Assessment Report

Departmentof Chemistry and Biochemistry

Stephen Godleski, ChairMarkus Hoffmann, Assessment

Coordinator

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to apply the principles of1. chemical nomenclature2. atomic structure, quantum theory and periodicity.3. molecular structure and reactivity.4. stoichiometric calculations based upon chemical formulae and balanced

chemical equations.5. chemical energetics and thermodynamics.6. reaction dynamics (kinetics and mechanisms).7. the states of matter and solutions.8. chemical equilibrium. 9. oxidation-reduction reactions and electrochemistry.10. descriptive chemistry of the elements, compounds, and trends in the

periodic table

Disciplinary Knowledge/Content Outcomes

SLO’s continued

Students will be able to –1. carry out basic and advanced laboratory manipulations and use common

laboratory equipment and instruments.2. apply the tenets and principles of safe laboratory practice and waste

handling.3. maintain a laboratory notebook thoroughly recording procedure and

observations, tabulating data, and analyzing results.4. present technical reports in writing, poster presentations or oral

presentations.

Applications and Skills Outcomes

Professional and Personal Development Students will be able to describe the basic elements of professional and ethical conduct in the chemistry professions

Assessment Methodology(How was the assessment done)

• For content SLO’s: select questions from standardized American Chemical Society exams which are used as final exams– Consideration of difficulty index.

• For lab SLO’s: Notebook, lab performance and/or Angel quiz (safety)

• For writing/presentation skills: assignments/lab reports

not meet, approach, meet, exceed • a) Select ACS exam questions relative to national norm

• b) Entire ACS exam

• c) Course grades

-20 to -5% -5% to +10% > +10%< -20%

norm

-30 to -5% 40 < %ile < 50 > 50%ile< -20%

C-, C, C+ B-, B, B+ A or A-D+ and below

Benchmark: %students not meet is < 10

Info on courses• General Chem. I, CHM205: Fall 300 students• General Chem. I, CHM205 Spring 80 students• General Chem. II, CHM206: Spring 215 students• Chemical Safety, CHM 301: Fall 25 students• Inorganic Chem. I, CHM302: Fall 24 students• Analytical Chem., CHM303: Spring 14 students• Organic Chem. I, CHM305: Fall 140 students• Organic Chem. II, CHM306: Spring 80 students• Seminar I + II, CHM400/401: 15 students• Phys. Chem. Biol. Sci, CHM404: Spring 10 students• Phys. Chem. I + II, CHM405/406: 10 students • Phys. Chem. Lab. I + II, CHM408/409: 10 students• Biochem. I, CHM467: Fall 30 students• Biochem. II, CHM468: Spring 10 students• Biochem. Lab, CHM470 Fall 15 students

Assessment Results

CHM205 fall

CHM205 spr

CHM206

CHM305/306

CHM205 fall

CHM205 spr

CHM305/306

CHM405

CHM205 fall

CHM205 spr

CHM206

CHM305/306

CHM205 fall

CHM205 spr

CHM206

CHM303

CHM205 fall

CHM205 spr

CHM206

CHM305/306

CHM4050

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

exceedmeetapproachnot meet

Lessons Learned

• Confirmation of prior observations – Too many students underperform– Bimodal distribution– True for all our classes, in particular lower level courses– Little differentiation between chemistry majors and

non-chemistry majors– The recent change to shorter lecture time did not help

Action Plan/Data Driven Decision:

Since lessons learned were not really new there are on-going actions:– As part of his duties, new hire, Dr. Algernon Kelley, will work with Student

Learning Center to provide more effective tutoring and target underrepresented groups in particular.

– Department is considering offering CHM 206 both semesters and/or to split CHM 205 into two lecture sections. These changes would lower class sizes and hopefully provide enhanced student learning.

– Department increased laboratory time in CHM 205/206 from 3 to 3.5 hours to allow time for additional problem solving exercises. Plan in CHM 305 is to change one lab into a problem solving workshop to address specific key concepts.

– CHM 302 offered for the first time fall 2013 => High hopes for remediating content learning deficiencies for our majors.

– Keep encouraging good study and work habits, and increase student motivation by emphasizing professionalism, in particular for upper division classes.

What resources were applied or are needed to close the loop

• Additional faculty member hired (Kelley)• Addition of CHM 302 into curriculum did not

require additional resources beyond Kelley hire• Two CHM 205 lecture sections in the fall or CHM

206 in the fall would require additional instructional resources (Adjunct faculty and lab assistants)