Chabot College
Distance Education Curriculum Support Committee
Course Proposal Form
(Send as an email attachment to DECSC chair)
2004-2005
These questions are meant to provide you, our faculty colleagues, a framework for your Distance
Education Curriculum Proposal. These are guidelines, not mandates. Much of this emerged from
an Academic Senate for California Community Colleges white paper, available in our resource
area. We believe careful and thorough consideration of these issues will improve not just your
proposal, but also your entire course design. Please feel free to elaborate where you think most
important. Note: Please click on File, Save As to save this form as a document, so you can work
on it and submit it electronically to the DE Curriculum Support Committee chair.
Each proposal or existing course, if delivered by distance education, shall be separately
reviewed and approved by the curriculum committee prior to being offered. (Ed Code 55378)
Course Title & Number: HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY 1 (PHSI 1)--HYBRID
Faculty Name: Zarir G. Marawala
1.
Need/Justification
Human Physiology 1 is a class that is much in demand up and down the State. Last
semester, we turned back 60 desperate students who needed the course to complete their
3 course series (anatomy, microbiology, physiology) so that they may continue into
Nursing, DH, PT, PA, OT, etc. Several of these students that were bottlenecked were
waiting to get into Physiology for as much as 3 years. This course is often the last course
needed as it has Chem 30A and Anat 1 as a pre-requisite. If these pre-requisites were not
in place, the demand would be even greater.
A second reason is the paradigm shift in night-time student population. We used to get
some of our most outstanding students in our night classes. However, in recent history
(last 2 years), I have seen the high scores and the mean overall scores dwindling
compared to the day time course. The students when surveyed reported a whopping 80%
+ who were full-time day workers and many were single mothers at the mercy of
childcare and other issues. This is a sharp contrast to 20% students in the day class who
are full-time workers with the majority being full-time students.
The length of material calls for a length class that meets 6-10:20 two times a week. Over
the years, several labs that never existed or existed but required the use of environmentally toxic substances such as mercury and ferrocyanate were replaced by me.
Instead, I used the benefits of my program developing abilities to incorporate software
that would give students an interactive lab in which they can do work that they otherwise
would not have done. Today, we can do half of the 24+ lab exercises on the computer.
The response to these labs is very favorable. Students still have to manipulate the data
they get, graph it, report on it and draw conclusions. But they can do that using a virtual
lab. So the student experience is not sacrificed by removal of any lab. However,by not
requiring special equipment or special HAZMAT considerations, the advantage to the
College is unquestionable.
I am of the opinion that if these students were given a course where they have the benefit
to study on their own with interactive software driven with lecture, key word objectives
and interactive “books”, and also did half the labs without having to come to class, they
could then save their time on campus for labs that must be done in person. I would also
use this class time to do face-to-face discussions and administer tests. Exams would be
given just the same way as any other traditional class.
The benefit of having a class that physically commits student visit on campus to once a
week allows the possibility of taking more students and makes it possible to offer a
second class section based on the increased availability of lab space, and saving on
supplies, for example. This would also allow us to double the number of students that we
could take care of per semester.
Since we went hybrid with Biology 50 some 5 years ago, the demand for that class went
up at least 5 fold. The popularity of the class was based on the ease with which students
could be accommodated and trained in subjects necessary for career advancement. I
bring that same experience and skill to the Physiology class with the intent of providing
tools that accomodate students who have for year-in and year-out desperately sought our
help in providing them the final course the need in order toproceed to their career
schools.
2.
Course Content Delivery
The total number of hours in a traditional setting is 157.5 based on 9 hours a week for 17.5
weeks. Of these hours, 3 are for lecture, 6 are for lab or 1/3 of 157.5 =52 hours for lecture and
2/3 of 157.5 = 105 hours for lab. The hybrid class breaks down is expected to be as follows:
Lectures on CD (20 min straight = 1 hour in traditional classroom):
In class face-to-face lecture time = 25 hours
Lecture content on CD/email/Web = 27 hours
Labs in class: 3hr X 15 exercise topics = 45 hours
Labs on CD: 3hr X 12 exercise topics = 36 hours (includes anticipated write up)
Lab discussion on CD/email/Web requiring Internet research = 12 hours
Lab write ups for in class labs (take home) = 12 hours
TOTALS = 52 HOURS LECTURE; 105 HRS = 157 hours.
3.
Nature and Frequency of Instructor-Student Interactions
Students meet on the first day for a full orientation to the class where they are shown how
the program works, what labs are expected and when to be done at home or in class. In
addition to a syllabus, students get a calendar that will outline the lab, lecture-discussion
topics during part of the face-to-face time and will meet once a week to the end of the
semester.
When we as teachers lecture on a subject, we would tend to lecture A through Z. Linear,
sequential, point one before two and and so on. Students take notes, transcribe tapes of
lectures for hours and don’t seem to do any better having done those activites. I have
noticed for myself and other students that we tend to home in on parts that we don’t
understand and learn piece-meal. And then there is the guesswork of trying to figure out
what the instructor wants to us to know or what s/he will give us on a test.
The software program displays the graphics of a topic—say the brain. Students then have
a list of structures next to it that must know for function, location, or whatever.
On clicking each of the names, the program points to the structure and a lecture begins.
Students take notes. Students can make cyberinstructor repeat lectures as many times as
they want.
Complex, detailed topics like the cascade of blood clotting proteins or Virchow’s triad of
blood coagulation can be viewed as a picture forms right in front of them on the screen.
Complex, detailed shifts in ions as oxygen is delivered to tissue and carbon dioxide is
returned to the lung or sent out the kidney as H+ and bicarbonate ion can be viewed in
living, moving color. There is also verbiage to back up what they saw. There is also the
instructor’s lecture/narration when all the animation is going on. Students are benefiting
from a dynamic chalkboard that can be utilized to explain a complex topic over and over.
 Describe the number and frequency of interaction for students making satisfactory
progress and for intervention when students are at-risk of dropping or failing due to
poor performance or participation.
My students will be coming to class once a week. They are expected to turn in
assignments for labs or research cyber tests or quizzes they took at home.
They are sent a follow up email (or a Web announcement) re: their experience in lab.
They are invited to comment on anything they would have liked to have seen or heard.

For each type of interaction listed above, describe why you believe it will be effective
for this particular curriculum and delivery model.
The list of items they need to click and learn eliminates the guesswork of what the
instructor “thinks is important for a test”. Their attention is already focused on what they
need to know.
The material demands conceptual skill. Students often get lost in the steps and details
and lose the big picture (the forest for the trees or more like from the trees as they are
right in the middle of complex pathway, trying to understand one step, that they miss
what it was all for. My interactive method gives students the big picture and the detail on
demand.

Describe how the interactions will facilitate student learning and how students will
benefit from the DE modalities selected.
Part of this is answered in above answer. According to education research, students learn
by the Visual Auditory and Kinesthetic realms. An average student takes a 6 X exposure
to material before becoming familiar with it. My method calls for exposure on demand.
I allow the student to click through the CD with a minimum of clicks so that the student
can actually access any part of the topic in 3 clicks or less and the entire CD in about the
same number of clicks.
4.
Assignments & Methods of Evaluation
In class exams—same as the traditional course students;
Cybertests—requiring research on part of the students;
Lab exam—closed book;
Lab exam—open book and open forum. This is where students can talk to their class
mates to come up with an answer but their answer is their own choice.
Planned interactions and evaluations to ensure participation and verification of student
learning that permit timely instructor intervention.:
1. Cybertests are frequent and their scores will reflect an early tipoff if the student is
lagging in class.
2. I will be seeing the students once a week in lab.
3. Students have regular assignments to turn in, in a timely manner.
4. I plan to maintain an online office hour to specifically address needs of the DE
students who need immediate attention.
5.
Technical Support
1. Students will be required to have familiarity and access to Windows mE, 2000 or
XP.
2. Students will be required to provide a working email address.
3. Students are required to have access to the World Wide Web to fulfill
assignments that require them to utilize the facts they learn from the CD.
4. Students are required to have computer capability: I do go over some basic
Windows feature when I go over the software during Orientation.
5. Our lab already has computers that I maintain software for, to support those who
may have a technical difficulty; i.e. don’t know how to access a CD feature or
their printer did not work, etc. This is a contingency as students signing up for the
class are expected to have computer use and printer capability.
6.
Student Services
The course is no different than the traditional course being offered for years. Our
library supports the students with a decent array of books. The Internet lends major
support as well.
7.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities will also benefit from this mode to information delivery.
Audio for those without sight, transcript capability will be added in for the hearing
impaired.
This program will allow for such expansions that are built in as part of continued finetuning of the program. Keep in mind that we do get students who get help from DSRC
from time to time. I work with DSRC to provide every reasonable method of providing
instruction to students with disabilities. As we use chemicals and do some work on the
students themselves, (blood pressure, ECG, for example) there are some safety
guidelines that have to be exercised.
8.
Class Size & First Term to be offered
 Indicate the standard limit for the class and the first term you plan to offer this course.
Typically 24 per class. Due to DE format, we would have the ability to add another
section without encroaching on any other lab space. This gives our sub-division and our
Dean greater flexibility.
The first term offering may be as early as Summer 2005 (early start session) or Fall 2005.