Have formal Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) or Student Learning Outcomes (SLOS) been developed?
Yes.
Published where? (website)
See Geography/ENVS SLOs, Curriculum Matrix, and Rubrics. SLOs are also published in the UH Hilo Student Catalog for Geography and Environmental Science.
Do PLOs include or imply link to Core Competency? (AY 2022-2023: Written Communication)?
Yes
Process of Core Competency Assessment:
Course (400- level)
GEOG/ENSC 495 Senior Seminar
Type of Student Artifact
Research Paper
Assignment
Students will submit a full researched project paper of 12-16 pages that will include: Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Data, Analysis, Results, Discussion, and References (minimum of 15 academic references with proper citations). For the Methods section, writing must be as thorough as possible in terms of the process and details (how students came up with questions, how interviews were conducted in terms of recording and transcription, etc.). Results and Discussion may be combined into a single section, depending on the project; qualitative methods in particular may best be represented this way. For projects NOT using qualitative methods, students should have at least two data-related products: these may include maps, tables, or graphs (images from the field do not count). For projects using qualitative methods, students should include well-chosen quotes from interviewees or historical sources. At least one citation of another student’s project is required.
Rubric or other instrument
GE Rubric for Written Communication
Data (measurement of the competency)
Two readers external to the department served as evaluators and read sixteen (n = 16) papers using the Written Communication Rubric (WC) and the Writing Intensive Rubric (WI).
Readers noted these papers reflect relevant and meaningful research projects with real impact on community and important implications for the future of Hawaiʻi. This seemed to impact the investment and ownership for the project in general. Overall, students included all elements of the research paper, were thorough with the methods section, and generated discussion that concluded with useful or applicable outcomes. The introduction and literature review sections were informative, there was effective use of content language, and citations were integrated within the text. As a whole, students cited a variety of sources within the text and had a good number of references listed.
However, the formatting for papers were somewhat inconsistent as a whole. Some students show inconsistent use of‘okina and kahako and italicization (papers 2 and 12 are good examples). Some students show problems with incomplete sentences and casual language. Paper 5 had definite problems with paragraph construction (some sections were just one whole paragraph that went on for a page or two). Of more concern is the fact some students are not aware of the fact that simply copying text verbatim from a source and using it without modification in their own papers technically constitutes plagiarism. Teachers can easily spot this as grammar styles/patterns show strange shifts.
These students might benefit from individual writing support from writing center. Students might be instructed to format headings consistently and to double check reference list with standard APA style for accuracy.
Action Taken in Response to the Data (What will you do in response to the Findings?)
We agree that there are formatting and writing issues with many of the papers, despite the fact that the course is built to include multiple phases of peer- and instructor-provided feedback and review, prior to the final submission. When final papers include these types of writing issues it is generally because no early drafts were submitted to be reviewed, or the provided feedback and suggestions were ignored or not adequately understood. The department will evaluate adding additional formal writing assignments to our lower-division courses and will work with Kilohana to develop additional support for student writing.
Date of Last Program Review
2021-2022