Review of performance: SC/SS 115 Ethnobotany fall 2009. 29 students enrolled in course. Submitted by Dana Lee Ling
| n | SLO | Program SLOs | I, D, M | Reflection/comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Identify local plants by local and scientific names |
1. Define and explain the concepts, principles, and theories of a field of science. 2. Demonstrate basic cultural literacy of the Micronesian region. 3. Demonstrate the ability to read, speak and write effectively in English about Micronesian Studies Program course content. |
D | 20 | of 29 students were successful on this SLO |
| 2 | Compare and contrast the distinguishing reproductive characteristics of different phyla of plants including mosses, seedless vascular plants, gymnosperms, and angiosperms | D | 22 | ||
| 3 | Label the key morphological features of the different phyla of plants including mosses, seedless vascular plants, gymnosperms, and angiosperms including the morphology of the reproductive structures. | D | 25 | ||
| 4 | Communicate and describe the healing uses of local plants and the cultural contexts in which that healing occurs | D | 29 | ||
| 5 | Contribute, participate in, and experience eating local food made from plants and describe the production process | D | 28 | ||
| 6 | Communicate and describe the use of plants for transportation, for shelter, and in other material culture applications | D | 20 | ||
| 7 | Describe and observe the use, role, and importance of psychoactive plants within their traditional ceremonial cultural contexts | D | 22 | ||
| 8 | Participate in the development and maintenance of an ethnobotanical garden | D | 29 | ||
As in prior terms, the accomplishment of the student learning outcomes on the outline are reported via an assessment portal
The portal is designed to be used as an interactive exploration of work done by the class this term with references to past experiences in [square brackets]. While this is not a direct measurement of student learning, I have argued that this provides a course level portfolio assessment. Although indirect, the outcome, "Students will be able to communicate and describe the healing uses of local plants and the cultural contexts in which that healing occurs," is arguably well evidenced by online evidence. The web page provides photographic evidence of a student accomplishing that particular outcome.
Video would provide a more direct form of evidence, but videos that spanned all activities over the whole term could not be stored on servers nor transmitted over our limited bandwidth networks. The videos would be DVDs sitting in MITC essentially unused and available only to those who can physically access MITC. Photographic web page essays are compact, can be stored, and can be transmitted over our networks. These pages are available both to future sections of the course, students on other campuses, even globally.