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Biomedical Sciences, BS

Student Outcomes

Assessment of Student Outcomes

Outcome BS-A (new) Foundational Content Mastery in Anatomy

Students in BMS will demonstrate competency in foundational concepts in Anatomy
Objective 1 Students in BMS will demonstrate competency in foundational concepts in Anatomy

Measure 1

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target is not being reached, although the average score this time around was the highest it's been in 4 years of data collection. The non-cumulative nature of content testing in BMS 208 differs from that in BMS 212 and 290. Discussions on how to account for this have been ongoing for two years now, but without resolution.

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target is not being reached. The non-cumulative nature of content testing in BMS 208 differs from that in BMS 212 and 290. We will modify future data collection to account for this.

2018 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target is not being reached

Outcome BS-B (new) Foundational Content Mastery in Microbiology

Students in BMS will demonstrate competency in foundational concepts in Microbiology
Objective 1 Students in BMS will demonstrate competency in foundational concepts in Microbiology

Measure 2

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
Although this was the third consecutive score increase on this metric, the target has not yet been reached.

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
Although there has been some improvement over the past two years, the data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target has not yet been reached.

2018 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target is not being reached

Outcome BS-C (new) Foundational Content Mastery in Physiology

Students in BMS will demonstrate competency in foundational concepts in Physiology
Objective 1 Students in BMS will demonstrate competency in foundational concepts in Physiology

Measure 3

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The average score on this metric (64%) was the highest observed so far, but still falls short of the target of 75%.

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target has not yet been reached.

2018 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target is not being reached

Outcome BS-D (new) Improvement in Understanding Over Time

Students in BMS will exhibit greater understanding of biomedical concepts as a result of time spent in the major
Objective 1 Students in BMS exhibit greater understanding of biomedical concepts as a result of time spent in the major

Measure 4

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The metric for this particular measure entails two assessments for each BMS major that are administered roughly two years apart. This is the third year we have had a cohort with both 'before' and 'after' data points. The 2018 cohort did not exhibit the hoped-for increase, while the 2019 group did show a statistically significant improvement in performance. The overall performance of the 2020 cohort also showed a significant increase, but the disruption caused by the COVID pandemic may have played a role in this.

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The metric for this particular measure entails two assessments for each BMS major that are administered roughly two years apart. Last year was the first year where we had students with both 'before' and 'after' data points. That cohort, unfortunately, did not exhibit the hoped-for improvement over time that we were seeking. However, this year's cohort did show a statistically significant improvement in performance.

2018 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The metric for this particular measure entails two assessments for each BMS major that are administered roughly two years apart. This is the first year where we have data for both time points and can therefore draw preliminary conclusions on our results. The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target is not being reached.

Outcome BS-E Mastery of Upper Level Anatomy

Objective 1 Students in BMS who take upper level courses in Anatomy (BMS does not have an emphasis in, and therefore an assessment of, Anatomy) will demonstrate additional proficiency in this discipline.

Measure 1

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The raw data for this measure come from test scores in BMS 460, a course offered only during the winter semester. This year, winter semester disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic precluded meaningful collection of data. We will revisit this next year.

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
For the 2018 - 2019 assessment cycle, the target for this measure was achieved. Pooled t test results lead us to reject the null hypothesis of no difference in BPE scores between those who took BMS 460 and those who did not (P = 0.0281), with the mean score being higher for those who took it.

2018 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target is not being reached.

Outcome BS-F Mastery of Upper Level Physiology

Objective 1 Students in BMS who take upper level courses in Physiology (BMS does not have an emphasis in, and therefore an assessment of, Physiology) will demonstrate additional proficiency in this discipline.

Measure 2

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
For the 2019 - 2020 assessment cycle, the target for this measure was met. The mean BPE-Physiology score was higher for students who took upper level physiology courses than for those that did not, 3.01 vs. 2.78 (N = 312, P = 0.001).

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
For the 2018 - 2019 assessment cycle, the target for this measure was met. The mean BPE-Physiology score was higher for students who took upper level physiology courses than for those that did not, 3.30 vs. 2.91 (N = 623, P = 0.0171).

2018 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target is not being reached

Outcome BS-G Interpretation of Quantitivative Data

Objective 1 BMS students will demonstrate competency in the interpretation of quantitative data.

Measure 1

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
For the 2019 - 2020 reporting cycle, our target was met for the second consecutive year, but this result is based on fall semester data only. The coronavirus pandemic disrupted data collection for the winter semester.

2019 Status
Achieved
For the 2018 - 2019 reporting cycle, our target was met in both Microbiology and Physiology. This was the first year that the target was met in both subdisciplines.

2018 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target is being reached in the case of Microbiology, and falling just short in the case of Physiology.

Measure 2

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
As mentioned in last year's reporting, rather than base this measure on the score students earn on the 14-question Scientific Data Interpretation (SDI) section of the BPE, a more useful target would be a significant increase in score on the SDI when taken for the second time (students take the BPE twice). By this metric, unlike last reporting cycle, there was no significant improvement in score this time around (P = 0.0578). It should be noted that this year's results are based on a much smaller sample size: the pandemic precluded data collection during the winter term.

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The data collected thus far indicate that student performance is falling well short of our target.

2018 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that student performance is falling well short of our target

Outcome BS-H Communication of Research Results

BMS students will demonstrate proficiency in the communication of research results
Objective 1 BMS students will demonstrate proficiency in the communication of research results.

Measure 1

2020 Status
Achieved
For this reporting period, the average score on the 4-point Oral Presentation rubric was a 3.6. Since the oral presentations at the heart of this measure typically come at the end of each semester, this reporting cycle contains data from the fall semester only. The pandemic precluded collecting data from the winter semester.

2019 Status
Achieved
For the second year running, our results indicate that the target for this measure is being reached.

2018 Status
Achieved
The data collected thus far for this measure indicate that our target is being reached

Measure 2

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
Since the data for this measure are based almost entirely on activities occurring at the end of the academic year (i.e. posters at SSD and other meetings), and since the academic year for this reporting cycle was truncated by the pandemic, there are no results to report.

2019 Status
Achieved
For the 2018 - 2019 reporting cycle, the target for this measure was met. Based on eight students, the average score on the BMS poster presentation rubric was 3.91 out of 4.

2018 Status
Not Yet Achieved
No data for this measure were collected for the 2017 - 2018 academic year.