Review Assessment Report

The Mathematical Sciences Degree continues to have good numbers of declared majors, meeting or exceeding 140 for AY2020/21 and the preceding two academic years. Annual average class retention rates were strong, exceeding 75%. The average class fill rate for AY2020/21 of 66% was good, but showed a drop of 11% from the previous year. The C-pass rate was over our target of 60% for all three years, with a slight increase in AY2019/20. The impacts of COVID are still affecting student learning, most reflected in a decrease in average class retention rates (-5%) and average class fill rates (-11%) from AY2019/20 to AY2020/21. Assessment of MATH 2530 – Calculus III yielded encouraging results, suggesting student strength in the degree’s Graduate Learning Outcome Demonstrate competency in the core concepts of multivariable and vector calculus which includes level curves and surfaces, partial derivatives, gradients, tangent planes, directional derivatives, multiple integrals, and cylindrical and spherical coordinates.

For the current (AY2020/21) and last two academic years, our annual number of graduate awards far exceeded the target of 10 (44 for AY2020/21) while the number of declared Mathematical Sciences Degree majors was approximately 145 each year. Average class size was 19 for AY 2020/21 (there was a decline of about 4 students per class when compared to the previous two years – presumably due to COVID). The annual average class retention rate exceeded 75% for the current and last two academic years and the average class fill rate was 65% or better during the same time period. While the annual C-pass rate for AY2019/20 was 67%, for the current academic year and AY2018/19 the C-pass rate was 63%, just meeting the target of 60%. The increase in the C-pass rate for AY2019/20 may have been the result of classes being pushed suddenly online in the spring of 2020 due to COVID without proctoring software available across the board for the final exam.

MATH 2530 – Calculus III was assessed during AY2020/21 through the use of three assessment questions embedded in the final exam. Each question was scored on the scale {0, 1, 2, 3} with rubric 0 = “Not answered or non-mathematical ‘attempt’”; 1 = “Mathematical attempt but major conceptual or calculational error”; 2 = “Mathematical attempt with minor conceptual or calculational error”; 3 = “correctly answered”. All three assessment questions had mean rubric scores exceeding the target of 2.00, indicating student success in the following MATH 2530 course-level student learning outcomes: determine the dot product of two given vectors (mean 2.68), compute the double integral of a function bounded between two curves (mean 2.12), and compute the gradient vector of a given function (mean 2.65). Student success in these learning outcomes is strong supporting evidence of achievement in the Mathematical Sciences Degree Graduate Learning Outcome.

Assessment of MATH 1510 – Calculus I will be a combination of proctored work from courses taught face-to-face and online. Our rubric scale {0, 1, 2, 3} considers the correctness of the mathematical steps taken to reach an answer and not just the final answer. Currently, online sections of Math 1510 are using Respondus Lockdown Browser + Respondus Monitor as their proctoring software with student work submitted electronically. It is believed that scores across face-to-face and online sections will be comparable given that written work is still collected for online courses. However, the formats for exam delivery may need to be taken into consideration when reviewing assessment results for Math 1510.

New implementation of Respondus Lockdown Browser + Respondus Monitor in higher level math courses that had not been extensively offered online in the past.