CBS Undergraduate Program Assessment

Predict the direction, magnitude and outcomes of natural selection given a set of biological starting conditions.

On the first midterm a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions were written to assess mastery of course learning goals 1, 4, and 10. Students that earned 90% of the possible points on these questions or higher received 5 bonus points.

1

Yes

In previous quarters we used a similar approach to assess mastery of learning goals 1, 4, and 10 but we did not award bonus points. Instead, students who failed to demonstrate 90% proficiency or higher on these learning goals did not pass the course. Students only needed to pass the learning goals questions once and multiple opportunities were provided. We changed this method in Fall 2016 to an incentive based approach that positively awarded students who demonstrated mastery.

The questions are a combination of 2 multiple choice questions and 2 short answer questions.

We were fairly pleased with this result as it indicated that more than 72% of the class had achieved adequate mastery of the material despite the relative high bar of getting at least 75% on the quiz. A by the item analysis of the post-assessment problems showed the following percentages of students getting the problems correct: Problem #1: 66.2% Problem #2: 83% Problem #3: 75.3% Problem #4: 80.7% Hence, students had the greatest difficulty in understanding latitudinal patterns of NPP on land. This lower score may stem from the fact that this question requires the greatest amount of synthesis of information (i.e. understanding climactic patters on earth and what limits plant growth).

To facilitate student understanding of latitudinal patterns of NPP on land, we plan to draw their attention to sooner when discussing the latitudinal patterns of climate. Ideally, hearing about this connection twice (in passing and then in greater detail) will help students better understand this fundamental latitudinal pattern.