SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2012 - 2013 : 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 seven graduating students, all received satisfactory final scores. Scores were assigned by a capstone research committee consisting of at least three members, one of whom was external to the department in accordance with accreditation standards (Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission). Slightly more than half of the students received a grade higher than B for the technical writing component, which might suggest some moderate improvement and positive impact associated with our efforts to increase technical writing in other graduate coursework. The limiting factor with respect to overall performance has always been techncical writing. Laboratory based performance is effectively managed using a formal evaluation system consisting of interim evaluations at three strategic points during the project. |
Actions for Objective:
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Faculty have long-realized that the high number of students supervised by each faculty member can compromize their ability to develop technical writing to the fullest extent. New faculty hired in 2012 may have contributed to the slight improvement this year and additional faculty beginning during the fall 2013 semester should allow for further improvements. We will continue to require faculty teaching first year core courses to include a techncial writing component, and beginning next year this must account for at least 20% of the final grade. The program could also retrospectively review performance during the capstone research project with verbal and quantitative GRE scores to determine possible correlations and predictive value. |
| 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 Education 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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| The mean raw FSAT score for SHSU students will be higher than the mean raw FSAT score for students nationally; and SHSU should be ranked in the top quartile of programs participating in the FSAT annually. |
| Finding |
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Raw (unadjusted) FSAT scores were used because a full statistical evaluation of adjusted (final) scores were not provided bt the American Board of Criminalistics this year. The mean FSAT score in forensic science at SHSU was 156 with a range of 145-178. This is well above the national average of 132, with a range of 85-178. SHSU performed in the top quartile, scoring second out of sixteen universities participating in the FSAT examination in 2013. Participation in the FSAT was not selective; all program graduates participated in the 2013 examination. The program also offered a new Questioned Documents (QD) course this year, which may have contributed to the overall increase in score. Prior to this year, QD was not offered as part of the curriculum. |
Actions for Objective:
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SHSU scored favorably during the 2013 FSAT examination. However, this may be in large part due to the timing of the examination, rather than due to curriculum changes. The test was moved from finals week in May to March (immediately after spring break), to alleviate the pressure associated with final examination preparation, oral defenses and graduation. SHSU should continue to schedule the examination during March in the future. We should continue to offer the Questioned Documents course again in the future (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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| In 2013 there were a total of seven graduating students. During the academic year (2012-2013) there were a total of fourteen publications involving forensic science students. Seven manuscripts were accepted or published in scientific journals and there were seven papers presented at national/international scientific meetings. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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Faculty should encourage manuscript publication rather than presentation of papers at scientific meetings. Recent hires in forensic science, more manageable workloads and fewer students supervised per faculty member should allow for this transition. |
| Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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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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| Update on Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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All of the elements described last year were implemented. The anticipated new forensic science faculty member was hired during the fall 2012 semester. The new questioned documents course was taught for the first time during the fall of 2012 and this course was a tremendous success. Faculty still struggle with the number of research students to supervise and the burden of graduate teaching laboratories that result in a very high number of instructional hours per week. A second new hire will allow the number of students per faculty member to decrease. The department will evaluate the number of laboratory sections and challenges associated with research and publications during its annual quality review. |
| Plan for Continuous Improvement |
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The department recently completed a retrospective five year review of assessment (survey) and admissions data (2009-2013). These findings will be evaluated during the upcoming annual quality review (September 2013). The program will again seek permission to offer the FSAT examination earlier in the academic year (March 2014).
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