El Camino College Compton Community Educational Center Astronomy Department Program Review

El Camino College Compton Community Educational Center Astronomy Department Program Review 2014-2015 Physics Program Review 2014 Page 1

Table of Contents Page I. Overview 3 A. Program Description 3 B. Status of Previous Recommendations 4 II. Analysis of Research Data 5 A. Head Count of Students in the Program 5 B. Course Grade Distribution 5 C. Success Rates 6 D. Retention Rates 8 E. Enrollment Statistics with Section and Seat Counts and Fill Rates 8 III. Curriculum 9 IV. Assessment of Student and Program Learning Outcomes (SLOs & PLOs) 11 A. SLO and PLO Alignment Grid 11 B. SLO and PLO Timeline 12 C. SLO and PLO Assessment 12 V. Facilities 13 VI. Technology and Software 14 VII. Staffing 15 VIII. Future Direction and Vision 16 IX. Prioritized Recommendations 16 Physics Program Review 2014 Page 2

El Camino College Compton Community Educational Center Division 1 Astronomy Department Program Review I. Overview A. Program Description The mission of the Astronomy Department at El Camino College Compton Community Educational Center (CEC) is to prepare students with knowledge and skills to pursue further education in the chemical, physical, and health sciences. Students learn to engage in scientific inquiry, problem solving, and are actively engaged in their learning. The goals and mission of the department match the college s mission, which is to offer a quality, comprehensive educational program and services to ensure the educational success of students from our diverse community. The Astronomy Department offers three courses: Astronomy 20 The Solar System, Astronomy 25 Stars and Galaxies, and Astronomy 12 Astronomy Laboratory. All the courses offered at CEC fulfill the general education requirements for physical science with a laboratory and are transferable to the University of California and California State University Systems. Students taking astronomy at CEC consists of an average of 55 % female, 36 % African American, and 54 % Latino. The majority of the students, 66 % are within the ages of 17-24, 14 % 25-29, and 11 % 30-39. About 55 % of the students are part-time students with 57 % taking their classes in the daytime. The Fall 2013 student profile at the Compton Educational Center were primarily female, 20-24 years old, Latino, high school graduates, attended class during the day and enrolled in fewer than six units. As of February 2014, the Astronomy Department shares one full-time tenure track faculty with the Physics Department. There are no Adjunct members in the Astronomy Department. The Physics faculty actively participates in campus-wide and division committees and activities, such as the Honors program, Academic Senate, Compton Center Strategic Committee, the Accreditations Committee, meeting to strategize the improvement of teaching strategies, and effectively incorporate technology in the classroom. The Astronomy department also participates and will continue to participate in the assessment of Students Learning Objectives (SLOs) and Program Level Objectives (PLOs), as well as program review and program planning. The findings from the assessments of the SLOs and PLOs help the faculty to make changes to teaching strategies accordingly, in order to improve the students learning. The Astronomy department continuously evaluates the curriculum and demand for courses through program review and planning to comply with the college s strategic initiatives C and E. The Astronomy faculty at CEC engages students to actively participate in their learning by using a variety of instructional methods and services to promote student success and create a positive learning environment, as well as a sense of community. Our full-time faculty has completed the Faculty Inquiry Partnership Program (FIPP), On-Course Training, and regularly attends the Physics Program Review 2014 Page 3

American Association of Physics Teachers meetings. This information, especially that from Physics Education Research and NASA s Center for Astronomical Education (CAE), is discussed with adjuncts to improve educational effectiveness. For example, students participate in peer teaching, group presentations, and class activities; we minimize teacher-speaking times. The laboratory experiments are designed to be performed in pairs (or groups) as well as individually for the students to learn a sense of belonging and most importantly to learn how to work collaboratively. B. Status of Previous Recommendations The last known Program Review is associated with the 2010 cycle and referenced a previous review performed in 2004. Recommendation: The department should try active measures to increase success and retention without sacrificing rigor. Status: Instructor at the time was enrolled in FIPP, and developing a space mission assignment for Astronomy 20 in cooperation with Human Development and the Library Staff. Current status is unknown, except that the current full-time faculty member has taken FIPP. Recommendation: Students should be resurveyed at the end of the semester to re-examine whether an algebra level astronomy or astrophysics class should be developed or not. Status: This survey was not conducted. The reason given was the small size of the CEC student body would not be able to support the class. Recommendation: The Astronomy Department will need to work with the Leaning Resource Center to find and hire qualified tutors for the physics students. Status: No progress has been made. Recommendation: Develop a plan to identify and replace older or antiquated equipment with more modern equipment. Status: A comprehensive inventory is currently being conducted and should be finished in Fall 2015. This inventory will document the location and status of equipment and tools. The next step will be to document laboratory and demonstration needs, and compare the inventory to those needs. Recommendation: Explore new technologies that will enable the instructor to interact more and in a more meaningful way with students. Status: We believe this recommendation has been and will continue to be fulfilled. Recommendation: Hire a Planetarium Manager, and expand the public planetarium program to offer additional school shows and more evening shows. Status: These two recommendations did not apply to CEC, although the idea of offering a public lecture series in association with public sky viewing should be reviewed. Physics Program Review 2014 Page 4

Recommendation: The Astronomy department should do a survey of other schools exams and/or course materials to determine if offering more rigorous courses in fact causes our lower-thanaverage success and retention rates. Status: No such survey was conducted. II. Analysis of Research Data 1. Head count of Students in the Program The head count has been decreasing during the past four years, and has been independent of fall/spring semester. The head counts for the Fall and Spring semesters from 2010/2011 to 2013/2014 are tabulated below. It is interesting that the fall semester has typically fewer students than the spring. We also notice the sharp decrease in the number of students in spring 2014. Term Headcount (Unduplicated Students) Term Headcount (Unduplicated Students) Fall 2010 2011 2012 2013 120 96 106 104 Spring 2011 2012 2013 2014 140 134 134 102 2. Course Grade Distribution The table below shows the grade distributions for all Astronomy classes from 2010 to 2013. The data shows that 82% of the students enrolled will pass with a letter grade C or better from 2010/2011 to 2013/2014, not including the withdrawals ( W ) or dropped ( DR ) grades. There is a variation from 84% to 74%, but no statistically observable trends. Year 'A' 'B' 'C' 'D' 'F' Inc P Inc NP 'DR' 'W' Total Grades 2010 38 72 75 24 16 - - 5 30 260 2011 43 61 60 18 13 - - 12 23 230 2012 56 68 57 25 9 - - - 25 240 2013 34 49 33 17 23 - - - 50 206 The following two charts show the grade distribution as a function of year and of course. Note that there are three courses that we are looking at: Astro-12 (lab), Astro-20 (Solar System), and Astro-25 (Stars and Galaxies). We note that the distribution of grades seems to be independent of year and of course. There is one exception, that of the lab class. Its grade distribution is different. Physics Program Review 2014 Page 5

3. Success Rates The data in the table below shows that the success rate for the Astronomy classes at CEC is above the average college success rate. The success rate is defined as a student completing the course with grade of C or better compared to the total number of grades; including those who withdrew or dropped the course after census date. Astronomy courses are thought to be easy, because of Astrology and people s interest, and because people think it is just learning about constellations. Unfortunately, many students find that their initial preconceptions are incorrect, and are not prepared for the level of effort to succeed. Success in astronomy is dependent on several factors, but depends strongly on the preparation before class. One main factor contributing to the low success rate is the lack of basic skills. In order to pass astronomy, students need to be able to read at a college level, have good comprehension and critical thinking skills, and apply basic math skills. From observations of several faculty members, many of the students have poor critical, comprehension and math skills. These comments are anecdotal though. It would be good to have real data. Year Total Success Grades Rate 2010/2011 260 71.2% 2011/2012 230 71.3% 2012/2013 240 75.4% 2013/2014 206 56.3% College Success Standard 58.0% Program Success Standard 69.0% Astronomy is also a very highly time dependent course. For example, the Astronomy lecture courses cover 14 chapters in a semester; therefore effective reading and comprehension skills are necessary. Success is also dependent on the preparation and review after each class meeting. Most of our students, 59 %, are part-time students who have other obligations; such as part-time or full-time jobs and family. Thus, it is hard for students to find the time to study after class. Instructors provide suggestions and resources to students to effectively study and set time to Physics Program Review 2014 Page 6

study, but unfortunately, many students do not take the time to figure out how to study astronomy effectively. Another factor that many faculty members have observed over the years, is that about one-third of the students do not have the required textbooks or materials until the third week. The lack of studying materials places the students at a disadvantage because they fall two to three weeks behind and most spend a good part of the semester trying to catch up with the class. The lack of study materials and time makes catching up very difficult once a student has fallen behind. To mollify this issue, a two textbooks have been placed on reserved at the library, but this means that the student s schedule matches with the library schedule. The department s success rate is above that of the college standard, but there has been a drop in the last year of measure. This change deserves watching. This could be due to the new faculty member having a more rigorous course. If the success rate takes into account only those students who received a C or better to the number of students enrolled at the end of the semester instead of the total number of students at census day, then the success rates are even higher (see table below). Year Success Rate after census day 2010/2011 86.5% 2011/2012 84.8% 2012/2013 89.6% 2013/2014 75.7% These are very high numbers, but there is a decrease over the final year of measure. This could be due to the new faculty member having a more rigorous course. This change does bare watching. To improve the success rate in Astronomy, it is important to provide the student resources such as in-person tutoring. The department needs to work with the Learning Resource Center to hire well-chosen tutors and SI coaches. In addition, the MESA facility should be more fully utilized. Finally, these comments will serve those students that spend there time on the Compton Campus. It is unclear whether many do, in fact, they may spend most of there time elsewhere. Recommendations: To improve success rates, we need to increase the adequate student resources especially in the form in-person and online tutoring. More qualified campus-provided tutors need to be hired; we don t have any Astronomy tutors. Tutoring needs to be tied more closely to the department and to individual courses. All of the physics tutors on campus need the approval of and coordination with the Physics Department. The Astronomy Department will strive to increase the success rate to 90 % by 2016. The Astronomy Department needs to compare the rigor between our courses and those from like institutions. Physics Program Review 2014 Page 7

4. Retention Rates The retention rates from 2010 to 2014 are shown in the table below. The numbers are rather steady at 90%, with a drop in the last year of 15%. The drop is concerning though. This drop may be due to the fact that Astronomy courses are very demanding. Many of these introductory students do not have adequate study skills and do not perform well in science courses, forcing them to drop the course. In addition, many of the students work and do not have much of time to dedicate to their studies. Year Total Retention Rate 2010/2011 260 88.5% 2011/2012 230 90.0% 2012/2013 240 89.6% 2013/2014 206 75.7% The instructors provide resources to struggling students but many do not have the time to study, attend office hours, or put into practice the advised study skills. One method of improving the retention rate should be to increase the tutoring resources and pursue online tutoring to especially assist those working students who cannot make it to school for tutoring services or the instructor s office hours. The same possible reasons for and recommendations for improving the success rates apply to retention rates. 6. Enrollment Statistics with Section and Seat Counts and Fill Rates The program participation has been decreasing over the past 4 years. The headcount is shown in the table and graph below. Additionally, the graph below shows that even though the overall annual program participation decreased so did the number of sections offered (a decreased of 20%) due to budget cuts. 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Headcount 275 240 242 197 Enrollments/Student 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 Physics Program Review 2014 Page 8

There is a constant demand for the astronomy courses, and it has been relatively steady for the past 4 years. The evidence is presented in the graph below; again these ratios are statistically limited. Additionally, the relatively stable value of the Enrollment/Students in the table above indicates that there is a constant steady supply of new students enrolled in astronomy classes. Since these courses are at the introductory level, there may be an opportunity here to provide a successful algebra-based astronomy or astrophysics course. Enrollment by Time of Day Fall Term 2010 2011 2012 2013 Day 61.7% 60.4% 57.5% 56.7% Night 38.3% 39.6% 42.5% 43.3% Weekend/Unknown 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Physics Program Review 2014 Page 9

There has been a change in when the Astronomy courses are being offered. They have steadily changed from 60/40 daytime in 2010/2011 to nearly 50/50 during the 2013/2014-year. III. Curriculum The table below shows the correlation between the courses we are offering and when the course curriculum has been reviewed. Course Course Review Course Title Number Date Transferability Astronomy 12 Laboratory for Introductory Astronomy Fall 2013 Yes Astronomy 20 The Solar System Fall 2013 Yes Astronomy 25 Stars and Galaxies Fall 2014 Yes We have not added any new courses. The Astronomy department does not offer any distance education courses. It would be beneficial to pursue the possibility of hybrid and online courses. By offering a hybrid course, where the lecture is online and the laboratory and discussion hour is in-person, the department would be able to increase the number of courses and sections offered and better engage and service our students. The department has not researched whether other colleges have been successful with online Astronomy courses. The tenure-track instructor is currently getting certified for teaching online courses. This instructor has already been using various Learning Management Systems (Moodle, Etudes, and Blackboard). Recommendations: Offer hybrid courses in Astronomy to provide an alternative learning route that serves the working students. The hybrid course would be taught with the lecture online. The discussion and laboratory sections will be on-campus. Online classes will be taught entirely online, including lecture and discussion sections. Online laboratories need to be designed. Increase the budget to buy and maintain the equipment needed to maintain, expand and offer more astronomy courses. IV. Assessment of Student and Program Learning Outcomes (SLOs & PLOs) A. SLO and PLO Alignment Grid The Astronomy Department has three Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Program Level Outcomes (PLOs) for most astronomy courses. There is one exception: Astronomy 12 has two SLOs, which are aligned with the Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) as shown in the table below. The ILO, PLO, and SLO alignments below are from a document obtained from TracDat dated 30 September 2013. Physics Program Review 2014 Page 10

Program Level SLOS 1. Students will trace the development of a scientific idea from gathering of data through development of a hypothesis to testing a prediction. 2. Students will make scientific measurements and demonstrate the difference between disagreement and error. 3. Students will read a simple graph or diagram and interpret the results appropriately. ILOs to PLOs Alignment (Rate 1-4) I II III IV V VI 4 2 2 1 2 3 4 4 2 1 1 4 2 4 2 1 1 4 Course Level SLOs Course to Program SLO Alignment Mark with an X ILOs to Course SLOs Alignment (Rate 1-4) P1 P2 I II III IV V VI ASTR 12 Astronomy Laboratory: SLO #1 Students will be able to apply the Scientific Method to the solution of scientific problems ASTR 12 Astronomy Laboratory: SLO #2 Using a Cassegrain reflecting telescope, students will be able to align the telescope and point it at several objects, including the Moon, planets visible to the naked eye, planets invisible to the naked eye, bright stars, faint stars, and diffuse objects (clusters, nebulae, and galaxies). X 3 4 2 1 1 2 X 3 4 2 1 1 2 ASTR 20 The Solar System: SLO #1 Students will be able to apply the Scientific Method to the solution of scientific problems. ASTR 20 The Solar System: SLO #2. Students will be able to explain the causes of seasonal variations in the length of the day, direction of sunrise and sunset, and the amount of solar heating on the Earth. ASTR 20 The Solar System: SLO #3. Students will be able to describe the modern theory of the origin of the planets and discuss the evidence that supports the theory. ASTR 25 Stars and Galaxies: SLO#1 Students will be able to apply the Scientific Method to the solution of scientific problems. ASTR 25 Stars and Galaxies SLO#2. Students will explain how electromagnetic radiation and astronomical Instruments are used to reveal the properties of stars and planets. ASTR 25 Stars and Galaxies SLO#3. Students will be able to describe the modern theory of the origin of the Universe (the Big Bang Theory) and discuss the evidence that supports the theory. X X X X X X 3 4 2 1 1 2 3 3 2 3 1 1 4 4 2 1 1 1 3 4 2 1 1 2 4 3 1 2 1 1 4 3 2 2 1 1 Physics Program Review 2014 Page 11

B. SLO and PLO Timeline The table below shows the SLO and PLO timeline for the future. As of yet, we do not understand the connection between SLO/PLO assessment and the cycle. Cycle Year Semester SLO PLO Spring 2014 Astro 12, Astro 25 SLO #1 Scientific Method 1 Fall 2014 Astro 20, SLO#3 Planet Origins 1 Spring 2015 Astro 12, SLO#2 Locating Celestial Objects 2 Spring 2015 Astro 25, SLO#3 Universe Origin 1 Fall 2015 Astro 20, SLO#2 Seasons 1 Spring 2016 Astro 25, SLO#2 EM Radiation 1 Fall 2017 Astro 20, SLO#1 Scientific Method 1 C. SLO and PLO Assessment All of the Astronomy courses have been assessed for all required SLOs. The department has continued to keep up-to-date with the changes and timelines set by the SLO and PLO committee. The department has been moving to using a standard SLO instrument. A set of multiple-choice questions has been given to the students at the end of the semester, which assesses the students knowledge against each SLO (all three). The table below shows the SLO assessments for Astronomy 20 and 25 for the past two semesters. It should be noted that the table is the fraction of students answering 60% of the questions in the assessment correctly. This assess Semester Astro20- SLO1 Astro20- SLO2 Astro20- SLO3 Astro25- SLO1 Astro25- SLO2 Astro25- SLO3 Spring 2015 0.91 0.36 0.27 1.00 0.40 0.20 Fall 2015 0.88 0.18 0.59 0.73 0.55 0.27 * It should be noted that each fraction in the above table has an error of approximately 0.1 The table shows that the students assess very well with respect to SLO1. This is perhaps due to the fact that the critical thinking is utilized throughout the course, and that the students are internalizing this concept. On the other hand, SLO2 and SLO3 are discussed only for short periods of time, and for SLO2 in the beginning of the course. Perhaps, the poor assessment of these two has to due with short-term vs. long-term memory issues. The department is moving to giving the assessment at the beginning to obtain a class baseline measure. This measure is then compared to the result obtained at the end of the semester. The comparison between these two measurements will give us needed data to assess any improvements as we change instructional techniques and hardware. Physics Program Review 2014 Page 12

Overall, some of the faculty has expressed interest in incorporating more integrated classroom activities and Mastering Astronomy or similar programs for the students to do online homework and track their progress. We want the proficiency standard to be 70% and the SLO assessments will be carried out every semester to track the progress and any adjustments will be done to improve the students learning. Recommendation: Standardize SLO instruments to insure different class data may be combined to improve statistical accuracy. Assess every SLO every semester. Reports to be submitted based on the established timelines, including multi-semester data, to have sufficient data to compare and determine how the recommendations are affecting the learning and material retention. The data will assist the department to improve our program and make any appropriate changes. Assess every SLO at the beginning and at the end of every semester. This methodology is very similar to that used in Physics Education Research. The parameter of interest is the ratio, (final-initial)/average(final, initial). V. Facilities and Equipment All of the Astronomy classes and laboratories are taught in one classroom. The department also has one room that serves as stockroom. Our room space is limited and will impede the growth of the department. Our department has a number of facilities and equipment needs that are described below. 1. Conduct a thorough inventory of equipment in MS 126, MS 127, and the observatory. This inventory is mandatory before any request of significant hardware will be made. 2. One of the most pressing problems in our facility is the heating and cooling of the building. The HVAC in the MS building has always been a problem that needs to be resolved immediately, hopefully within a year. The temperature of the classrooms and offices are either too hot or too cold. This is an issue for students, especially for those classes that are more than two hours long, during exams and lab periods. Students constantly complain, and with good reason, because it is difficult to concentrate when they are sweating or cannot feel their fingers because of the extreme temperatures. 3. The janitorial services need improvement. The floors in the Physics area (classrooms and stockroom) are cleaned perhaps two to three times a semester and only after several emails and requests to the maintenance office and the janitors themselves. The classrooms become filthy. Students should not be expected to learn in such unsuitable conditions. 4. Maintaining and repairing existing laboratory equipment as needed due to continued use. 5. Updating laboratory equipment to that utilizing real-time computer control. Recommendations: Physics Program Review 2014 Page 13

Conduct a thorough inventory VI. Technology and Software Typically the Astronomy faculty use a laptop (or desktop), a document camera, and projectors. Some of the instructors incorporate Etudes or websites for the students to access the class material. It would be beneficial if there were WiFi access in the MS building so the students can access the course material in class. Thus, an immediate need would be to have WiFi in the MS building. We need to convert the Astronomy classrooms into Smart Classrooms. A multimedia control center is needed MS126. Many, if not all, of our instructors use computers and technology in lecture and lab. Currently, they spend a lot of their time setting up the projector and computers at the beginning of the class. Additionally, the projectors have a poor sound system and when the instructors show instructional videos in class, many of the students on the back cannot hear and miss important information. The multimedia control center will have a good sound system that can be clearly heard throughout the entire class. This is an immediate need of the department. (As of November 2015, a portion of the system has been installed). Recommendations: Finish installation of the multimedia control center in MS 126. VII. Staffing In the spring of 2014, the Astronomy department added a tenure-track faculty member bringing the number of total full-time tenure-track faculty to one. The previous tenure faculty member retired in the fall of 2013. Please note that this faculty member is shared with the Physics Department. There are no additional faculty members in the department. The department offered 3 different types of courses in 2013/2014 with eight. There is one physical science technician responsible for assisting all physical science faculty, including the Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, and Earth Science departments. With the increase in the courses being offered and the demand for the preparation of the materials and demonstrations for the upcoming courses the workload of the lab technician will increase. We believe a part-time lab technician will be needed for the projecting to demand and take care of the instruments and lab equipment. There is no direct supervisor for the lab technician. The faculty and lab technician generally work well together, but there is no line of authority if there is a question regarding performance. The technician reports directly to the dean. This technician should be under direct supervision by someone with knowledge of day-to-day operations and performance. Recommendation: None at this time. Physics Program Review 2014 Page 14

VIII. Future Direction and Vision The direction and vision of the Astronomy Department at El Camino College Compton Community Educational Center is to provide students with the foundation of physics that they need to their program of study and provide them with the best education possible. To achieve these goals, our department will continue to improve the current teaching methodologies and develop innovative methods to better equip our students with the knowledge and technology they may need to succeed. We would like the entire Astronomy faculty to incorporate more cooperative learning methods and innovative technology to teach our students not only physical knowledge but skills, which will help them, become better students and citizens. There is a high demand for astronomy, not only in our campus, but nationwide. A physicist can fill any engineering position, as evidenced by the author of this report (he was a satellite system engineering for 20 years and holds a PhD in physics). We would like to expand our program and offer more STEM courses at CEC. Unfortunately, the lack of classroom and lab space hinders our growth. One possibility to overcome this difficulty is to develop hybrid and online courses, in which only a portion of the course is taught on-campus. There are some colleges, such as Los Angeles Valley College, that offer hybrid courses (Chem 4 and Chem 1A) and have been successful for several years. In addition, Citrus College has operated an Astronomy Course entirely online. We have yet to research these courses; we only know of their existence. However, our limited number of full-time faculty cannot be spared to pursue this option. The development and offering of a hybrid course to increase the courses and sections offered by the department is not our top priority at the moment. IX. Prioritized Recommendations Recommendations Cost Strategic Estimate Initiatives 1. Hire tutors/si coaches $ 8,000 B 2. Conduct inventory 3. Equipment repair and maintenance $ 5,000 F 4. Advertise available classes and club The list is not prioritized. All of these tasks are just as important at the others. We have a limited number of students in Astronomy. The best way to get better involvement and to grow the department is to increase the number of local tutors, and to understand the equipment and tools that we have. We hope that a club will promote interest in the physical sciences, and thereby introduce individuals into our world. Physics Program Review 2014 Page 15