Deliver A Curriculum With Appropriate Discipline Specific Knowledge
Students will learn the appropriate advance Applied GIS knowledge and skills.
Objective
Demonstrate Advanced Applied GIS Knowledge And Skills
Each student will demonstrate the ability to communicate knowledge of advanced applied GIS.
Indicator
Mastery Of Advanced Applied GIS Knowledge - Written Comprehensive Exams
All graduate students will demonstrate a mastery of applied GIS knowledge through a set of written graduate comprehensive examinations, administered by a faculty committee. The examination will consist of questions about the practical and theoretical basis for the application of Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing techniques to real world problems. A committee of faculty members with expertise in the subject areas will evaluate students’ performance and give a mark of Fail, Pass, or High Pass in each examined area.
Criterion
80% First Time Pass Rate For Written Comprehensive Exams
Each student needs to earn at least a "Pass" mark in each examined area to pass the written comprehensive exams. Each student is allowed two attempts. Faculty expect that at least 80% of graduate students will pass their exam on their first attempt. 100% will pass on their second attempt.
Finding
Written Comprehensive Exams
Comprehensive Examinations (Fall 2012): 5 graduate students were scheduled for examinations. All 5 students passed the exam for a 100% success rate. One of the five students scored "High Pass" in all three examined fields. Two more students scored "High Pass" in at least one examined field.
Comprehensive Examinations (Spring 2013): 4 graduate students were scheduled for examinations. All 4 students passed the exam for a 100% success rate. Only one student scored "High Pass" in oneof the three examined fields.
Action
Comprehensive Examinations
Faculty have high standard and expectation from the comprehensive examinations. The decreasing number of students scoring "High Pass" from Fall 2012 to Spring 2013 may reflect the increasing evaluation standard, not necessarily the variation in the quality of students.