Assessing the Plan
The effectiveness of the FOCUS sessions will be measured through an assessment process
with a variety of instruments. The assessment instruments to be administered to students
enrolled in BIOL 1014 and 1020 include a nationally developed test to measure critical
thinking and real-world problem solving, two locally developed diagnostic assessments
to measure content specific knowledge, a national survey of student engagement to
measure perceived development of critical thinking skills, pass-rates of FOCUS-linked
courses, and longitudinal tracking of student performance in their subsequent science
course (whether it is BIOL or another science discipline).
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QEP Goal
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Measure
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Target
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Success in FOCUS course
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Grade in BIOL 1014 or BIOL 1020 Class
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75% of students enrolled in a FOCUS-linked course will earn ABC
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Success in subsequent science course
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Grade in subsequent science course
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85% of students who received ABC in FOCUS-linked course will receive ABC in subsequent
course
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Learning Objectives
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Student Learning Outcomes
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Measure
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Target
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Critical Thinking
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- Separate factual information from inferences
- Understand the limitations of correlational data
- Evaluate evidence and identify appropriate conclusions
- Identify alternative interpretations for data or observations
- Identify new information that supports/contradicts a hypothesis
- Explain how new information can change a problem
- Separate relevant information from irrelevant information
- Integrate information to solve problems
- Learn and apply new information
- Communicate ideas effectively
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CAT Test
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Scores improve for years 2020, 2021, and 2022
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Content Knowledge
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- Formulate a coherent understanding of the relationship between tissues, organs, and
organ systems (BIOL 1014)
- Formulate a coherent understanding of the characteristics of living things (BIOL 1020)
- Observe the natural world and explain the importance of the scientific method (BIOL
1014/1020)
- Communicate anatomical terminology (BIOL 1014)
- Use the basic components of models (BIOL 1014/BIOL 1020)
- Synthesize information to develop a conceptual understanding of biological processes
(BIOL 1014/BIOL 1020)
- Synthesize scientific data and information to develop hypotheses. (BIOL 1020)
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Locally Developed embedded Diagnostic Questions
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75% answer 75% correctly
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