LEARNING
OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT PLANS
Department
of Nutrition
March,
2004
Revised July, 2004
The
Department of Nutrition developed student learning outcomes for its three
academic programs in November of 2003, including: B.S. in Community Health
Nutrition, Dietetic Internship, and M.S. in Health Sciences with a
concentration in nutrition. This
document represents a plan for how the student learning outcomes will be
assessed. Assessment plans were
developed by the department’s undergraduate, dietetic internship, and graduate
teams, respectively, and submitted to the faculty for discussion and approval
in January and February of 2004. The
assessment plans will be instituted in 2004-2005.
A
new mission statement for the Department of Nutrition was approved by the
faculty in February of 2004: “To prepare
professionals who enhance individual and community health through dietetics
practice and to contribute to professional and scholarly knowledge in the
fields of nutrition and dietetics.” This
mission statement strongly supports the
1.
Communicate effectively.
2.
Demonstrate an understanding of the influence of
chemical, microbiological, and physiological disciplines as they affect food
and nutrition.
3.
Integrate psychological, social and economic aspects
of the environment and examine how they individually and collectively affect
food and nutrition.
4.
Utilize critical thinking skills in the
interpretation and application of research methodologies.
5.
Demonstrate an understanding of the science of food
and food policy in promotion of a healthy lifestyle and pleasurable eating in
diverse population groups.
6.
Demonstrate an understanding of the role of
nutrients and food in human health, disease prevention, health promotion, and
medical nutrition therapy.
7.
Apply knowledge of management principles and systems
in planning, monitoring, and evaluating dietetic services and practice and
implementing of quality improvement programs.
8.
Describe the impact of laws, regulations, and costs
on health care systems and food and nutrition programs.
The
procedures for evaluating the program and assessing achievement of learning
outcomes and general education goals will utilize five methods:
During this course, students will:
§
Take the comprehensive exam and receive feedback
(described above).
§
Assemble, submit, present and critically examine
their accumulated portfolio. The students will produce a series of reflective
statements designed to demonstrate their proficiency in the achievement of the
learning outcomes. These reflective
statements will become a part of the portfolio.
§
Complete the exit questionnaire (see below).
The
department’s undergraduate team (undergraduate program director plus rotating
faculty membership) will be charged with evaluation of a representative sample
of the data accumulated from the methods described above.
§
This team will review results of the Comprehensive
Exam, including evaluation of subcategories of the results specific to
particular Learning Outcomes and General Education Goals. Their evaluation will include an overall
assessment (based on an average of the overall performance of all students
taking the exam), as well as identification of any specific weaknesses related
to particular Learning Outcomes and Goals.
§
Student portfolios will be examined and evaluated
using rubrics with respect to the Learning Outcomes and General Education
Goals. After evaluation of all
portfolios in the sample, an average score will be given for each represented
Learning Outcome and Goal.
§
The team will review the questionnaires (submitted
by seniors and alumni) to assess the overall program in terms of perceived
strengths, weaknesses, and contribution to professional endeavors. The Undergraduate Program Director (chair of
the team) will produce a summary of the findings of the team and their
suggestions as to how perceived weaknesses could be addressed.
§
After review of data from the five assessment
methods, the team will determine to what degree each of the Learning Outcomes
are being achieved by the nutrition majors.
The methods such as Comprehensive Exam, Portfolio, and Capstone Course
will provide specific measures of the Learning Outcomes. The questionnaires will permit assessment of
the student and alumni perceptions of the program, and the degree to which the
program prepares majors for pursuit of credentialing, careers, or graduate
education. The report to the faculty by
the undergraduate team will specifically assess each of the Learning Outcomes;
if the accumulated data indicate good to excellent performance for a Learning
Outcome, this will indicate that the majors are successfully achieving the
Learning Outcome. If the data do not
indicate an acceptable level of attainment of a Learning Outcome, the materials
will be examined in depth to attempt to assess whether this result is a
function of the methods of assessment, or a deficiency. There will also be a general evaluation of
the methods of assessment and suggestions for changes or refinements.
§
The report of the team will be presented to the
faculty and discussed at an annual meeting explicitly focused on evaluation of
the results. Faculty will then be
charged with developing modifications to the program, where data clearly
indicate failure in meeting the Learning Outcomes. The faculty will also provide input to the
team on the effectiveness of the assessment procedures and develop improvements
in these procedures where warranted.
At the time of completion of the dietetic
internship, graduates should be able to:
The procedures for evaluating the program and assessing
achievement of all 8 learning outcomes will utilize five methods:
1. Portfolio. Dietetic interns will be required to assemble
a portfolio composed of
materials from the
didactic and supervised practice components of the program that relate to the
Learning Outcomes of the program.
Portfolios will include, but not be limited to, competency statements
and essay on how competencies were achieved, graded projects, case studies,
educational materials developed, preceptor evaluations, presentations, lesson
plans, business plans and summary on areas of strengths and weakness identified
from results of a computerized exam similar to the Registration Exam for
Dietitians. The dietetic internship director will work with the dietetic
interns to ensure that the portfolio materials verify achievement of the
program Learning Outcomes.
The department’s dietetic internship team (dietetic
internship program director plus rotating faculty membership) will be charged
with evaluation of a representative sample of the data accumulated from the
methods described above.
At the time of graduation, students receiving a
graduate degree in health sciences with a concentration in nutrition should be
able to:
1. Demonstrate entry-level competence in
the design, interpretation and ethical conduct of research.
Nutr. 7999, Thesis
Research, includes individual study of a selected investigation in nutrition
under the direction of an approved thesis chair and thesis committee. It is taken for a minimum of six semester
hours. Thesis research requires the
collection and analysis of original data. The thesis constitutes a significant
part of the work towards the master’s degree and is the culmination of all
other activities. The thesis represents
high standards of scholarly inquiry, technical mastery, and literary
skills. Students develop a research
proposal, conduct the research project, write a paper, and orally defend the
thesis during a final oral examination.
The oral defense is attended by members of the student’s thesis committee
and is open to all nutrition faculty and graduate students. Approval of the
thesis is by majority vote of the student’s thesis committee. The thesis will
contribute primarily to assessment of Learning Outcomes 1, 2, and 4 and to a
lesser degree, assessment of Learning Outcomes 3 and 5, depending on the
student’s topic. The student’s thesis
committee will utilize a rubric to evaluate the thesis and produce a written
summary of the student’s performance on each learning outcome assessed through
the thesis research project.
Nutr. 7995, Master’s
Project, includes individual study of a selected topic or issue, under the
direction of an approved graduate committee, resulting in a written paper
judged as suitable for submission to a professional journal. The written paper
follows the manuscript guidelines for authors of the refereed journal. It is
taken for a minimum of six semester hours.
The master’s project can include the collection of original data or the
use of an existing data set. The
master’s project constitutes a significant part of the work towards the
master’s degree and is the culmination of all other activities. Students develop a proposal, conduct the
project, write a paper in the form of a manuscript, and orally defend the results
of the project. The oral defense is attended by members of the student’s
master’s project committee and is open to all nutrition faculty and graduate
students. Approval of the master’s project is by majority vote of the student’s
committee. The master’s project will contribute primarily to assessment of
Learning Outcomes 1, 2, and 4 and to a lesser degree, assessment of Learning
Outcomes 3 and 5, depending on the student’s topic. The student’s master’s project committee will
utilize a rubric to evaluate the master’s project and produce a written summary
of the student’s performance on each learning outcome assessed through the
master’s project.
All
graduate students not completing a master’s project or thesis will enroll in a
portfolio seminar course during the last semester of their program and will
assemble, submit, and critically examine a portfolio. The portfolio will be composed of graded
assignments and materials from their courses.
All submitted materials will be evaluated by course instructors using
rubrics that have been developed by faculty in the department. Portfolio
materials will be selected by the students, with guidance from faculty advisors
and the portfolio seminar instructor, and may include case studies, written
homework assignments, papers and presentations produced at the completion of a
project, etc. The portfolio will
contribute primarily to assessment of Learning Outcomes 2, 3, 4 and 5 and to a
lesser degree, assessment of Learning Outcome 1.The faculty advisor and portfolio seminar instructor will work with the
student to insure that their portfolios incorporate all required materials and
sufficiently demonstrate their achievement of the Learning Outcomes. Using a rubric, student’s portfolios will be
evaluated by the portfolio seminar instructor and the faculty advisor and they
will also produce a written summary of the students’ performance on each
learning outcome assessed through the use of portfolios.
2. End-of-Program
Questionnaire. All students will
complete a questionnaire (anonymously) about the M.S. degree program in
nutrition at the end of their program of study.
The graduate team will produce a written summary of the results.
3. Alumni
Questionnaire. Nutrition alumni will
be asked to complete an alumni questionnaire which assesses whether they
have entered a doctoral program or are pursing a career, and, if employed,
whether their education as a nutrition major is of value in their current
position and how; whether the major has contributed in significant ways to
their current endeavors; etc. Alumni
will be asked to complete these questionnaires at one year and three years post
graduation. The graduate team will
produce a written summary of the results.
The
department’s graduate team (graduate program director plus rotating faculty
membership) will be charged with evaluation of a representative sample of the
data accumulated from the methods described above.