Archived Assessment Report
| Program | Computer Science Degree |
| Assessment Reporter | [email protected] |
| Theme | Practicing Community |
| Review Year | 2024-2025 - Final Report |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Focus Area |
|---|---|
| 5. Debug peer code and create collaborative application using interfaces. | Are students prepared to debug peer code in a workplace setting? |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Description of Assessment Tool | Population or Courses Assessed | Hypothetical Analysis/Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. Debug peer code and create collaborative application using interfaces. | Brightspace Final Exam | CSCI 2251 Interm Prog | 70% of students will score 70% or higher. |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Summary of Results | Reflection on Focus Area | Intepretation of Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. Debug peer code and create collaborative application using interfaces. | 83% of students scored 70% or higher on the CSCI 2251 final exam. The average grade was as 79 and the median was a 76. Zeros and incompletes were not included. | Yes, assessment questions were written specifically to assess student ability to identify problems with unfamiliar code. | Results show that students are understanding the material to the desired degree. |
| 5. Debug peer code and create collaborative application using interfaces. | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | Emphasis on program design and commenting / debugging continues to be a core part of the curriculum, emphasized in each and every assignment. No changes are planned at this time other than minor improvements and expansion of final exam questions. |
| Type of Change |
|
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | No, it will not. |
| What data motivated the change? | The final exam scores are averaging in the solid B range. The lack of 100% scores indicates that some questions could be improved in terms of clarity. |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | Improved clarity will make it so the skill being assessed is actually the student's programming ability rather than reading comprehension (though that is also an important skill). |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Description of Assessment Tool | Population of Courses Assessed |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Debug peer code and create collaborative application using interfaces. | Final exam | CSCI 2251 Intermediate Programming (Java) |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Summary of Second Round Results | Intepretation of Results, Pre- and Post-Change | Follow up questions, possible next steps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. Debug peer code and create collaborative application using interfaces. | 89% of students scored 70% or higher on the CSCI 2251 final exam. The median grade was 87%, and these results are including zeros and incompletes. Without those, the grades are even higher with 94% scoring above 70% and a median grade of 88%. This new data is from Fall 2025 and includes fewer students than before. | We will continue to assess and continue to work on improving the lecture and assessment quality. There is no recommended changes at this point. Grades are trending upwards, but this is such a small data set that it would be foolish to put too much stock in it. |
Describe any change in student achievement observed as part of this assessment process, and what led to those changes.
We will continue to assess and continue to work on improving the lecture and assessment quality. There is no recommended changes at this point. Grades are trending upwards, but this is such a small data set that it would be foolish to put too much stock in it.
Describe long-term changes in the program(s) that the assessment process led to, and what motivated those changes?
The scores are higher than before and continue to average in the B range. The lack of 100% scores might be a concern with respect to the instructions on the exam. These latest results include only 17 students, compared to 36 before. Both sample sizes are quite small and may not indicate significant improvement.
What did you learn about the teaching and learning of "Practicing Community" in your programs?
89% of students scored 70% or higher on the CSCI 2251 final exam. The median grade was 87%, and these results are including zeros and incompletes. Without those, the grades are even higher with 94% scoring above 70% and a median grade of 88%. This new data is from Fall 2025 and includes fewer students than before.
Describe any external factors affecting the program or affecting assessment of the program.
None