Ohlone College Program Review Report

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Ohlone College

Program Review Report

• Program Description and Scope:

o Program Review Title: Geology o Academic year: 2015/2016

o Review Type: Instructional Disciplines o Program/Departments: Geology (22002)

o Authority Code: 44-Dean, Science, Engineering, and Mathematics o External Regulations: Yes No X

o Provide a brief narrative that describes the instructional program/discipline:

The Geology program is a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary program that offers core classes in geology (GEOL 101), as well as oceanography (GEOL 102),

paleontology and dinosaurs (GEOL 103), global change (GEOL 105, new course), California geology (GEOL 104, new course in development), and the associated laboratory courses (101L, 102L, 103L/105L). The program offers the Associate of Science Transfer Degree in Geology as well as certificates of completion in Geology, Earth & Environmental Sciences, and Paleobiology.

The Associate of Science Transfer Degree in Geology offered by Ohlone College is designed to prepare students for studying Geology at most universities. The core courses required in the A.S. Degree in Geology fulfill the lower division

requirements for most campuses of the CSU and UC systems. The program will enable students to develop a strong foundation in the physical sciences.

• College Mission:

o Mission Statement:

Ohlone College responds to the educational needs of our diverse community and economy by offering high quality instruction supporting basic skills, career

development, university transfer, and personal enrichment and by awarding associate degrees and certificates to eligible students in an innovative,

multicultural environment where successful learning and achievement are highly valued, supported, and continually assessed.

o Program Relation to College Mission: o State Your Program Mission/Purpose:

The Geology program at the Ohlone College is designed to provide the lower division transfer requirements for geology, earth science, and environmental science majors, general science education to other potential transfer students (both science and non-science majors), and personal growth toward improved scientific literacy to all other Ohlone students and the community at large. The general scope of the Geology program at the Ohlone College is to provide an understanding of the processes that shape the Earth and to develop a view of

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the Earth from the physical, historical, and cultural perspective. Special attention is given to the global geological phenomena (moving plates, volcanoes,

earthquakes, mountain-building, landslides, glaciers, etc.), “deep” time, and the interaction between humans and their environment. This program also explores examines the history of life from its beginnings to the dawn of civilization and provides a basic understanding of the prehistoric life in terms of the changing Earth and its climate, evolution, mass extinctions, and the fossil record.

o Briefly Describe Program Accomplishments:

Accomplishments

• _{Achievement and Resource Data Analysis:}

1. Research Questions:

• Resource Assessment Summary:

1. Academic Year: 2013-14

2. Activity Center Fund 10 Budget Allocation: $0 3. FTES: Fall: 19 Spring: 20 Summer: 0

4. WSCH/FTEF: Fall: 492 Spring: 584 Summer: 0 5. Course Sections Offered: Fall: 6 Spring: 5 Summer: 0 6. Sections Taught FT Faculty: Fall: 5 Spring: 4 Summer: 0 7. Sections Taught PT Faculty: Fall: 1 Spring: 1 Summer: 0

• Human Resources:

1. # of FT Faculty: 1 2. # of PT Faculty: 3. # of Classified Staff: 4. # of Administrators:

5. % Faculty release/reassigned time: 6. Technology:

 Specialized Software

 Technology Enhanced Instructional Equipment

7. Physical Resources:

 General Classrooms  Specialized Labs

• Program Analysis PSLOs - Student Learning:

(Key: I-Introduced, P-Practiced with Feedback, M-Demonstrated at the Mastery Level)

1. PSLO Matrix:

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GEOL 101 M I I GEOL 102 I I I GEOL 102L P P I GEOL 103 I I P GEOL 103L I P P GEOL 104 I I P GEOL 190 GEOL 213

2. Please Indicate the PSLO(s) which you are reporting on:

 List and explain the geological hazards (earthquakes, volcanoes, seismic

sea waves) and natural resources (earth materials, precious metals, fossil fuels) in North America and local area and their relationship to the theory of plate tectonics.

 Demonstrate the scientific and geographic literacy by identifying major

geographic and tectonic features on the map and applying unit conversions to the metric system of measurement.

 Use the geologic time scale and list major events in earth history as

related to that scale.

3. Analyze and summarize your assessment findings â?? What in the data jumped

out?

4. Give examples of assessments used for your PSLO analysis: 5. Describe input from Program Advisory Committee (if applicable): 6. Comments:

• Program Improvement Objectives

1. Based on the program data analysis and PSLO analysis, identify your Program

Improvement Objective(s): What are you going to do? Why are you going to do it?

To improve student experience with earth materials by reinstating the field trip fund that were zeroed out during the last series of budget cuts ($500 per semester in previous years) to the Geology Department.

Notes (optional): Please include any notes related to your PIO. (2500 Character limit)

Field experience is essential to the earth science education in college and its effectiveness in hands-on learning cannot be overemphasized. As a result of the elimination of field trip funds we had to reduce the participation of students in

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field trips and/or ask students to cover all costs.

Program PIO will address the following:  Student Learning & Achievement  Course Retention

 Success Rates

How will you assess the effectiveness of your PIO:

Monitoring the enrollment and completion trends.

PIO Action Plan:

How will you accomplish this?

Getting the approval of the administration and the MSE Division Dean for restoring funding for geology/oceanography/paleontology field trips to at least $500 annually in order to maintain/improve the quality of earth science

education at the Ohlone College.

What is your timeline?

To have the funds at least partially reinstated for 2016-2017 academic year.

Who is going to do this?

the Administration and the Dean

PIO Status:

 In-Progress

Closing the loop - Describe the results of your PIO implementation or completion: Conclusion: Complete if PIO has been completed

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 Was this requested in 2015-16 budget meeting ???

PIO Resources:

 Resource: Other Budget Related Resources Needed

Description: Field trip money Est. Cost: $500.00

Hiring a technician for the Geology/Anthropology/Geography departments.

The use of new equipment and management of the old equipment in the earth science labs will require additional technical help, as the number of labs, specimens, and equipment increased, whereas the number of faculty remained the same and, in contrast to other science programs at the Ohlone College, no lab technician was available. The current objective, supported by the Division Dean, is to hire a lab technician with shared duties among the Geology,

Geography, and Anthropology. This should result in a major improvement in the lab component of the Geology program and a much smoother running of these departments.

Program PIO will address the following:  Success Rates

 Service Impacts

 Student Learning & Achievement

successful hiring of the technician and monitoring the student success rates, as an outcome of the more efficient operations at the Geology/Anthropology departments.

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continuing to present a case to the administration for the need to hire the technician, to approve the hire, and proceed with candidate screening.

2016-2017 academic year

the Administration, the Division Dean, HR, and geology, geography, and anthropology faculty

PIO Status:

 In-Progress

Fiscal Resources Status:

 Staff position requested: .5 Lab Tech not funded as of 6/22/15

PIO Resources:

 Resource: Staff/Administrative Position

Position Title: Lab Technician - Anthropology, Geography, and Geology FTE: .5

Est. Cost: $30,000.00

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it?

To establish the Earth Science Tutoring Center, similar to Chemistry and Biology Learning Center (but on a smaller scale and contingent on the availability of funds) in order to help students with issues such as applying basic math skills to earth science problems and acquiring geographic and scientific literacy.

The tutor (available several hours per week) would help students in the variety of classes and would have shared duties with the Geography and Anthropology programs. There has been a dire need for such tutor for many years, as some student struggle to get extra help with applying math to earth science problems, such as radiometric date calculations, unit conversions, and rate problems. This should significantly improve retention in the labs such as GEOL 101 and GEOL 103L, as a number of students fall behind and drop for reasons described above. Such students have generally been reluctant to see math tutors in the past but would benefit more directly and helped with specific problems by an earth science tutor.

Program PIO will address the following:  Student Learning & Achievement  Course Retention  Course Completion  Persistence  Success Rates  Increase Degrees/Certifications  Equity/Disproportionate Representation How will you assess the effectiveness of your PIO:

By monitoring student participation at the tutorial center, student evaluations of the tutor, and enrollment and student success trends in the department's lab and lecture courses.

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the schedule, and advertising the tutorial services among the students of the geology, geography, and anthropology courses.

2016-17 academic year

Division Dean and the administration with the help of the department full-time faculty members

PIO Status:

 In-Progress

 Staff position requested: .5 Lab Tech (same request as previous PIO) not

funded as of 6/22/15

PIO Resources:

 Resource: Staff/Administrative Position

Position Title: Instructional Assistant Anthropology, Geography, and Geology

FTE: .5

Est. Cost: $27,000.00

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To improve the online component of the geology courses by offering additional hybrid courses and incorporating digital resources and virtual field trips into the curriculum, both online and in-class.

 Course Completion  Success Rates

 Increase Program Enrollments

Monitoring course retention and successful course completion rates, as well as enrollment trends in the hybrid courses.

An additional hybrid class (GEOL 104 The Changing Earth: Historical Geology) and a lab (GEOL 104L Historical Geology Laboratory) have been added to the

curriculum and have been approved for transfer by the CSU and UC systems. They are currently being considered for re-approval for ADT degree. A new online-enhanced textbook has been adopted for the Fall of 2015 for GEOL 102, Introduction to Oceanography, and (pending approval of the Dean), plans are being considered for offering a section of this course as a hybrid in the future. In addition, a number of innovative links has been added to the curriculum, and a virtual field trip to the Ohlone Museum of Paleontology is being developed, based on the digital database of all specimens in the museum developed by the full-time faculty (Dr. Pail Belasky) and special-projects students.

Additional work on incorporating GoogleEarth and virtual geology field trips into the curriculum is planned as part of the proposed sabbatical leave by the full-time geology instructor (Dr. Paul Belasky) in 2016.

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Full-time geology faculty (Dr. Paul Belasky)

PIO Status:

 In-Progress

 No fiscal resources requested.

PIO Resources:

To improve student hands-on experience with earth materials by purchasing the Rock Fluorescence Tube and the new rotating-stage Polarized Light Petrographic Microscope with camera.

Program PIO will address the following:  Student Learning & Achievement  Course Completion

 Success Rates

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Purchasing the new, improved lab equipment (see above), pending the approval of the administration and the MSE Division Dean.

ordering the microscope by the end of the Spring Semester of 2016 and receiving it during the 2016-2017 academic year

full-time faculty in geology (Paul Belasky)

PIO Status:

 In-Progress

 Funded Instructional Equipment $ 2014-15 FY.

PIO Resources:

To move the Ohlone Museum of Paleontology to a larger location on campus, so it can be open to the public, i.e., the main hallway and display area in the new Science Building on the Fremont Campus to be completed in 2018.

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Program PIO will address the following:  Student Learning & Achievement  Increase Program Enrollments  Increase Degrees/Certifications

Montorining the enrollment trends and number of majors in the GEOL 103 (Paleontology) and GEOL 104 (Historical Geology) courses.

The plans for moving the museum and displaying the collection have been approved by the administration. In December of 2014, all (see one exception below) the specimens of the museum, together with the display cases and drawers, were moved from the main campus in Fremont to the main hallway of the Newark campus building and the Geology Lab at NC NP-8B. One exception is the large fossil mammoth skull from Fremont, which was too heavy to move, and was safely stored on the main campus Bldg 7) under the care of Alex Lebedev, the Facilities Manager.

The opening of the new building scheduled for 2018. Meanwhile, they are temporarily displayed on the Newark campus (main hallway and NP-8B)

full-time faculty (Dr. Paul Belasky) in cooperation with part-time faculty (Dr. Ausaf Rahman and Kathy Valasco), the administration, and contractors.

PIO Status:

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 No fiscal resources requested. PIO related to Academic Core 2018

timeline.

PIO Resources:

 Resource: People Time

Description: Need people to set the museum up and to provide labelling and information about the artifacts

Provide new visual aids, such as closed-captioned DVD's suitable for deaf and hard-of-hearing students that demonstrate important geological concepts and hazards to Ohlone students and improve their geographic literacy by providing better maps and atlases.

 Course Completion  Persistence

 Success Rates

 Equity/Disproportionate Representation How will you assess the effectiveness of your PIO:

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and hard of hearing students, as well as hearing students who take courses in the Geology department.

The Geology program received $2000 in mini-grant in order to purchase the additional visual resources. A list of close-captioned DVD's and other visual aids from the National Geographic Society, Discovery Channel, and BBC has been completed. DVD's will be ordered by the end of the Fall 2015 semester, as soon as the approval of the MSE Dean is received.

To order the materials by the end of Fall Semester of 2015, pending Deans' approval, and to receive them by the start of the Fall Semester of 2016. Some materials (maps, atlasses) have already been purchased with the department funds (see below).

full-time faculty in geology (Dr. Paul Belasky)

PIO Status:

 In-Progress

 Funded Instructional equipment / instructional software 2014-15 FY.

PIO Resources: Attached Files:

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• _{GEOL 103 course assessment.doc} • _{Program Review GEOLOGY 2013.docx}