program Assessment is
required. We will therefore
start evaluating student
performance on this SLO in
the 2011-2012 year.SLO 1b: A graduate student
should be able to present
and defend a research plan.
Link to UNCW Learning
Goal: Thoughtful expression
and Information literacy
Prospectus is successfully
presented to the
department. Form used for
this assessment is our
Graduate Student
Prospectus Symposium
Evaluation form. Our
assessment tool will be
question #5. This SLO was
created, in part, to help
understand the poor
performance of students on
“breadth of knowledge” in
SLO2 in the 2007-08 year.Each student in the program
is assessed by all faculty
members in the department
attending the Graduate
Student Prospectus
symposium. Data on each
student’s project in terms of
quality, design and
significance are collected.
Assessment of this SLO
began in Spring 2009. By
the nature of data
collection, assessment for
this SLO is pooled with the
Marine Biology M.Sc.
program.At the fall and spring 2011
Prospectus Symposia, we
collected 261 data points.
The faculty determined that
98% of the students were
performing well in this SLO,
with 40% of projects rated
as “commendable”, 58% as
“satisfactory” and only 2%
as “unsatisfactory”.
Performance was similar to,
but a bit better than, 2009-
2010, in which the faculty
determined that 98% of the
students were performing
well in this SLO, with 36% of
projects rated as
“commendable”, 62% as
“satisfactory” and only 2%
as “unsatisfactory”.The faculty discussed the
results of assessment to
date at the 2011 retreat and
decided that our students
are meeting our
expectations in this SLO and
that no action will be taken.SLO2: A graduate student
should be able to
independently answer
questions regarding their
research field. Link to
UNCW Learning Goal:
Information literacy, critical
thinking, thoughtful
Oral preliminary exam is
successfully completed. The
student’s committee
evaluates performance in
the exam with a form.Each student in the program
is assessed by each of
his/her committee
members. Data on the
student’s ability to
articulate information, on
the depth and breadth of
their knowledge, andIn 2010-2011 we had 3
respondents for this
assessment tool. Students
were assessed as
performing extremely well,
with 100% at level 4 or 5.
We are pleased that our
actions in 2009-2011 seemThe faculty discussed the
results of assessment to
date at the 2011 retreat and
decided that our students
are meeting our
expectations in this SLO and
that no action will be taken.