Students scrubber diving

Assessment



College of Science & Mathematics

Master of Science in Marine & Environmental Science
Student Outcomes Learning 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 thesis defense, thesis proposal, funding requests, thesis proposal presentation, and poster presentation will be analyzed for completion of the Learning Objectives.

Student Learning Outcomes
  1. 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
  2. Students completing the MMES program will have an in-depth understanding of the biological, physical, and natural resource management issues related to their thesis topic
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. Students completing the MMES program will be able to obtain employment in conducting scientific work or natural resource management or they will obtain admission into a PhD program
  8. Students in the MMES program will be able to complete a thesis and thesis defense within six academic semesters of entering the program