BASELINE ASSESSMENT OF THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Baseline Assessment of the Undergraduate students on the Environment

What is Baseline Assessment?

Why Baseline Assessment is important?

Case Study:

In the following article, a case study on the baseline assessment of the students is discussed. This will help in giving insights and understanding on doing one for your class.

A baseline assessment of the environment was carried out for the first-year undergraduate students. The assessment question is designed to assess the prior knowledge of the environment.

The objectives are as follows:

1.   To provide an insight on the level of information, and knowledge of the students on the environment.

2.   To have information on the degree of analytical, thinking, and reasoning abilities of the students in the environment.

3.   To develop the lesson plans for the coming classes by identifying the needs, and prior knowledge of the students.

     Methodology:

     The questionnaire was taken in the physical model. The question sheets were distributed to the students in the class. They were given 15 minutes for taking the assessment.

     The students were briefed on the objectives and significance of taking the baseline assessment exams. 

     Questionnaire:

     The multiple-choice based questionnaire covered basic questions on the environment from ecology, natural resources, sustainability, renewable resources, pollution, waste management, and general awareness. Some questions were based on images, graphs, and numerical. The distribution of the questions into different categories and the assessment criteria are given in the table below,

The total number of questions was 13

Questionnaire: The category and the assessment criteria.

Question No.	Category	Assessment Criteria
Q.1.	The concept of the environment. Image-based	Thinking and Reasoning.
Q.2.	The atmosphere and ozone.	Information.
Q.3.	Global warming, fossil fuels, GHGs and Population rise.	Knowledge, and information. Thinking and reasoning.
Q.4.	Recent COP	Information and General Knowledge.
Q.5.	Red Data List	Information.
Q.6.	the pH of the river water	Knowledge, Analysis and Calculation.
Q.7.	Ecology and trophic levels	Information and Knowledge.
Q.8.	Resources: Renewable and non-renewable	Information and Knowledge.
Q.9.	Numerical and calculation	Analysis and Calculation.
Q.10.	Biodegradable and non-biodegradable materials.	Information, Knowledge and Analysis.
Q.11.	The environmental changes. Graph-based	Analysis
Q.12.	Resource depletion and the pollution	Knowledge. Thinking, Reasoning and Logic.
Q.13.	Biogeochemical and nutrient cycle, food web, the food chain. Image-based.	Information and Knowledge.

 Questionnaire: 

Department of Management

Grade: 1^st year, Undergraduate.

Total strength: 57

Attempted: 33

Results and Discussions:

Question number	Answered Correct	Answered Incorrect	Unanswered
Q.1.	06	27	00
Q.2.	25	07	01
Q.3.	03	30	00
Q.4.	12	20	01
Q.5	15	15	00
Q.6	26	07	00
Q.7.	06	24	03
Q.8.	01	32	00
Q.9	22	09	02
Q.10.	14	18	01
Q.11.	26	06	01
Q.12.	21	08	04
Q.13.	16	16	01

The following points and observations were obtained after the test.

1.  Question 1 was attempted wrong by a majority. Most of them mark dense forests in answer to the question. A few did mark a picture of a castle in the woods in understanding the environment.

The results show that the concept of environment, in general, is limited to leaves, forests and natural landscape. An idea of including human beings and man-made structures, as a part of the environment, seems to be missing. Also, a realization of the place of human beings in the environment might be limited.

2.  Question 3 has been answered incorrectly by a majority. Some of them did mark fossil fuel and greenhouse gases as the cause of global warming but did not mark the population rise as its cause.

It shows that the connections between the cause and effect of global warming are limited. The understanding of the relationship between humans and global warming is limited. Also, knowledge of fossil fuel and their mechanism in causing global warming seems to be missing.

3.  Most of the students answered question 4 incorrectly. Many of them mark Rio de Janerio in answer to the question, which shows they have some idea about the COP.

The results imply their exposure to the global scenario is limited. Also, it might be assumed that the understanding and the gravity of the consequences of climate change, and environmental degradation globally is not deep. It might be seen as one of the missing factors in affecting the impact on the thinking of the students on global climate changes.  

4.  Questions 8 and 10 were based on information and knowledge on the basics of renewable, biodegradable and non-biodegradable resources. The majority of the students did not answer it completely correct. The students did mark some options correctly.

The results show that students have an idea of these concepts and require more examples and awareness to build a better understanding.

5.  Questions 7 and 13 were based on information and knowledge of the basics of ecology, food chain and biogeochemical cycles. A majority of students attempted it wrongly.

The results show that the concept and knowledge of the ecosystem, biogeochemical cycle and nutrient cycle are missing.

6.  Most of the students attempted questions on calculations, graphs and images correctly. They also answered correctly on resources and pollution, except for a few who did not attempt it at all.

7. The results show that on average the class has a basic understanding and skills in calculation, graphs and figures.