CHED 1778 |
| Utah State University is engaged in a campus-wide effort to incorporate (i) learning objectives and (ii) curriculum assessment into all undergraduate and graduate programs. The talk will outline how the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry has attempted to develop its own comprehensive set of learning objectives and assessment procedures. Our ongoing goal is to develop and implement a pipeline of procedures which routinely and regularly generates hard - and objective - data on several aspects of the curriculum. This data is then used to assess our curriculum with a view to making changes. A variety of methods are now in use; these include standardized tests, gain-score tests, exit interviews, research presentations and capstone courses. I will discuss what has worked and what hasn't and will also describe some unanticipated problems that we have experienced as well as a few pitfalls to avoid. In particular, the talk will emphasize the necessity to get all faculty on board and will explain how this was accomplished in our Department at Utah State University. The "data-based" decisions which the Department is making (or has made) in response to the assessment data collected will also be described. |
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Development and Implementation of Learning Objectives in Chemistry Departments: A View of Progress at a Myriad of Institutions
8:00 AM-11:25 AM, Thursday, March 29, 2007 McCormick Place North -- Room N230B, Level 2, Oral
Division of Chemical Education |