Current Assessment Information
Spring 2024 Assessment Instructions
General Education Competencies:
All courses in the core curriculum must assess the general education competencies. We are scheduled to assess quantitative and empirical reasoning. As we have done before, we will use the problem solving assessment that we have developed. The rubric is attached at the end of this document. The courses in our department needing to perform this assessment are as follows: ASTR 1303, 1304, 1403 & 1404 along with PHYS 1401, 1402, 1405, 1407, 2425 & 2426.
Program Student Learning Outcomes (PSLOs):
Templates for each assessment are found at the bottom of this page.
Astronomy (Optional - NOT required at this time)
Can opt to do their usual assessments in ASTR 1303/1403 on the HR diagram, please enter your results in the spreadsheet at the bottom of this page and send them to June Mullin once you are finished. If you have any questions about this assessment please contact Jim Heath.
Engineering
Will continue to do their usual assessments in ENGR 1201 & ENGR 2301, please enter your results in the spreadsheet at the bottom of this page and send your results to June Mullin once finished. If you have questions about this assessment, please contact Saad Eways.
Physics
We will conduct an assessment on written communications. We interpret this as assessing a written lab report, and only needs to be conducted in the physics courses in our degree plan: PHYS 2425 & 2426. The rubric for this assessment is at the bottom of this page.
Preparation: You do not need to put your name anywhere in the sheet, but the title of the document should indicate whether the data are for PHYS 2425 or 2426, for example I title my assessments as follows “Friedrichsen PHYS 2425-005 F17.” Please enter your results in the spreadsheet at the bottom of this page and send them to June Mullin once you are finished.
Assessment Information
Assessment #1: Problem Solving – to meet the requirements for the General Education Competency: Quantitative and Empirical Reasoning
ASTR 1303/1304/1403/1404 Assessment: Problem solving
This assessment is required for instructors of ASTR 1303/1304/1403/1404.
What you must do: Put a show-your-work problem on one of your exams (most faculty members use the Final Exam, but a chapter exam may also be used) or on a homework assignment that involves solving a problem – please note that the type of problem wasn’t specified since this isn’t the main thrust of these courses BUT it is a requirement for all courses in the core curriculum. The problem should be appropriate for the type and level of the course. After grading that problem as you normally would, evaluate it according to the evaluation rubric as best as possible. Assign each student a score according to that rubric and record it in the Excel sheet, along with the student’s final letter grade in the course.
PHYS 1401/1405/2425 Assessment: Problem-solving Newton’s 2nd Law
This assessment is required for instructors of PHYS 1401/1405/2425.
What you must do: Put a show-your-work problem on one of your exams (most faculty members use the Final Exam, but a chapter exam may also be used) or in 1405 on a homework assignment that involves solving a problem using Newton’s 2nd law. The problem should be appropriate for the level of course. Your problem should include a sketch, free body diagram, mathematical representation and appropriate solution. You’ll likely have a problem like this on at least one test anyway. After grading that problem as you normally would, evaluate it according to the evaluation rubric. Assign each student a score according to that rubric and record it in the Excel sheet, along with the student’s final letter grade in the course.
PHYS 1402/1407/2426 Assessment: Problem-solving Energy
This assessment is required for instructors of PHYS 1402/1407/2426.
What you must do: Put a show-your-work problem on one of your exams (most faculty members use the Final Exam, but a chapter exam may also be used) or in 1407 on a homework assignment that involves energy in the context of Electromagnetism. The problem should be appropriate for the level of course. Your problem could include a sketch or free body diagram if appropriate, but should include a mathematical representation and appropriate solution. You’ll likely have a problem like this on at least one test anyway. After grading that problem as you normally would, evaluate it according to the evaluation rubric. Assign each student a score according to that rubric and record it in the Excel sheet, along with the student’s final letter grade in the course.
Assessment #2: Written Communication – for the Physics PSLO.
PHYS 2425/2426 Assessment: Lab report writing
This assessment is required for instructors of PHYS 2425/2426.
What you must do: For a lab with a written report apply the newly formed report writing assessment rubric. Assign each student a score according to the rubric and record it in the Excel sheet.
Assessment #3: Attendance
This assessment is optional for all Physics 2425/2426 classes, but you must do at least one of the optional assessments.
What you must do: Keep track of attendance every class day. How you do this is up to you: calling roll, assigned seats, sign-in sheet, etc. At the semester’s end, record the number of classes that each student missed, as well as their final letter grade.
Assessment #4: Homework Performance
This assessment is optional for all Physics 2425/2426 classes, but you must do at least one of the optional assessments.
What you must do: At the end of the semester, record the percentage of possible homework points that the student has earned, expressed as a number between 0 and 1.
When you have filled out the spreadsheet, please send it to June Mullin. Again, you do not need to put your name anywhere in the sheet, but the title of the document should indicate which class the data is from.
Rubrics
Problem Solving Assessment:
To further assess the problem solving portion of our courses the Assessment Committee has developed the following rubric to be used. We will allow each instructor to determine which aspects of each category are to be applied to the particular problem that was selected for the assessment. In general the topic will be specified by the Department, but the choice of the particular problem and the application of the rubric will be up to the instructor. These categories are as follows:
1. Set up
2. Process
3. Coding Errors
4. Math Steps
5. Final Result
To help guide what was intended by each category the committee came up with some sample criteria that could be used to produce the assessment. However the assessment rubric should be implemented based on the particular requirements of the problem that you selected.
For #1: Set up
a. Diagram: If the problem requires a diagram, was an appropriate (according to your standards) diagram completed?
b. Data/units: Was the given information appropriately adapted for the solution technique? For example, did they convert the diameter into a radius, and place the data in S.I. units?
c. Copy Error: Did they incorrectly transcribe the given information at the start of the problem?
For #2: Process
a. Physical principle: Did they identify the (or a) correct physical principle in order to begin the analysis? For example did they apply a force analysis to a problem that requires an energy analysis?
b. Appropriate equation: Did they use the (or an) appropriate equation for the solution of the problem?
For #3: Coding Errors
a. Incorrect values: Did they place incorrect values into the equations?
b. Sign errors: Did they make assign error of some type?
c. Component swap: Did they use the wrong trigonometric function for the given angle in the problem and end up with the components of the vectors reversed?
d. Initial & final values: Did they incorrectly set the equation by putting the wrong value into the equations (possibly putting final values in for initial values or vice versa).
For #4: Math Steps
a. Arithmetic error: Was there an error in arithmetic?
b. Algebra error: Was there an algebra error?
c. Calculus error: Was there a calculus error?
d. Calculator error: Did the correct set up the answer but get the wrong value?
For #5: Final Result
a. Units: Does the final answer have correct and/or appropriate units?
b. Significant digits (or figures): Is the answer given with the correct number of significant digits?
c. Answer: Does the calculated value answer the question ask? For example did they correctly calculate the final position, but fail to use it to obtain the requested height.
d. Interpretation: Did they correctly interpret their answer in terms of physical concepts?
Again these are guidelines to describe what is meant by each category, and not stringent requirements set for each area. The particular specifications that you use for each of the items may fluctuate depending upon which problem you selected to assess and the level of the course ASTR, CP, GP or EP. For each of the five categories you will assign a value based on the following scale that runs from 0-4:
0 – nothing
1 – better than nothing
2 – major omissions/errors
3 – minor omissions/errors
4 – appropriate/correct
Communication Assessment:
To assess the communication portion of our courses the Assessment Committee has developed the following rubric to assess written communication skills in the form of a written lab report. The areas to be assessed were determined by the Assessment Committee, but we will allow each instructor to interpret the specific pieces for the assessment based on their individual lab report requirements. This way the department does not dictate how a lab report has to be written and the freedom in those decisions are left up to the instructors. These areas are as follows:
1. Quality of writing & overall structure/format of the report
2. Description of the purpose/procedure (or objectives/materials)
3. Presentation of the data, e.g. tables, graphs, etc.
4. Analysis of the data & error analysis
5. Evaluation of the results and conclusions
To help guide what was intended by each area the committee came up with some sample criteria that could be used to produce the assessment. However the assessment should be made based on the particular requirements for the lab that you assess.
For #1: Quality of writing & overall structure/format of the report
a. Does the writing in the report reflect college level spelling, grammar, and flow?
b. Does the lab report conform to your instructions for how it should be structured and/or formatted?
For #2: Description of the purpose/procedure (or objectives/materials)
a. Is the purpose of the experiment adequately described? This may include items such as: are the equations relevant to the experiment appropriately discussed and/or developed, or was the connection between the experiment and the underlying theory adequately described?
b. Is the experimental procedure/set up adequately described?
For #3: Presentation of the data, e.g. tables, graphs, etc.
a. Is the data appropriately presented in tables, graphs, etc.?
b. Are these presentations of the data appropriately formatted, e.g. labels, units, etc.?
For #4: Analysis of the data & error analysis
a. Is the correct analysis carried out? This may include items such as: are there errors in the analysis or are sample calculations shown?
b. Is an appropriate error analysis carried out? This may include listing of sources of error, calculating percent error or percent differences, or even propagation of error?
For #5: Evaluation of the results and conclusions
a. Are the results appropriately evaluated? This may include items such as: is the information appropriately interpreted, or are the experimental results compared with their theoretical predictions?
b. Was the conclusion appropriate? This may include items such as: Is the objective of the lab restated, or are all lab questions answered and/or addressed?
Again these are guidelines to describe what is meant by each area, and not stringent requirements set for each area. The particular specifications that you use for each of the items may fluctuate depending upon which of your labs that you chose to assess. For each of the five areas you will assign a value based on the following scale that runs from 0-4:
0 – nothing
1 – better than nothing
2 – major omissions/errors
3 – minor omissions/errors
4 – meets/exceeds expectations
It is the recommendation of the committee that you run this assessment on a lab report towards the end of the semester and not the first report lab, so that the students can make improvements after they have been given feedback.