During their tenure as graduate students, all students will present at least one departmental seminar. The faculty, through the peer-review evaluation rubric, will determine the presentation's acceptability.
Criterion
At Least One Seminar Presentation
All graduate students in chemistry are required to take CHM 5100 at least once during their tenure as graduate students. To pass CHM 5100, students are required to receive an acceptable peer-rating on a required research presentation. Within the course, each student evaluates all other student presentations. The rubric is the last page of the syllabus.
Finding
Seminar Credit
CHEM 5100 used anonymous student evaluation forms for the first time in the fall of 2012 (11 students) and again in the spring of 2013 (9 students) in an effort to make the students' peer comments more meaningful (the instructor's form is signed). Poor student comments have not been as much of a problem in this graduate seminar as the undergraduate seminar (CHEM 4100).
Student comments improved somewhat in this evaluation period, but it's difficult to clearly attribute the differences to the use of the anonymous comment sheet. A number of experienced teaching assistants were in the seminar in this cycle and that might be more influential.
The 11 students enrolled in the fall of 2012 included all of our graduate students. The 9 students enrolled in the spring of 2013 did not include all of our graduate students. The total number of chemistry graduate students in the spring was 14. The 9 students enrolled in the spring included our 4 new graduate students. The 5 students who did enroll in the spring had already taken the seminar 3 times.
Action
Seminar Actions
Changes proposed for the next academic year will be more time added at the course onset discussing the comment critiquing process. More specifically, an example, student comment sheet with example comments/critiques will be distributed to the students and discussed. The expected improvements from an increased focus on the critiquing process might be written student comments that are more in-depth, thorough, or comprehensive with concrete suggestions of how the talk could be improved.
Goal
Deliver A Curriculum With Appropriate Discipline Specific Knowledge
The program will address the discipline specific knowledge dictated by professional societies and/or professionals in the workforce.
Objective
To Demonstrate Competence In Organometallic Chemistry And Self-confidence In The Understanding Of Technical Material
Modern organometallic chemistry is a subfield of inorganic chemistry that engages chemical principles and concepts of bonding, structure, and reactivity mastered throughout undergraduate and graduate curricula. The graduate-level Organometallic Chemistry course (CHEM 5385) is designed to review many of these principles and concepts in the first half of the semester in a classical lecture format. In the second half of the semester each graduate student is given a subject area covered in a text chapter. The student is tasked with preparing two or three lecture-discussion presentations that include use of PowerPoint, supported review of the chapter material, and white-board interactive discussion of one or more example problem exercises, as well as extemporaneous responses to class questions.
Indicator
Presentation Of Selected Topics In Organometallic Chemistry
All students in Organometallic Chemistry (CHEM 5385) are required to demonstrate their ability to be professonally conversant within the assigned topic, capable of preparing a professional presentation, and expected to maintain professional bearing while serving as discussion leader. Graduate student presentations are evaluated through peer-evaluation and professor evaluation using a summary, five-point Likert rating scale.
Criterion
68.2% Of Chemistry Graduate Students Will Meet Or Exceed Expectations
A super-majority of chemistry students (68.2%) are expected to have an average evaluation within one standard deviation of the mean or higher than one standard deviation above the mean on their presentation-discussion assignment.
Finding
Organometallic Chemistry Results
In the fall semester of 2013, the mean Likert evaluation score was 3.38 with a standard deviation of 0.48. Student performance for the fall of 2013 (77.8%) exceeded the evaluation criterion. Of the graduate students in Organometallic Chemistry (CHEM 5385), all but two individuals met or exceeded expectations. One of these individuals was very close to the minimum cut-off score (2.91) with a summary evaluation score of 2.89.
Action
Recommendations For The Next Offering Of Organometallic Chemistry
To improve on student performance, refined guidelines for the PowerPoint materials concerning relative numbers of slides and appropriate preparation of figures or tables should be provided.
Objective
Demonstrate Understanding Of The Peer Review Process In Scientific Publications
The process of peer-review of manuscripts for the scientific literature is a fundamental part of science. Students in Analytical Spectroscopy (CHEM 5368, taught every 2 to 2.5 years) read and discuss published peer-reviewed literature articles throughout this course (there is no assigned textbook). One of the objectives of this course is for students to learn the nuts and bolts of the systematic process of scientific peer-review. Mastery of the requirements for modern high quality technical scientific publication is required to meet one of the primary objectives of this graduate course in chemistry.
Indicator
Examination Of Student Understanding Of Scientific Peer Review
All students in the class are required to understand and correctly order the sequence of events, identify the players in the process (authors, editors, and reviewers), detail the feedback nature of the review process, and be able to critique both technical writing, figures, schematics, or imagery required in chemical publications.
Criterion
80% Of Graduate Students Meet Expectations
Eighty percent of graduate students taking the final exam in the class will score within one standard deviation of the mean or higher on a written question on the final designed to evaluate their mastery of the Indicator.
Finding
Performance On CHEM 5368 Exam Question
In spring 2013, students scored substantially higher than the Criterion (85% scored within 1 standard deviation of mean or higher on the spring 2013's peer-review process question); however, there were common mistakes in understanding about the review feedback process.
Action
Monitor Progress
Subsequent CHEM 5368 classes will be assessed on an ongoing basis for this Indicator. Examples of reviewer feedback from the instructor's own manuscript's anonymous peer reviews will be introduced to the class to provide examples of reviewer feedback to help students in mastering the reviewer feedback step of scientific peer-review. The criterion can be increased in subsequent years after more course-to-course variability has been measured.
Objective
Demonstrate Advanced Organic Chemistry Knowledge And Skills
Organic reaction mechanisms is a broad area of organic chemistry that requires an understanding of the basic structural-electronic properties of organic molecules. The graduate course CHEM 5362 is focused on the examination of alkylation, oxidation, reduction, substitution, elimination, rearrangement, and electrocyclic processes. As each topic is covered, in-class and out-of-class problems are assigned to give each graduate student ample practice and experience at applying the material. Since application is the central focus, all work involves open access to course materials.
Indicator
Mastery Of Advanced Organic Chemistry Knowledge
All graduate students in this course will demonstrate their mastery of organic reaction mechanisms and their application to specific reactions through multiple applied problem sets and periodic examinations. Evaluation of the student's work is based on the appropriateness and acceptability of their answers based on current literature.
Criterion
Final Exam Performance In CHEM 5362
All (100%) of the students will score within one standard deviation of the mean or higher and within two standard deviations of the high score on the final examination.
Finding
CHEM 5362 Results
During the spring 2013 semester, 78% of the students scored one standard deviation of the mean or higher and 67% were within two standard deviations of the high for the class.
Action
More Elaborate Description
The next time the course is offered, at the beginning of the semester the instructor will outline the requirements for the final examination. A topic-by-topic outline of what is expected from the student by the time the class reaches the final will be presented to the class. The instructor will emphasize the importance of fulfilling the mastery of the outline material from the beginning of the course.
Objective
Demonstrate Advanced Symmetry And Spectroscopy Knowledge And Skills
The field of spectroscopy extends into many industrial sectors such as optical communications, chemical analysis, and forensic science. There are too many individual spectroscopic techniques to cover in a single semester, but a focus on quantum mechanics and molecular symmetry unites them all. The graduate course CHEM 5385 – Symmetry and Spectroscopy – covers the quantum roots of spectroscopy, the power of symmetry to illucidate the interpretation of spectroscopic data, and the advanced topic of spectroscopic modeling. Hand-written assignments, short discussion topics, and extensive mathematical assignments in Excel are used to give each graduate student the experience of analyzing real problems in spectroscopy. These assignments push the student beyond a simple knowledge of the topic toward the higher-level skills of synthesis and evaluation as they compare their model results to experimental data.
Indicator
Mastery Of Advanced Symmetry And Spectroscopy Skills
All graduate students in this course will demonstrate their mastery of symmetry-based spectroscopic modeling through multiple applied problem sets and periodic examinations. Evaluation of the student's work is based on the appropriateness and acceptability of their answers based on current literature and experimental data. A final summative modeling assignment will be used to indicate a student’s ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the ability of a spectroscopic model to fit experimental data.
Criterion
Advanced Modeling Assignment In CHEM 5385
All (100%) of the students will score within one standard deviation of the mean or higher and within two standard deviations of the high score on the final modeling assignment.
Finding
CHEM 5385 Results
This course was taught in the Fall 2012, and a 2-hour final exam was used to track student success toward the objective. The students satisfied the criterion, but the final exam was less comprehensive than it could have been due to the fact that in had to be completed in two hours.
Action
Prepare The Final Modeling Assignment
The final modeling assignment and grading rubric will be prepared from the assignments delivered in previous semesters of this course. This final assignment will allow the student more time to synthesize their model, apply it to the data, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the model using the skills gained in the course. This action will be implemented when this course is taught again in three years.
Goal
Provide Original Research Opportunities For Graduate Students
Reseasrch is a significant part of graduate programs with mentoring and original ressarch publication.
Objective
Completion Of Master's Thesis
Each student will successfully prepare and defend a master's thesis on research performed under the direction of a chemistry faculty member.
Indicator
Thesis Defense
Students will orally present their master's thesis work to the public and will defend their work through questions from the public and additional questions about the research project from their thesis committee.
Criterion
Successful Thesis Defense
Each student is expected to pass the thesis defense as determined by a consensus of the student's thesis committee.
Finding
Successful Thesis Defense
Five graduate students successfully defended their master's theses, as judged by their respective thesis committees, one in the fall semester of 2012 and four during the summer semester of 2013.
Indicator
Thesis References/Bibliography
Each student is expected to complete a thesis describing the basis for the research, the experiments and results of those experiments, and a discussion of those results. The basis for the research and the discussion of the results must be supported by appropriate reference to the scientific literature. As part of the defense of the thesis, the thesis committee will evaluate the quality of scientific referencing in the manuscript.
Criterion
Thesis References/Bibliography Meets Expectations
At least 85% of theses presented to thesis committees will have the quality of scientific referencing evaluated as meeting expectations.
Finding
Evaluation Of Thesis References/Bibliography
Five students completed their master's thesis in the past calendar year (one in the fall 2012 term and four in the summer 2013 term). All five of the committees found that the scientific references in the final version of the theses were of acceptable quality.
Action
Discontinue "Completion Of Master's Thesis" As A Learning Objective
Of the five students that finished their M.S. degrees this past year, they came from 4 different research groups. The diversity of our program, in terms of areas of research in chemistry, makes it difficult to generalize. The completion of research, followed by the writing and defense of the thesis, is our program's ultimate achievement for our students. As such, we are loath to give up an Objective of Completion of the M.S. Thesis. However, as a learning objective that we must find fault with to indicate improvement of our program, it leaves something to be desired.
We will not use "Completion of Master's Thesis" as a learning objective next year.