Biology and Marine Biology

SLO3: A graduate student

should be able to

communicate his or her

research to a broadly-

trained public audience.

Link to UNCW Learning

Goal: thoughtful expression

(thoughtful expression).

Departmental Seminar

presentation of thesis

research is successfully

completed. An assessment

form is filled out by

departmental faculty

members after the thesis

seminar.

Each student in the program

is assessed by all faculty

members in the department

attending the seminar. Data

on presentation quality,

mastery of research,

professional poise and

ability to answer questions

are collected.

In the 2008- 09 year, 12

seminars were presented to

the department by M.Sc.

students and evaluated by

the faculty. The faculty

assessed performance of

this learning outcome to be

high for the majority of

students, in organization

(94%), mastery of research

(86%), ability to field

questions from the

audience (86%) and

professional poise (91%).

The faculty discussed the

results of assessment to

date at the 2009 retreat and

decided to continue the

assessment of this learning

goal.

SLO 4: A graduate student
should be able to write up
his or her research in the
form of a manuscript for
publication in a scientific
journal. Link to UNCW
Learning Goal: thoughtful
expression (thoughtful
expression), critical thinking
(information literacy and
critical thinking) and
creative inquiry (inquiry).

Thesis is successfully

completed. The student’s

committee evaluates the

quality of the thesis with a

form.

Each student in the program

is assessed by each of

his/her committee

members. Data on the

quality of the writing,

mastery of the research,

and likelihood of being

published in a peer-review

journal are collected.

In the 2008- 09 year, 12

theses were completed and

evaluated. Faculty assessed

performance of this

Learning outcome as high,

with writing quality,

mastery of research, and

likelihood of publication

being high for the majority

of students (88%, 90% and

83 %, respectively).

The faculty discussed the

results of assessment to

date at the 2009 retreat and

decided to continue the

assessment of this learning

goal.

University of North Carolina Wilmington

Educational Program Assessment Plan and Report

(PhD Program, Biology & Marine Biology)

Assessment Plan for 2008 - 2009

Primary Contact Name/Info: Heather Koopman, Biology & Marine Biology, [email protected]

Program Outcome

UNCW Strategic Goal

Tools Implementation Summary of Findings Actions Taken

PO 1: Graduation of PhD Several tools are used for The Graduate Advisory Financial concerns have The Graduate School has