Biology and Marine Biology

(Axel Boer) #1
faculty and administrators.

Student Learning Outcome
UNCW-wide Learning Goal

Tools Implementation Summary of Findings Actions Taken

What will students know or
be able to do upon
completion of the program?
What UNCW Learning Goal
Does it link to?


What tools or measures will
be used?

Who will be responsible for
implementation; who will
be assessed; what is the
schedule?

What was learned from the
collection and analysis of
data for student learning
outcomes?

What changes were made
because of what you
learned?

SLO 1a: A graduate student
should be able to develop a
research plan.
Link to UNCW Learning
Goal: Inquiry.


Prospectus is successfully
completed and defended to
student’s committee. The
student’s committee
evaluates prospectus with a
form.

Each student in the program
is assessed by each of
his/her committee
members. Data on
prospectus quality, depth
and breadth are collected.
Implementation of the
assessment of this SLO was
planned to begin in the
2009 - 2010 year.
Department moved to
online forms in 2010- 2011
to improve faculty
participation.

We were finally able to
collect some data on this
SLO in 2012-2013, likely
because of moving forms
online and greater
prompting of faculty. We
had 2 respondents to this
SLO, with both respondents
assessing student
performance in all aspects
of this SLO (quality of
writing, literature synthesis,
definition of project and
methods), at level 5.

Faculty were reminded at
the annual Retreat in
August 2012 that
compliance with
Assessment materials is
mandatory and crucial for
our ability to evaluate the
performance of our
students and whether or
not they are meeting their
SLOs. This step and loving
to online forms seems to
have helped compliance.
The faculty discussed the
results of assessment to
date at the 2013 retreat and
decided that our students
are meeting our
expectations in this SLO and
that no action will be taken.
Action Item: Continue
collecting data as
prescribed by the approved
SLO assessments.
SLO 1b: A graduate student
should be able to present
and defend a research plan.
Link to UNCW Learning


Prospectus is successfully
presented to the
department. Form used for
this assessment is our

Each student in the program
is assessed by all faculty
members in the department
attending the Graduate

During 2012-2013, we
collected 259 responses.
Faculty deemed student
performance on this SLO to

The faculty discussed the
results of assessment to
date at the 2013 retreat and
decided that our students
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