 3
COURSE ASSESSMENT REPORT (CAR)
Course Prefix, Number and Title: GEOL 100-Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Natural Disasters
School/Unit: School of Sciences
Submitted by: Dave R. Boden
Contributing Faculty: Jim Firby and Maureen Leshendok (adjunct instructors with each teaching one of the two sections offered)
Academic Year: 2011-2012
Page 4