SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2013 - 2014 : Educational Programs :
Forensic Chemistry BS
Forensic Chemistry BS
5 Goals 5 Objectives 5 Indicators 5 Criteria 5 Findings 5 Actions
| GOAL: Deliver A Curriculum Appropriate For Understanding Fundamentals Of Chemistry |
| Objective |
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Chemistry is an intensely sequential discipline. Students must master the material at an average level of understanding in the first semester course (general chemistry I) before they are allowed to attempt the second semester course (general chemistry II). The same is true for each of the first five semester courses in the sequence (general chemistry I, general chemistry II, organic chemistry I, organic chemistry II and physical chemistry I). The fundamental concepts covered in general chemistry I and II include: uncertainty in measurement, dimensional analysis, atomic and electronic structure, ionic and molecular formulas, nomenclature, stoichiometry, thermochemistry, bonding theories, valence shell electron pair repulsion theory, properties of gases, intermolecular forces, properties of solutions, kinetics, equilibrium, acid-base chemistry, oxidation-reduction chemistry, chemical thermodynamics and electrochemistry. |
| Indicator |
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| All forensic chemistry majors will be invited to take a nationally standardized test over general chemistry (written by the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education Examinations Institute) near their completion of general chemistry II. In order to encourage participation, the highest individual score is guaranteed scholarship money for a future semester, and additional scholarship monies will be scaled to percentile performance on the examination. |
| Criterion |
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| Sixty percent of forensic chemistry majors are expected to score within one standard deviation of the mean or higher than one standard deviation above the mean on the ACS standardized general chemistry exam. The major weakness in 2010-2011 was the low number of majors who took the exam. We are working to motivate more students to take the exam. |
| Finding |
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| Of the 26 students that took the exam (74 were invited to do so), 17 (65%) scored within one standard deviation of the mean or higher on the ACS standardized general chemistry examination. The criterion was met and exceeded overall. For forensic chemistry majors (excluding chemistry majors), 18 students took the exam (54 were invited to do) and 13 of them (72%) scored within one standard deviation of the mean or higher. Thus the criterion was met for the forensic chemistry majors. Overall, the participation rate for the academic year was 26/74 = 35% (and 8/20 = 40% for chemistry majors and 18/54 = 33% for forensic chemistry majors). We need to keep working on ways to encourage and allow participation in this exam. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| We think sitting for the ACS General Chemistry exam for chemistry and forensic chemistry majors as they finish CHEM 1412 (General Chemistry II) is important. We think that the scholarship money is a good incentive. This year's participation rate of 35% is the highest so far, and is much better than last years's rate of 7%. Offering two opportunities to take the exam in the spring led to a higher participation rate. We will offer the exam twice in the fall and spring next year. |
| GOAL: Deliver A Curriculum Appropriate For Understanding Instrumental Analytical Methods In Chemistry |
| Objective |
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The modern analytical laboratory makes extensive use of electronic instrumentation for the analysis of chemical samples. Our Instrumental Analytical Chemistry course (CHEM 4440) is designed to introduce students to and have them learn the importance and use of spectrophotometric, chromatographic, and mass spectrometric analytical instrumental methods and computers in analytical laboratories. The course's laboratory component includes a focus on complex technical writing and use of the scientific literature. Students must master this material to meet the objective. Dr. Thomas Chasteen has been the instructor for all sections of CHEM 4440 for more than a decade. |
| Indicator |
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| All students in Instrumental Analytical Chemistry (CHEM 4440) are required to master the electronic, sampling, schematic, and computational fundamentals of modern analytical instrumentation as evaluated by 80-minute written tests requiring essays, laboratory data evaluation, and calculator-based computation. There are three tests and a final examination in this course. The testing of this knowledge and its application is standardized within the department across all sections. |
| Criterion |
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| Eighty percent of chemistry majors are expected to score within one standard deviation of the mean or higher than one standard deviation above the mean on the four examinations in this class. We expect statistical variability from test to test and from year to year. |
| Finding |
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| On the first exam, 31 of the 35 students (89%) scored within one standard deviation of the mean or higher. On the second exam, 30 of the 35 students (86%) scored within one standard deviation of the mean or higher. On the third exam, 29 of the 35 students (83%) scored within one standard deviation of the mean or higher. On the final exam, 32 of the 35 students (91%) scored within one standard deviation of the mean or higher. The criterion was met for each exam, and overall the criterion was met. Clearly intervention is not needed. |
Actions for Objective:
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| We will assess student performance in CHEM 4440 on an ongoing basis. Clearly we are seeing year to year variations in student performance, and this is to be expected. We raised the criterion from 75% to 80% last year and the students met the criterion on all but one exam. This year our students met the criterion on all of the exams. Since we know that there is year to year variation, we will check the appropriateness of the criterion next year and perhaps raise it for the 2015-2016 academic year. |
| GOAL: Deliver A Curriculum Appropriate For Understanding Organic Chemistry |
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Organic chemistry is covered in the second year of a chemistry degree. It follows a year of general chemistry and precedes physical chemistry. Students will demonstrate competent knowledge of the topics covered in organic chemistry I and II which include: hydrocarbons (alkanes, alkenes and alkynes), aromatic systems, functional group chemistry (including the chemistry of alkyl halides, ethers and various carbonyl compounds), stereochemistry, and carbohydrate chemistry. |
| Indicator |
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| A nationally standardized test over organic chemistry (written by the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education Examinations Institute) will be given to all chemistry majors who take organic chemistry II at Sam Houston State University. This test is given as the final examination for the course. |
| Criterion |
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| Seventy-five percent of chemistry majors are expected to score within one standard deviation of the mean or higher than one standard deviation above the mean on the ACS standardized organic chemistry examination. We will closely follow the performance of forensic chemistry majors who scored slightly lower than chemistry majors in 2010-2011. |
| Finding |
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| Fourteen chemistry majors and 22 forensic chemistry majors took the exam during the academic year. Eleven of the chemistry majors (11/14 = 79%) and 13 of the forensic chemistry majors (13/22 = 59%) scored within one standard deviation of the mean or higher on the ACS standardized organic chemistry examination. Overall, the rate was 24/36 = 67%. The criterion was not met overall for these students. However, it was met for the chemistry majors. Last year, one instructor was identified as being correlated with an increased number of low scores. That instructor did not teach CHEM 2325 (Organic Chemistry II) this year. Once again, when multiple sections of a course are offered (as they were during the spring semester), the section that filled the fastest had the lowest performance on this exam. Those students who did not meet the criterion will repeat CHEM 2325. |
Actions for Objective:
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| Once again, we have data for all of the sections of CHEM 2325 (organic chemistry II) that were taught, and the biggest correlation with low performance on the standardized exam is the section that fills most quickly when there are all multiple sections. This suggests that some degree of student self-selection--perhaps they are choosing instructors that they perceive to be "easiest" or perhaps it is a time of day issue. We will continue to monitor the situation. In the past year, all of the students who failed to meet the criterion repeated the course and subsequently met the criterion. We will continue to assess students' performance. |
| GOAL: Deliver A Curriculum Appropriate For Mastery Of Advanced Chemistry Topics |
| Objective |
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The material learned by the third year in the chemistry curriculum is refined and supported theoretically in Physical Chemistry I (CHEM 4448). The successful student will demonstrate a mastery of the advanced topics presented in this course. These topics include quantum theory, wave functions, the dipole approximation, electronic configuration, molecular structure, molecular orbital diagrams, symmetry, group theory, and the application of these topics to X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, Raman, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. All sections of CHEM 4448 have been taught by Dr. Darren Williams since his arrival at SHSU in 2004. |
| Indicator |
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| CHEM 4448 is required of all chemistry majors. The final examination in Physical Chemistry I (CHEM 4448), written by Dr. Darren Williams, is recognized by the faculty of the Department of Chemistry as being comprehensive and covers all of the advanced topics listed in the objective statement. Dr. Williams is the sole instructor of CHEM 4448 at SHSU having taught all sections of CHEM 4448 since his arrival on campus in 2004. All students are required to complete the final examination. Examples of final exams are on file and secured within the Department of Chemistry and may be viewed by contacting Dr. Williams directly at williams@shsu.edu. |
| Criterion |
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Seventy-five percent of chemistry majors are expected to demonstrate a mastery of at least sixty percent of the material (score 60%) on the comprehensive final examination. |
| Finding |
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| Of the 40 students who took the final, 87% of them made at least 60% on the final exam. The criterion was met. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| The data for the past several years show some fluctuations on a year to year basis, but overall a passing rate of 86-88% on the final is typical. For this latest cohort of students, those students who scored less than 60% on the final exam exhibited extremely poor time management skills, which resulted in poor laboratory performance (since key sections of the report were often left blank), which in turn resulted in poor performance on the final exam. Remediation was attempted during the semester to address the issue, but the students refused to take advantage of the advice offered. These students will be repeating the course next fall (or they will have changed their majors), and the importance of time management will be stressed. |
| GOAL: Deliver A Curriculum With Appropriate Written And Oral Communication Skills Developed |
| Objective |
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| Students will demonstrate the ability to present to an audience of their peers a talk (seminar) based on their own research or research that has been reported in the scientific literature |
| Indicator |
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| All chemistry majors are required to take CHEM 4100 "Chemical Literature Seminar". Students typically do so in their senior year. One of the requirements of this course is giving an oral PowerPoint presentation over either their own research or research from the published chemical literature, to the other students in the class. |
| Criterion |
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| All chemistry majors are required to receive an acceptable peer-rating on a required research presentation. Within the course, each student evaluates all other student presentations. The rubric is the last page of the syllabus. Over the years, in general we have found that peers tended to rate presenters rather highly. We hope to see more helpful feedback after providing additional instruction in constructive feedback. |
| Finding |
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Once again anonymous student evaluation forms were used in the fall of 2013 (20 students) and in the spring of 2014 (12 students) in an effort for substantially improve the depth and quality of student comments. The instructor's form evaluating the student is signed. Attendance was taken on a separate, passed-around sheet. While the instructor had intended to devote additional class time to peer-evaluation and to providing examples of helpful feedback, he forgot to do so. All of the students received an acceptable peer-rating on their presentation. |
Actions for Objective:
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Changes proposed for the next academic year will be more time added at the course onset discussing the comment critiquing process. More specifically, an example student comment sheet with example comments/critiques will be distributed to the students and discussed. The expected improvements from an increased focus on the critiquing process might be written student comments that are more in-depth, thorough, or comprehensive with concrete suggestions of how the talk could be improved. |
| Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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In order to gather more data we will offer the ACS exam over general chemistry at two different times in the fall semester. Depending upon these results, we may do the same in the spring semester.
In the area of organic chemistry, we will monitor student performance on the standardized final and check instructor correlations. It may be appropriate to shift instructors. In the area of instrumental analysis, we will monitor student performance through another cycle and see if raising the criterion is appropriate. We will continue to monitor student progress in physical chemistry. For the seminar, sample critiques and comments will be presented to students in hopes that more informative comments can be elicited. |
| Update on Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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We did not offer the ACS exam over general chemistry at two different times at the end of the fall semester (since there weren't very many qualified students), but we did offer the exam twice at the end of the spring semester. This yielded an increased response rate.
It was convenient to shift one instructor this year, and the result was still that the fastest filling section had the lowest performance. For instrumental analysis, the criterion was raised, and students met the new criterion. For physical chemistry, it was obvious to the instructor that the students who did poorly had issues with time management, but did not take advantage of opportunities offered to them. For the seminar, the instructor forgot to provide sample critiques and comments this time. |
| Plan for Continuous Improvement |
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We assess the same courses year after year for our B.S. programs because the courses, the material, and the requirements of the American Chemical Society do not change. This means that our plans from year to year end up being remarkably similar.
This past year we demonstrated that offering two opportunities for qualified students to take the ACS exam over general chemistry resulted in much higher participation rates, so we will offer the exam at two different times in the spring semester. Depending upon the number of qualified students, we may do the same in the fall semester. In the area of organic chemistry, we will monitor student performance on the standardized final and check instructor and time correlations. It may be appropriate to shift instructors to specific time slots. In the area of instrumental analysis, we will monitor student performance through another cycle and see if raising the criterion yet again is appropriate. We will continue to monitor student progress in physical chemistry, and issues related to time management will be addressed from the beginning of the course. For the seminar, sample critiques and comments will be presented to students in hopes that more informative comments can be elicited. |