Biology 121
Departmental Assessment
A system for continuous improvement — from data collection to compliance reporting, in one place.
The Big Picture
What is Assessment?
Assessment answers one question:
Are students learning what we're teaching?
We pick a specific skill, measure it, look at where students struggle, change our instruction, and check whether it worked.
Why it matters
HLC and ICCB don't just want to see that we collected data — they want evidence that we used it to improve.
Our Bio 121 track record shows exactly that.
The Process
The Assessment Cycle
Each form feeds the next. The system generates all four automatically from the assessment data.
Where We Are
Bio 121 — Three CSLOs, Continuous Improvement
CSLO 1 — Characteristics of Life
CSLO 2 — Hierarchical Org.
CSLO 3 — Scientific Method
Spring 2026 data is partial — 3 of 7 sections reporting. Full data pending.
CSLO 3 Deep Dive
Run 1 Item Analysis — Fall 2024
Weakest: Controls & Variables — 44.4%
Department-wide concern. Not section-specific — all sections scored low on this item. This suggests a curricular issue.
Strongest: Observations — 94.4%
Students can distinguish observations from interpretations. Build on this strength for advanced applications.
125 students assessed · Median 65.8%
8-item instrument · Post-Lab 5 · 50% mastery benchmark
The Challenge
The Current Process is Fragmented
Four platforms. Four places to look.
That's friction — and friction is why participation is low.
Only 1 of 6 faculty completed the reassessment survey this semester.
The Solution
One System. One Link.
The Biology Assessment Hub puts the quiz, the study guide, the faculty dashboard, the reassessment plan, and the compliance reporting in one place.
No Brightspace dependency. No DOMO. No separate survey. No PDF attachments.
Open Biology Assessment Hub🔬 Students
Study guide → quiz → instant results
📊 Faculty
Section data → item analysis → reassessment plan
🏛️ Chair
All sections → trends → forms → ICCB
Student Experience
Study → Quiz → Results
What happens to the data?
Responses go directly to a Google Sheet. Aggregation is instant across all sections — no DOMO, no filter cards, no waiting on OIT.
Faculty and chair see results in real time as students complete the quiz.
Faculty Experience
See Your Data. Respond in Context.
That's the entire reassessment plan.
One text box. In context. With the data right there. No separate survey to find in email.
Multiple sections?
Switcher buttons at the top. BD / HJ / KNPM — click to switch. Each section's data loads independently.
Chair Experience
Department Oversight — Seven Tabs
📊 Overview
Historic trend cards for all 3 CSLOs. Run 1 item analysis. Equity panel — course success, gender, race with flagged subgroups.
🔬 CSLO 3 Live
All 7 sections side by side. Participation, mastery, plan status. Department-wide item analysis — curricular vs. section-specific issues.
📄 Generate Forms
Click a button → Form 1, 2, 3A auto-populates from the data. Print as PDF or download as Word. No blank templates.
🏛️ Program Review v8.2 expanded
Full ICCB Academic Disciplines template (FY2022-2026). FY24 Biology baseline loaded as scaffold reference. Three indicators, 18+ sub-questions, per-course 5-year longitudinal data. Draft/final workflow. Next review: FY2029.
🔎 Audit v8.0
Coordinator-level 8-dimension audit of the assessment & rubric — alignment chain, VALUE mapping, content validity, Bloom's, item quality, reliability, benchmark, learning facilitation. Signed and saved as an immutable record. Chair sees audits read-only; every cycle gets a defensible audit trail for HLC and ICCB review.
📝 Form 3B — Closing the Loop v8.1 new
Part 3 (follow-up on prior SLO improvements and plans) + Part 4 (chair-authored, program-level non-SLO improvements). Program context auto-populates from Hub data; chair writes narrative; coordinator certifies against a four-dimension framework (follow-up accuracy, plan status fidelity, concreteness, data defensibility); overall endorsement triggers an immutable record. Download as the official Form 3B with certification wrapped in.
🏛️ HLC Evidence v8.2 new
Mapped to HLC 2025 Criteria (effective September 1, 2025). Assessment moved from 4.B to 3.E; Program Review from 4.A to 3.F; Student Success from 4.C to 3.G. Hub artifacts (audits, Form 3B, cycle data, rubric) auto-aggregate per criterion with Available / Partial / Missing status. Department adds narrative context. Export as HLC Evidence Matrix.
The chair view is not visible to faculty. Faculty see only their own sections and department-wide aggregates.
Access & Privacy
Your Data is Protected
Try It Now
Scan the QR Code
biologyassessment.ninotech.us
Open on your phone or laptop — explore the student or faculty view