Name of Program: Marine Science BA
Name of College/School: College of Arts & Science
Assessment Overview: We assess six learning outcomes on a three-year cycle for the Marine Science Program (MARS).
We use our capstone course and a variety of other courses to evaluate overall quality of student work in areas
including use of the scientific method, and lab and field competency, as well as oral and written communication and
information literacy skills.
Results & Actions Taken: In Fall 2016, we assessed sophomore-level students’ abilities with lab and field techniques
through a lab practical at the end of an Introduction to Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences course. All MARS students
achieved average or better competency in lab and field skills. In future years we hope to assess this learning outcome
in upper-division courses as well to determine how these skills develop in our students throughout the program. We
also assessed students’ knowledge and comprehension of the scientific method through a comprehensive lab report
based on a research project in a junior-level writing-intensive course. All MARS students achieved average or better
competency in all but one criteria assessed, including identifying a research question, describing methods in detail, and
presenting results in written and graphical formats. For the final criterion, interpreting results, all but one MARS
student achieved average competency, with the remaining student performing at a novice level. Thus, student
performance varied among the criteria, allowing us to determine which aspects of this learning outcome are more
challenging for students. This provides us with a guide of how to target our effort in this newly developed course
moving forward.
30 November 2016