BIOLOGY
2007-2008
Intended Program Outcomes
Graduates will be able to demonstrate specific content
knowledge, concepts, principles, and theories of biological
sciences
Methods of Assessment and Criteria for Success
Direct Measures
Direct Measure(s)
The GPA for Biological Sciences core curriculum courses
for each student will be tabulated and assessed upon
graduation.
Students will be given a Biological Sciences Field Test
(BSFT) upon entry into the program (BSC3926) , and
again during their first semester of their junior year as a
block exam (TBD), and a third time during the
conclusion of their last senior semester (BSC4930). This
subject assessment will be developed by Biology faculty
and will be comprised of a pool of questions derived from
standardized Biology questions used in actual MCAT,
GRE Biology Test and AP Biology test and covering all
areas of Biology. The test will be designed to specifically
assess student knowledge of fundamental concepts taught
in BSC1010 and BSC1011.
Students will demonstrate communication skills which
include - reading, speaking, writing, questioning, listening,
and making presentations about issues related to life
sciences.
Student also will be able to use technology and primary
literature resources efficiently and effectively to conduct and
present research.
All students across the biological sciences curricula will
be assessed on their ability to write essays on
examinations, and lab reports in their freshmen and junior
years in the General Biology II and Genetics courses
(PCB3063, BSC1011) respectively, both of which are
core curriculum courses. An 8 point "writing" rubric will
be used to assess the quality of each students written
communication skills on these essays.
All students will give oral presentations covering biology
topics at least 4 times prior to graduation (BSC1010,
MCB3010, BSC1011, BSC4930). These presentations
will be rated for quality of oral communication skills
using a 10 point "speech" rubric.
Indirect Measures
Indirect Measure(s)
Students completing 45 hours (end of sophomore year) will
be given a survey regarding their perception of the biology
related content they learned throughout the first half of their
tenure in their respective curricula.
An exit interview and survey will access students
perception of how well their biology education has
prepared them for the next steps in their academic
careers and or for the work place (i.e. elementary,
middle school education) .
A Oral Presentation Exit Exam will be administered
(BSC4930).
Graduates will be able to demonstrate the ability to use
critical and creative thinking in designing and conducting
experiments, analyzing and evaluating results, in the
synthesis of solutions and relevant discussion in and in
solving problems in the biological sciences.
Students will demonstrate the ability to successfully work
collaboratively and independently in a variety of academic
settings.
All students will be assessed on their ability to write, and
read a scientific paper (PCB3063). Specifically students
in Genetics (PCB 3063) engaged in a semester long
research project will write a 8-10 page summary of their
research project in scientific journal format (abstract,
introduction, results, discussion, acknowledgements,
references). In this course, they also must use an
electronic database (pubmed) to find a journal article read
the biomedical journal article and write a 2 page double
spaced summary of the article. This exercise is designed
to test the student's ability to read and comprehend
advanced literature and explain to others what they have
read. Both assignments will use a "science literature"
rubric as the assessment tool.
Indirect Measure(s)
Direct Measure(s)
All students must take BSC1010/1011/1010L and PCB
3063 and in these courses they will be assessed on their
ability to write essays requiring critical thinking on
exams, lab reports, and scientific projects. A "analytical
reasoning" rubric will be used for assessment of these
essays to gauge the quality of the students ability to think
critically.
Indirect Measure(s)
Surveys will be conducted annually to determine that the
overall perception of the student’s experience is positive.
Surveys will be conducted annually to determine that the
overall perception of the student’s experience is positive.
Students completing 45 hours (end of sophomore year) will
be given a survey regarding their perception of how the
biological sciences program has improved their ability to
communicate in written and spoken form.
An exit interview and survey will access students perception
of how well their biology education has prepared them to
communicate outside of the college environment.
Student examinations will include multiple choice
questions that require critical thinking (CT) skills
(BSC1010, PCB3063). The % of students answering
these types of CT questions correctly will be gauged.
Students will also be evaluated on their ability to think
critically by the Biological Sciences Field Test (BSFT)
and MAPP test where subsets of biology related and nonrelated multiple choice questions categorized as Critical
thinking will be assessed. The % of students answering
these types of questions correctly will be gauged.
Students taking PCB-4233 Immunology will be required
to develop a concept map linking 17 terms related to the
immunity process
Graduates will be able to demonstrate biological laboratory
and field skills.
Direct Measure(s)
All of the students will be assessed on their ability to
work collaboratively in groups. Students will be
expected to work with different cultures and personalities
to see to the completion of several major scientific
projects. BSC1011 specifically requires a group project
on vertebrate anatomy. Genetics also requires group
collaboration on a semester long project.
Groups/Collaboration skills will graded using a
Collaboration Rubric in four biology classes (BSC1011,
Indirect Measure(s)
Surveys will be conducted annually to determine that the
overall perception of the student’s experience is positive with
regard to their collaborative projects.
PCB3063, ZOO3713, and PCB3723).