College of Science & Mathematics
Master of Marine & Environmental Science
Student Learning Objectives and Assessment
Learning Objectives
The main objective of the Master of Science program in Marine and Environmental Sciences
(MMES) at the University of the Virgin Islands is to provide training and skills necessary
for planning, conducting, and evaluating research in marine and environmental science
as well as communicating the scientific rationale of management alternatives. Students
will learn how to utilize research to manage natural resources, with a particular
focus on the issues and challenges related to natural resource management in the Caribbean
region. Students will learn to work within a broader intellectual framework considering
the social, political, economic and legal ramifications of their environmental research,
becoming conversant in the language of both research and resource management. Graduates
of the program are prepared for a wide array of careers in academic, government, non-profit,
and private sectors.
Assessment Methods
Rubrics created for assessment of literature review, project proposal, funding requests,
proposal presentation, poster presentation, capstone project components, and thesis
defense or professional internship experience presentation will be analyzed for completion
of the Learning Objectives.
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students completing the MMES program will have a foundational understanding of biological
and physical processes across a land-sea gradient, as well as natural resource management
issues as they pertain to these processes
- Students completing the MMES program will have an in-depth understanding of the biological,
physical, and natural resource management issues related to their topic
- Students completing the MMES program will know how to obtain funding for a research
problem that they have identified and designed a scientific approach to solving
- Students completing the MMES program will be able to effectively communicate scientific
issues, questions, and studies, including natural resource management issues, in writing
to the scientific community
- Students completing the MMES program will be able to effectively communicate scientific
questions and studies, including natural resource management issues, orally to the
academic community
- Students completing the MMES program will be able to effectively communicate scientific
questions and studies, as well as natural resource management issues to the general
public
- Students completing the MMES program will be able to obtain employment in conducting
scientific work or natural resource management, or admission into a PhD program
- Students in the MMES program will be able to complete a thesis and thesis defense
or professional internship experience within the program
