Goal and Outcomes
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QEP Goal
The overarching goal of the QEP will be to improve academic performance in gateway
science courses. Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ will monitor two measures to assess the overall success of the
QEP goal:
- Student success rates in BIOL 1014 and 1020
- Student success rates in subsequent science course
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QEP Learning Objectives
The learning objectives for the QEP can be broken into two broad categories: critical
thinking skills and discipline-specific knowledge. The student learning outcomes for
critical thinking will align with those indicated by scores on the Critical Thinking
Assessment Test (CAT). The QEP implementation committee developed a mnemonic to reflect
the student learning outcomes for discipline-specific knoweldge:ÌýFormulate,Observe,ÌýCommunicate,ÌýUse, andÌýSynthesize. Together, these outcomes will demonstrate a development of critical thinking
skills as well as content-specific knowledge.
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ÌýStudent Learning Outcomes for Critical Thinking (as defined by the CAT, (https://www.tntech.edu/cat/about/skills):
- Separate factual information from inferences
- Understand the limitations of correlational data
- Evaluate evidence and identify appropriate conclusions
- Identify alternative interpretations for data or observations
- Identify new information that supports/contradicts a hypothesis
- Explain how new information can change a problem
- Separate relevant information from irrelevant information
- Integrate information to solve problems
- Learn and apply new information
- Communicate ideas effectively
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Student Learning Outcomes for Content Knowledge:
- FormulateÌýa coherent understanding of the relationship between tissues, organs, and organ systems
from a structural and functional perspective (BIOL 1014), andÌýFormulateÌýa coherent understanding of the characteristics of living things and describe how
these are expressed at the cellular and sub-cellular level (BIOL 1020).
- ObserveÌýthe natural world and explain the importance of the scientific method to understanding
natural phenomenon (BIOL 1014/1020).
- CommunicateÌýanatomical terminology to identify and describe locations of major organs of each
system studied (BIOL 1014), and articulate scientific data and ideas, including the
use of written, oral, and electronic media to diverse audiences (BIOL 1020).
- UseÌýthe basic components of models and explain how models can be used to address biological
questions and use appropriate information to solve biological problems (BIOL 1014/1020).
- SynthesizeÌýinformation to develop a conceptual understanding of biological processes and methods
(BIOL 1014/1020), andÌýSynthesizeÌýscientific data and information to develop hypotheses (BIOL 1020).
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