In order to promote better research and communications skills of its majors, the Oceanography Department at the United States Naval Academy has a public speaking and scientific writing continuum within its Oceanography and Meteorology-based curriculum. Each course in the major curriculum has a requirement for either oral or written presentation about a topic in that particular course. This process culminates in a Senior Capstone Seminar Course.
The objective of the Senior Capstone Course is for students to write a senior thesis on a topic that builds upon the complete coursework in the major. Further, each student prepares a 25-minute oral presentation describing the salient points of their research. There are four versions of the Senior Capstone Seminar Course (Physical Oceanography, Biological Oceanography, Geographical Information Systems, and Meteorology). This paper will focus on the systematic assessment of the Meteorology Capstone Course. The data presented were compiled from several assessment tools aimed at evaluating the course's effectiveness from a student's perspective.
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