Assessment Outcomes Data Report

CHEM 5520 – FALL 2006 

Instructor:  John L Hubbard 

Course  Description: Advanced treatment of structure/bonding/reactivity across the periodic table; introductory applications of group theory for vibrational and electronic spectroscopy and molecular orbital theory; bioinorganic topics on electron transfer and biocatalysis (2 credits) 

Enrollment: 8 (two graduate students, 6 undergraduates) 

Assessment method: Pre-quiz given in first week (below); evaluation of progress on embedded questions on midterm exams; eventual final exam performance

                                          initial (cor/incor) final (cor/incor)

     Assign ΔH + or ΔH – for the processes:          

      Na(g) à    Na+(g)  + e   3/5   8/0

      H(g) + e-   à  H-(g)    2/6   8/0

      H+(g)  +  e-  à  H(g)    4/4   8/0

     Define:

      electrons     4/4   8/0

      orbital      3/5   8/0

      configuration     4/4   8/0

     “organic” and “inorganic” substances 5/3   8/0

     Explain: 

      formation of H2 molecule    1/7   8/0

      Evidence for chemical bond   3/5   8/0

      interpretation of effective nuclear charge 1/7   8/0 

Outcomes: Many of the students came in with vague or confused answers to the “quiz”. This is not unusual from this instructor’s experience.  By the end of the semester, overall responses about fundamental issues improved greatly.   

Summary:   The course gpa was 3.66.  Seven student evaluations were received; 4 students made written comments.  Among the numerical evaluations, the students ranked the course 4.9 (out of 6) for quality, but marked the instructor 4.6/6.0. Instructor enthusiasm, helpfulness, preparation, and use of class time was ranked at 5.7, 5.0,5.6, and 4.9.   Students ranked opportunity for class participation and availability of extra help 5.6 (very high). Interestingly, the students ranked the course organization 4.0 and the value of the text 4.1 (fairly low).  This suggests the need for a better outline and perhaps for a better text for next year.  The written comments included suggestions that there was too much material for a 2 credit course.  The expansion of the course credit (to 3 credits) was restricted during the quarter-to-semester conversion; this issue could be revisited in the future.