Assessment
at the University of Nebraska at Kearney

department assessment
    > Chemistry Department
    > Standardized Testing

assessment home | department means | department home

ASSESSMENT PLAN
The department gives standardized ACS exams as finals in all courses that count toward the chemistry major and minor.
1999-2000 ASSESSMENT
1998-99 ASSESSMENT
1997-98 ASSESSMENT
1996-97 ASSESSMENT
1995-96 ASSESSMENT
During the 1995-96 academic year, we administered standardized ACS exams in all courses that count toward a major and minor unless said exams do not exist for a particular course.

At the October departmental meeting there was considerable discussion pertinent to the scores on the pre-test given to the students who enroll for Chemistry 160. While there was strong sentiment in the Department to pro-actively advise students with low pre-test scores out of the course, the decision was made to leave this to the discretion of individual instructors for the 96-97 academic year. This decision will be reviewed in the Fall. There was also strong sentiment to create an alternative for students who do very well on this pre-test. While a number of alternatives were presented, which ranged from skip the course to the creation of an honors section, no Departmental consensus emerged. This issue will be revisited next Fall.

In general, it is important to note that the scores have improved in several courses including general chemistry. The Department is generally satisfied with the scores on the standardized ACS exams that are given in the majority of courses in the Department. These scores in general validate what we are doing.

In Chemistry 160, a diagnostics test was administered on the first day of class. Additionally, an information sheet was collected for all students who take Chemistry 160. We hope to eventually match the pre-test scores to student backgrounds in order to better advise students, and we hope to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our entering students as they pertain to success in college chemistry.

1994-95 ASSESSMENT
Test scores on ACS standardized exams are essentially unchanged from the 1993-94 academic year.
1993-94 ASSESSMENT
Test scores have improved in general chemistry. Test scores in other courses, particularly organic chemistry, remain excellent.

assessment home | department means | department home

17 May 2005
academicpublications@unk.edu