Closing the loop 2007

Student Learning Outcome Assessed:

“Develop good written and oral communication skills”.

Desired Outcome:

Students’ writing and communication skills will improve throughout their student career. Students will be able to write a report that contains:

• a brief but complete abstract summarizing all important results
• a concise introduction discussing the expectations for, and the general theories or principles behind the experiment
• an experimental section concisely yet specifically articulating the operations actually performed in the laboratory
• a discussion section addressing each result in sufficient detail to present the theory behind the finding and to tell whether the desired results were obtained
• a conclusion summarizing the important results and addressing each point raised in the introduction if relevant to the experimental result.

Data Collection:

A significant sampling of laboratory reports will be collected in a beginning course and contrasted to those collected in a senior level course to determine areas of improvement and to identify areas still in need of additional guidance. The three baselines will be established “freshman”, “sophomore” and “upper-division” students.

Initially, a meaningful sample of laboratory reports from students

• in CHM 141/142 will be collected and evaluated during an academic year to establish a baseline against which to measure student writing ability and to indicate what sort of improvement in writing skills occurs during first-year chemistry
• in CHM 201/202 (Organic Chemistry)
• in one or two upper-division courses will be collected and evaluated to establish additional baseline performance levels for student writing skills.

Comparisons between the first two groups will allow tracking of changes in writing skills over a short (1 year) time span,

In subsequent years, students who were initially evaluated in CHM 141/142 and/or CHM 201/202 will be tracked and their laboratory reports sampled and evaluated in subsequent courses to evaluate and assess their progress. Student progress will be considered in two ways: (1) how skills change over one year in a “course sequence”, and (2) how skills change from level to level over a 2-4 year period.

A sampling of students beginning CHM 141 each year will be evaluated and subsequently tracked throughout their academic career to assess and monitor their writing skills.

Interpretation of the Data:

The department will enlist the assistance of the English department to establish a set of general and specific criteria by which performance levels may be determined, based on the “statement of desired outcomes.”

All reports to be evaluated will be read by at least two members of the Department. After each faculty member has evaluated the reports, they will compare their findings and reach consensus.

After all levels are evaluated, comparisons between levels will be made by department members. In the comparison process, observed strengths, weaknesses, deficiencies, and progress/change will be evaluated and discussed. Following the level-to-level comparisons, the faculty will discuss what changes need to be made in each course to maximize the development of student written communication skills.

Changes to implement:

Immediate:

• Identify a sample population in all courses, so as to include a meaningful number of chemistry majors, along with some students with other majors.
• Select and copy 2-4 lab reports for each student. The reports selected will reflect a variety of chemical experiences and levels of difficulty of involvement in the preparation of the reports

Future:

• At the conclusion of each academic year, the evaluations of the course-sequence work and of level-to-level comparisons will, over time, suggest the need to modify in how students are directed to prepare lab reports, and in the way that faculty members actually grade the reports.