created, in part, to help
understand the poor
performance of students on
“breadth of knowledge” in
SLO2 in the 2007-08 year.Assessment of this SLO was
implemented in Spring
2009.as “unsatisfactory”.
Performance in 2009- 2010
was slightly lower than
2008 - 2009, in which 45% of
projects rated as
“commendable”, 54% as
“satisfactory” and only 1%
as “unsatisfactory”.
SLO2: A graduate student
should be able to
independently answer
questions regarding their
research field. Link to
UNCW Learning Goal:
critical thinking (information
literacy and critical thinking)
and thoughtful expression
(thoughtful expression).
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, and
professional poise are
collected.During the 2009-2010 year,
faculty determined that our
students have made
improvements on some
elements of this SLO but are
still not performing as well
as we would like them to as
a whole. Performance was
better this year (determined
as fraction of students
performing at levels 4 or 5
on a scale of 5) in ability to
articulate (75% vs 57% for
2009), breadth of
knowledge (75% vs 57% for
2009), and professional
poise (88% vs 73% for
2009). However, depth of
knowledge declined (50%
vs. 59% for 2009).We have implemented a
series of formal (course-
related) and informal
changes to our MSc
programs (see attached
report on Graduate
Assessment for the
Departmental Faculty
retreat) with the aim of
improving student
performance on this SLO,
which continues to be the
one of concern in our
graduate program. The
formal course-related
changes (for BIO 501) will
be implemented in Fall 2010
(the first time this course
will be taught since the
changes were accepted by
the faculty). We have also
encouraged our students
and faculty to increase the
number of interactions our
students have with non-
scripted oral
communication (using oral
testing and discussion in
class, having students
participate in mock oral
examinations, etc.).