Assessment Report for 1997/98

Department of Environmental and Plant Biology

20 June 1998

 

 

A. The department pursued assessment activities in 1997/98 in accordance with the Department of Environmental and Plant Biology Student Outcome Assessment procedures that were developed in 1994/95 and updated in 1997 (copy attached).

B. Assessment Procedures and Results
  1. We continued administering an Entrance Examination designed by the faculty in 1994/95 on principles of plant biology to all students enrolled in PBIO 110 who plan to major in one of the programs in Environmental and Plant Biology. The exam has been given to the PBIO 110 classes in the Fall 1995, 1996, 1997 and Winter 1996, 1997, 1998 quarters.

    Scores for the examinations are recorded by Student Identification Numbers, and will be compared to results of the Exit Examination during the last quarter prior to each student's graduation from the program during the Exit Interview (next paragraph).

    Exit Examinations were taken by three graduates in 1998 who had taken the Entrance Examination. We will not do any analysis on the exit examinations vs. entrance examinations until we have more students complete exit examinations.
  2. Exit Interviews were added to our assessment procedure for baccalaureate candidates in Spring 1997 and were continued in the Spring 1998. Twelve students, out of 16 graduating, were interviewed by the Department Chair in 1998.

    The students were very open in their comments, and, although the number of our graduates each year is relatively small, the student recommendations are considered very seriously.

    All of the 12 students interviewed said that they were pleased with the specific courses they took in the department, and emphasized that the faculty were qualified and provided up-to-date, well-designed courses. Students who participated in PBIO 404 (Undergraduate Research) indicated that the experience allowed them to see how basic studies in plant biology are performed, and provided them an excellent view of what to expect in a career in plant biology.

    Another strength that was brought out by the students was how courses in the department used local and regional facilities for field trips. They felt that plant identification and ecology courses were enhanced by frequent trips to sites where students could experience first-hand the plants and their environments that were covered in lectures.

    The students indicated they appreciated that the department allowed them to have "hands on" experience with plants in the department’s greenhouse through a trial program initiated because of exit interviews in 1997.

    All students felt that the department’s efforts to keep them informed of jobs and career options through the newly implemented email distribution list to majors helped them in their plans for after graduation. Those who used the "Jobs and Careers" page on the department’s WWW site were pleased to see that the department was making efforts to keep students up-to-date with career options.

    Career plans of the graduates interviewed were varied. One graduate has been accepted into a MS program in plant pathology at Pennsylvania State University (she turned down offers from eight other research I universities); one is working as a computer specialist at Rutgers University and plans to enroll in a graduate program there, two have decided to continue in the MS program in Environmental and Plant Biology at Ohio University; one has been accepted into the Peace Corps and will be stationed in The Cameroon; one has a job in a commercial nursery and garden; two will participate in intern programs in botanical gardens and arboreta; one volunteered for a field survey position with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service while awaited word from graduate schools, and three are going home to hang out for awhile before looking for a job or applying to graduate school. Of these final three, two were more concerned with where they want to live than with what kind of job they are going to have.
  3. During early in the fall quarter a department’s newsletter is mailed to donors to the department and baccalaureate and graduate alumni. The list, which at present has approximately 850 names, is kept up-to-date by our department’s secretary by having the postal service notify the department of forwarded mail. The newsletter continues to have a section for "News of Alumni," which has become a permanent record of feedback to the department from our graduates.

    We added instructions to the 1997 newsletter for how to communicate with the department through the WWW site and email (attached).
  4. Assessment of the graduate program continues to be in transition now that the doctoral program has been integrated with the doctoral program in Biological Sciences as per the recommendation by the State of Ohio Board of Regents Doctoral Review. The final phase of the doctoral review will be this next academic year.

    Students who completed either the MS degree (six) or the PhD (two) performed up to the standards of professional plant biologists on their comprehensive examinations, thesis or dissertation research, and teaching of introductory laboratories.

    MS and PhD graduates from the department were competitive in obtaining positions in either business or academe.

    One PhD graduate has a museum curator’s position at the University of Kansas, the position he was seeking as his first choice. The second PhD graduate turned down two postdoctoral positions before accepting a third postdoctoral research position in a United States Department of Agriculture research laboratory associated with Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

    MS graduates from the department this year have the following positions: One is continuing in a teacher certification program to become a high school teacher, three have enrolled in the PhD program in Environmental and Plant Biology/Biological Sciences at Ohio University, one has taken an assistant curator position at the New York Botanical Garden, and one has been serving as a part time instructor in the department and an instructor at the Chillicothe Regional Campus.
  5. Data provided by Institutional Research (IR) is not used in our assessment procedure at the present time because there are so few responses by our graduates to the IR surveys.

C. What We Are Doing With Information From The Assessment Procedures

The department has a planning session at the beginning of the fall quarter to review the previous year, including the assessment report submitted by the chair. At that time committees or individuals with responsibility concerning a specific issue brought out in the assessment procedure are assigned a task to determine how changes may be implemented. Committees (or individuals) assigned the tasks report to the chair during the academic year, and when a change is recommended, the entire faculty in the department discusses and votes on how the changes are to be made.

During the 1996/97 and again in the 1997/98 academic year the department chair and his office staff compiled an email distribution list for all undergraduate majors. This provided a way to quickly communicate with students who regularly use their OAK email accounts. In 1996/97 we were able to contact approximately one half of our 62 majors through email. A goal for the 1997/98 was to get all majors within the department to regularly use their email. We succeeded in getting most majors to do so, and as evidence from the positive response in the exit interviews, this was appreciated by the students.

In 1996/97, the department upgraded its WWW home page (http://www.plantbio.ohiou.edu/) to include information for students within the department. Information available to students includes


Advisors encourage their advisees to regular check the WWW site for information about the department.

A major strength of our BS programs continues to be the PBIO 404 (Undergraduate Research) experience. Additional practical, hand-on experience with plants was initiated in 1997/98 because of feedback through the exit interviews in 1997. The department chair and greenhouse manager made arrangements for students to gain practical experience in the greenhouse and instructional garden. Over the Winter 97 and Spring 98 quarters, 12 undergraduate students were assigned to four hours per week in the department’s greenhouse and instructional garden. All participants in the program were enthusiastic about how much they learned during their experience in the greenhouse. In addition, the display rooms in the greenhouse were improved because of the extra efforts by the students to maintain the rooms. One example of a greenhouse project may be found at the following URL.

http://www.plantbio.ohiou.edu/epb/facility/greenhouse/greenhouse.html

D. Assessment and Departmental Goals

One departmental goal "… is to have every graduate who plans to pursue a graduate education or internship be accepted in a graduate school or internship program of her or his choice." From information provided through the exit interviews the past two years, we have been successful in preparing our students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to be competitive in obtaining positions of employment or internships.

Students are interested in what careers are available in environmental and plant biology and in gaining skills that will make them competitive in the job market. As we approach the 21st century, many careers in the plant sciences will use the techniques of developmental plant biology—it is an essential discipline for all plant biologists in which the department is lacking. The department will continue to seek approval for adding a developmental plant biology position in 1998/99 so that this area of expertise is available to undergraduate and graduate students.

A major strength of the BS programs brought out in the exit interviews is undergraduate research (PBIO 404). Undergraduate research, however, requires much time on behalf of a faculty member—more sometimes than what is required for directing either MS or PhD students. At the present time, teaching duties in the department are spent with Tier II courses with enrollments that range from 80 to over 300 per lecture section. The department needs the additional faculty position to teach some of the introductory plant biology courses so that faculty can spend more time with undergraduates who want to participate in research programs.

Another strength of the department is how our courses emphasize skills in field and laboratory aspects of the discipline. These types of courses can not be taught in groups of greater than 20 students; some field courses are most effectively taught to groups of eight to 16 students. With the addition of a new faculty member, the department would be better staffed for offering a variety courses that allow students the maximum amount of opportunities to experience first-hand, hands-on plant biology.
    1. Assessment Procedures for 1998/99

      At this time we see no need to modify our assessment procedures from what was done in 1997/98. Until we have more data from both the Entrance and Exit Examinations, it would be imprudent to make any changes in the testing procedure.

      The exit interviews were very informative: We will continue to use them and, when possible, use information from them to improve our programs.

      For the graduate program, additional assessment will be appropriate once the Ohio Board of Regents completes its review of the PhD program integrated with the Department of Biological Sciences. The first two students admitted into the integrated PhD program began their studies in the Fall Quarter of 1997. We expect approximately seven plant biology students to began studies in the integrated PhD program in the Fall Quarter of 1998.

 

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