SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2011 - 2012 : Educational Programs :
Criminal Justice, Forensic Science MS
Criminal Justice, Forensic Science MS
3 Goals 3 Objectives 3 Indicators 3 Criteria 3 Findings 3 Actions
| GOAL: Integration Of Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities |
| Objective |
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| Students completing the Master of Science in Forensic Science will demonstrate integration of knowledge, skills and abilities through an independent research project conducted in an environment conducive to research and scholarly inquiry. |
| Indicator |
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| Consistent faculty-developed scoring methodology will be applied to the capstone research report for FORS 6115 – Forensic Science Capstone Course. The scholarly report will demonstrate advanced discipline-specific knowledge, investigation, and problem-solving ability. |
| Criterion |
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| At least 70% of students will be assessed as “satisfactory” or better using the uniform faculty-developed rubric. The capstone report will be scored by a minimum of two faculty members. We are particularly eager to determine if interventions regarding technical writing skills and professional communications, weaknesses that emerged last year, have been effective. |
| Finding |
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| All students (100%) performed satisfactorily in their Capstone Research in accordance with the faculty-developed rubric. Of the fifteen graduating students, all received satisfactory final scores. Scores were assigned by a capstone committee consisting of at least three members, one of whom must be external to the program (or department) in accordance with accreditation standards (Forensic Science Programs Accreditation Commission). The limiting factor with respect to performance was technical writing. Laboratory based performance is effectively managed using a formal evaluation system consisting of interim evaluations (3/yr) to review progress in the capstone course during their second year of study. We may want to raise our criterion for next year. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| Further develop technical writing skills to prepare students for the capstone course. Previous efforts including formal interim evaluations and incorporation of more technical writing into other core courses have met with success again this year. The faculty actively recognize that for some, they are not able to dedicate sufficient time to the review of capstone research projects due to the number of students supervised by each faculty member. New faculty beginning in fall 2012 should alleviate this burden. |
| GOAL: Develop Specific Knowledge Base |
| Objective |
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| Students will command detailed competence of core course material in forensic science. The Forensic Science Programs Accreditation Commission (FEPAC) defines the core forensic science topics that must be incorporated into the graduate curriculum. These include analytical chemistry and instrumental methods of analysis, drug chemistry/toxicology, microscopy and trace evidence, forensic biology, and pattern evidence. This objective specifically addresses student learning, development and outcomes associated with the core forensic disciplines. |
| Indicator |
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The Forensic Science Assessment Test (FSAT) was developed as an assessment tool for forensic science academic programs in the United States and is administered by the American Board of Criminalistics (ABC) and the content and administration of the examination were modeled on ABC certification exams. The FSAT exam covers core forensic disciplines including forensic biology, controlled substances, trace analysis, toxicology and latent prints. |
| Criterion |
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| A minimum of 80% of students taking the test will score above the median score of all participants taking the test nationally. A fixed score was used in previous years but due to restructuring and use of a different scoring system implemented in 2012 by the American Board of Criminalistics, SHSU student performance will be evaluated against student performance nationally during the same year. |
| Finding |
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All but one of the MSFS program graduates in Spring 2012 elected to take the FSAT (14 total) in May 2012. The mean score for all students was 280 and the mean score of 196 participants nationally was 266. This ranked SHSU 7 out of 18 participating institutions. Twelve of the fourteen MSFS graduates (86%) scored above the median score of 266. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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Although the criterion for FSAT performance was met in 2012, the overall FSAT score reflects performance in some disciplines that are not currently required courses or topics in the MSFS program. For example, we do not offer a graduate course in questioned documents and as a consequence we do not expect our students to score well in disciplines that are outside of the curriculum. This influences the student's overall score, and we will attempt to offer additional courses or topics to our students during the upcoming academic year to reflect a broader range of forensic disciplines as resources allow. |
| GOAL: Ability To Conduct Original Research |
| Objective |
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Students actively engaged in research projects sponsored by program faculty will publish their findings in journals or present their data at scientific meetings. |
| Indicator |
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| Students will contribute to the knowledge base of forensic science and produce research directed at improving the practice of forensic science. This may be demonstrated by publication of research in a peer reviewed scientific journal or national/international conference proceeding (e.g. American Academy of Forensic Sciences Annual Meeting). Publication of student research in journals and at national or international conferences serves to demonstrate the value and quality of the work to the forensic science and/or scientific community. |
| Criterion |
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| At least 50% of capstone course research or other program-sponsored research is accepted for external publication in either a peer-reviewed scientific journal or national/international conference proceeding. |
| Finding |
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The MSFS program graduated 15 students in 2012. Publication output among MSFS students, measured in terms of scientific journal articles or research papers presented at a national conference totaled 14 (93%). Ten papers were presented at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Annual Meeting and four articles in peer reviewed scientific journals were published. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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Faculty should try to focus more on publications in peer reviewed journals rather than national conferences. Students tend to prefer conference papers because of funding, exposure and networking - but the program should consider ways to increase journal output in lieu of conference proceedings. |
| Closing the Loop |
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One additional faculty member will join the Forensic Science Department during the fall semester of 2012. This will alleviate much of the burden associated with research and technical writing which has been an ongoing issue. The American Board of Criminalistics redesigned the scoring system during 2012 and as a consequence, rather than evaluate student performance against a fixed historical score as had been done in the past, student performance must be evaluated against performance nationally during the same year. During the annual quality review, faculty and staff met to discuss improvements to curriculum and student performance. One of the action items was the addition of a questioned document examination course to broaden exposure to topics covered on the FSAT examination. This new course was scheduled during the summer and will be taught for the first time during the fall 2012 semester by a forensic document examiner (adjunct faculty). The program will be productive with respect to research and publications, but will attempt to focus more on manuscript publications rather than conference proceedings at national scientific meetings during the next academic year.
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