Cover Letter:

November 21, 1996

TO: Chemistry Department Faculty

FROM: Clark R. Landis, John W. Moore and G. Earl Peace

RE: Curricular Innovation Survey

On November 11, we distributed copies of a survey asking your opinions on evaluating curricular innovations. To date (11/21), we have received fourteen responses. Not only are your opinions and comments most welcome in the general sense, they are critically important to us as we attempt to design assessment strategies to measure the degree of success that innovations developed through the New Traditions Project have in facilitating student learning.

With apologies if you returned the original survey, we are sending another copy with this letter. If you have not already completed a survey, please take a few minutes to complete this one, and return it to us by November 26. It is our intent that this survey be anonymous, but feel free to include your name if you wish.

We expect to share the results with everyone in the Department as soon as the item analysis is complete. At that time, we may also ask a few additional questions that may come out of this analysis. If you have any questions or comments about this survey, please feel free to share them with any of us. Comments may be entered in the space allotted at the end of the survey form.

Thank you for your input.

Survey:

We, at the New Traditions project, would like your opinions evaluating curricular innovations. What constitutes compelling evidence to you that an instructional or curriculum innovation is or is not worth incorporating into your course? Please take a few minutes to respond to this survey. We invite you to discuss the question of meaningful evaluations with us at any time; your opinions and comments are most welcome.

Please rate the importance of each of the following indicators of the effectiveness of instructional or curriculum reform by circling one number in each row (l = most important, 5 = least important).

Student performance on:

	ACS standardized exams……………………………………………	1 2 3 4 5
	typical questions you use on your exams……………………………	1 2 3 4 5
	challenging essay questions or open-ended questions that you might typically use on your exams……………………………………………	1 2 3 4 5
	the application of chemical principles to a novel real world problem - ability to apply principles to new problems…………………………	1 2 3 4 5
	exam questions prepared by a panel of Chemistry Department faculty who are not directly connected to the courses being evaluated………	1 2 3 4 5
	exam questions written by faculty chemists from outside of the UW Chem Dept. or from other colleges/universities who are not directly connected to the courses being evaluated……………………	1 2 3 4 5
	exam questions written by industrial chemists who are not directly connected to the courses being evaluated……………………………	1 2 3 4 5
	performance on a lab practicum……………………………………..	1 2 3 4 5

Student success in:

	future chemistry courses……………………………………………	1 2 3 4 5
	subsequent science and engineering courses, other than chemistry….	1 2 3 4 5
	the undergraduate program as a whole…………………………………	1 2 3 4 5

The probability that a student will:

	choose a science/engineering major…………………………………	1 2 3 4 5
	become a chemistry major……………………………………………	1 2 3 4 5
	become engaged in undergraduate research………………………….	1 2 3 4 5
	graduate from the University…………………………………………	1 2 3 4 5
	matriculate into postgraduate science/engineering programs…………..	1 2 3 4 5

Other indicators, such as:

	how much a student values learning chemistry (beyond completing a prerequisite)…………………………………………………………	1 2 3 4 5
	student confidence in using chemistry principles……………………	1 2 3 4 5
	student interest in chemistry…………………………………………	1 2 3 4 5
	student ability to use the vocabulary of chemistry accurately………..	1 2 3 4 5
	improved or renewed faculty enthusiasm for teaching………………	1 2 3 4 5

Please rate the importance of the following to your interest in incorporating an instructional or

curricular innovation in your course (1 = most important, 5 = least important):

	data showing increased student achievement in chemistry…………….	1 2 3 4 5
	data showing increased student interest in chemistry………………….	1 2 3 4 5
	amount of faculty time needed to implement innovations into the course	1 2 3 4 5

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. We value your input. We expect to share

the results of this survey with each of you as soon as the item analysis is complete. At that time,

we may also ask a few additional questions that may come out of this analysis. If you have any

questions or comments about this survey, please feel free to share them with any member of the

New Traditions Project staff:

John W. Moore, co-PI jwmoore@chem.wisc.edu

Clark R. Landis, co-PI landis@chem.wisc.edu

G. Earl Peace, Jr., Assoc. Director gpeacejr@facstaff.wisc.edu

Comments :