Curriculum Examples
Examples of the use of assessment to make changes in the curriculum at Bay Path College:
Development of assessment plans resulted in the development and implementation of scoring rubrics by several departments, including Criminal Justice, Business, and Psychology
Criminal Justice - several adjustments have been made to its curriculum as a result of assessment including:
- Based on findings that students did not perform as well in the oral presentation segment of their Criminalistics Research Project (FSC 331) and needed to work on presenting to an audience that was unfamiliar with the concepts, a module was incorporated at the conclusion of each laboratory that requires students to explain the significance of the exercise and respond to questions.
- In CRJ 340, several areas of concern resulted from the assessment of the student’s “Issues in Juvenile Justice Journal,” including: difficulties defining an appropriate research topic, clearly stating an opinion, and time management skills for the project as a whole. As a result, several changes were made in the course, including: the addition of small group time to present initial positions to peers; the integration of more frequent reviews of journals; the development of an outline detailing the segments and time allotment for each for the oral presentations; and the presentation of examples of effective research proposals and presentations.
Biology – Assessment has resulted in the addition of modules to several of the laboratory exercises to enhance students’ ability to understand the scientific method, test a hypothesis, and increase their understanding of scientific terminology.
