Browse Database – Assessment for Learning at Boston College

Assessment Details

Academic Year: 2020-2021 Level: Undergraduate

Campus Department: Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences [UG and Grad]

Program Type: Major [UG] / Program [Grad]

Program Name: Environmental Studies BA (Link)

Description of Data Collection:

(a) Introductory Seminar (ENVS1100): Our assessment process begins from the time the students enter the major. As part of their Introductory Seminar, each student fills out a Google Sheet course plan and statement of goals for their major curriculum. Advisors meet with their advisees each semester and review their Google Sheet, making amendments to the goals and course plan as needed.
(b) Senior Research Seminar (ENVS4941 & 4942): When ENVS students are seniors, we use the Senior Research Seminar as a means to have students reflect on their goals and path through the major, assess student learning, and track progress after graduation. ENVS core faculty meet to review the seminar research papers for strengths and weaknesses and discuss the learning process throughout the year.
The Senior Research Seminar also aims to get students involved in community-based research projects. Over the past three years student teams have worked with Boston Harbor Now, The Atlantic Shark Conservancy, The New England Aquarium, the Sierra Club and a community food organization in Milton-Mattapan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that restricted class field trips and discouraged student trips off campus, the professor chose a more traditional model in 2021 of having student teams conduct research in her own area of scholarship, animal studies. Student evaluations showed that this model was not effective at engaging students in research and students overwhelmingly wanted greater autonomy on the project development. In 2022AY, we will go back to community-based projects that both address real world environmental issues and allows students to gain research skills within their concentration.
(c) Senior thesis. In 2021AY, we had ten students complete theses, with eight of them qualifying for Program honors. A committee evaluated the theses in early May and selected the best senior thesis for its high level of academic rigor and data analysis to answer specific research questions (awarded to Ting Yao Lin)
(d) Environmental Studies Undergraduate Research Symposium. Presenting senior research projects to the community has become an increasingly important element within the ENVS Program. In spring of 2020, we were unable to hold the symposium due to the COVID-19 pandemic and switch to remote learning. However, after a year’s experience of running remote events, in 2021 we hosted a virtual poster symposium where students who completed a senior thesis or who were in one of the research seminars, ENVS4942 (majors) and ENVS4943 (minors) presented their research (See the 2021 program here). Technologically, this was a very successful event, although attendance was lower than for past in-person symposia.
e) Exit Survey for Majors: We ask seniors to fill out an online survey that evaluates the major program and their learning. Trends from the 2017-2021 Environmental Studies (ENVS) Major Exit Survey (N=53):
● 83% of respondents felt that their major was impactful or very impactful in helping them discern their vocation.
● 96% of respondents believe the ENVS major has prepared them to lead a rewarding life as a responsible citizen of the planet.
● On a scale of 1 (very low) to 5 (very high), students self ranked their understanding of the following concepts:
○ Interdependencies between human societies and natural environments: AVE 4.6
○ Climate change science, mitigation, and adaptation: AVE 4.51
○ Sustainability: AVE 4.39
○ Environmental policy: AVE 4.05
○ Environmental ethics: AVE 3.96
○ Holistic, systems approach: AVE 3.87
○ Food-Energy-Water Nexus: AVE 3.84
○ Global freshwater crisis: AVE 3.81
● On a scale of 1 (very low) to 5 (very high), students self ranked their skills in the following areas:
○ Use interdisciplinary thinking and techniques to approach environmental problems: AVE 4.63
○ Develop an argument using evidence: AVE 4.45
○ Communicate across disciplines and with diverse groups: AVE 4.43
○ Critically analyze a scientific study: AVE 4.21
○ Design an independent research project that addresses an environmental problem. AVE: 4.19
○ Creatively envision and implement sustainable alternatives. AVE: 4.07
● By the beginning of May in the year they graduated, 30% of the respondents found employment in an environmental field, 7% were employed in a non-environmental field, 13% were accepted into graduate school, 10% were traveling/not pursuing employment or graduate school, and 40% were seeking full or part time employment.
● 82% of seniors plan to enter graduate school at some time, with 39% planning on a Masters of Arts or Sciences Program, 17.6% interested in a JD, and 13.7% planning to enter a MBA program.
(f) Internship Participation (Combined results from 2019-2021 Survey, N=26)
Beginning with the class of 2019 we began tracking how many majors completed an internship in an environmentally related field during their time at BC. We created an internship 1-credit ENVS course code that students could register for in order to apply an internship experience to their major. Eighty-eight percent of majors completed an internship, with 30% being in the non-profit sector, 26% done with a for-profit business, and 13% in government. While this is a small sample size, this result suggests that the majority of students are getting internships, which is an important experience for discerning career paths.
(g) Career Development. To assess our 4th program goal–a solid background for environmentally related graduate programs and/or careers in business, education, law, policy, planning, government, or research– we maintain a Linked In Group for Environmental Studies alumni, which shows that graduates with an Environmental Studies BA are finding jobs in a variety of careers including sustainability management, environmental consulting, environmental law, K-12 education, health profession, renewable energy development, food policy, ESG analytics, and many others.

Review Process:

The core ENVS faculty, Tara Pisani Gareau, Andrew Jorgenson, and Visiting Assistant Professor Jennifer Kelly evaluate senior theses for program honors and review the final papers from the Senior Research Seminar for academic merit. We also meet as a team several other times during the academic year to discuss program development, including course needs and students’ progress.
The Steering Committee meets twice a year (once in fall and once in the spring) to discuss curriculum questions that arise for the major and minor program, hiring plans (a need for the program with growing enrollment), and program events.

Resulting Program Changes:

and Food and Water Sustainability, which is one reason they were phased out.
Based on feedback from our Steering Committee and Curriculum Committee, we also changed the foundation requirements of the major to include one environmental sociology course, one environmental history course and one research methods course. The new requirements ensure that all majors have a solid foundation in the social sciences as they do in the environmental sciences foundations and are prepared to conduct research in their senior year.
We have found that the quality of work in the Senior Research Seminar as well as in Senior Theses has improved due to new foundation requirements, specifically having a required research methods course. We also receive complimentary comments from faculty who teach Environmental Studies electives about the quality of scholarship coming from students in the Environmental Studies Program. The 2022 academic year will tell us more about how the curriculum changes put into place in 2020 affected learning outcomes for the 22 cohort.

Date of Most Recent Program Review:

Attachments (if available)