Biology and Marine Biology

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