Academic Senate
Spring 2010
Flex Days
Academic Senate
Thank You
Senate Flex Day Scheduling Committee
Laura Loop
Heather Faust
Debbie Anthony
Chris Calima
Laura Buchholtz
Academic Senate
Academic Senate
Academic Senate
Academic Senate
Accreditation Self
Study Finished
Looks beautiful
Jeanette Haxton/Rich Montori
Hot links courtesy of
Kim Panis
Matches quality on the inside
Too many people to thank
Academic Senate
Accreditation Visiting Team
March 8-11, 2010
Dr. Francisco Rodriguez
Superintendent/President
Mira Costa College
Dr. Richard Robertson (Assistant)
VP, Student Services
Mira Costa College
Mr. Michael Guerra
VP, Admin Services
Fresno City College
Dr. Frederick Trapp
Former Dean, Research/Academic Services
Long Beach City College
Mr. J. Brian Haley
Dean, Learning Resources
Sierra College
Dr. Deborah Travis
President
Consumnes River College
Ms. Mary Halvorson
VP, Academic Affairs
Santiago Canyon College
Mr. Michael Spina
Education Technology Specialist
Lake Tahoe Community College
Dr. Celina Sau Lin Ing
Professor, Computer Information Science
Sacramento City College
Mr. Brian Thiebaux
Professor, English, Business and Inst. Research
Palo Verde College
Ms. Nancy Silva
Professor, Theatre Arts
American River College
Mr. Mario Tejada, Jr.
Dept Chair, Computer Information Systems
Diablo Valley College
Academic Senate
My Personal Accreditation Journey
-Wrote MPC standard “Improving Institutional Effectiveness”
-Participated as a team member at Las Positas
-Read and commented on all aspects of MPC self study
-Trainings, meetings, reviews, ad nauseum
Academic Senate
My Personal Accreditation Journey
-I believe in the basic process: Peer Review
-Accreditation Team at Las Positas was
Fair
Open minded
Cognizant of each standard
Not mired in minutia
Listened to each other
Diversity of opinion and perspective (hopefully) leads to a fair and
balanced report
Academic Senate
My Personal Accreditation Journey
-I believe in the fundamental themes of the standards:
Goal Setting, Planning Evaluation, Dialog, Improvement, Repeat
Student learning is at the heart of all planning and decisions
Clarity of purpose, process, and goals characterize successful organizations
-At MPC, these fundamental themes translate into:
Institutional Goals
Component Goals
Plethora of plans
Program Review
The Planning and Resource Allocation Process
The SLO Framework
Academic Senate
My Personal Accreditation Journey
-I recognize the ACCJC has some problems
Standards are repetitive, confusing
Sometimes compliance rather than improvement approach
Resistant to honest, constructive, critique
Trainings are inadequate, sometimes even intimidating
Academic Senate
My Personal Accreditation Journey
-I believe MPC will do well overall
Based on the strength of our
MPC Planning and Resource Allocation Process
Program Review Processes
Clarity of governance processes
Board policies
Administrative policies
Governance committees
Expect some recommendations—perhaps on SLOs
Academic
Senate
Goals/Planning
SLOs
Program
My Personal Accreditation Journey
Review
Review/
Evaluation
Resource
Allocation
Academic Senate
Academic Senate
What I’ve Learned about SLOs
-SLOs mean different things to different people
Data
Assessment
Grades
Public
Dialog
Evaluation
Standardization
Quantitative
Course,
Program,
Institution
Academic Senate
What I’ve Learned about SLOs
-Presented Spring 2008 Flex days
-Got many things right, and a few things wrong
Academic Senate
What I’ve Learned about SLOs
-Things we got right
There are problems with the SLO model (p. 5)
oFear of standardization
oPossibility of lowering standards
oPossible loss of subtlety and complexity of subject matter
oPossibility of evaluations based on student performance
“SLOs can provide a formal framework for faculty to converse, as
professionals, about teaching, learning, pedagogy, and curricula” (p. 10)
Definition: “what students are expected to be able to “do” as they successfully
complete a course.” (p. 10)
“Most important thing to remember: If we don’t write SLOs for our courses and
programs, somebody else…will. And that would be everybody’s worst
nightmare.” (p. 17)
Academic Senate
What I’ve Learned about SLOs
-One thing we got wrong
That there is a big difference between SLOs and objectives
We now believe the only difference is one of number and scope
oObjectives: many and narrow scope, culminate in SLOs
oSLOs: few and broader scope, derived from objectives
oBoth should be written in terms what students should be able to “do”
by the end of the course
For the purposes of the MPC SLO framework, engage in dialog about
either objectives or SLOs, whatever you think would be a benefit to your
students
Academic Senate
What I’ve Learned about SLOs
-General Education Outcomes Examples:
Upon successful completion of this area, students will have demonstrated an ability to….
English Composition
form a provable thesis, develop it through factual research, distinguish between fact and
opinion, and make effective rhetorical choices in relation to audience and purpose.
Communication and Analytical Thinking
analyze and evaluate complex issues or problems, draw reasoned conclusions and/or
generate solutions, and effectively communicate their results.
Humanities:
analyze and interpret human thought, achievement, and expression relevant to such
branches of knowledge as philosophy, literature, and/or the fine and performing arts, and to
communicate the results.
Social Sciences:
critically examine and comprehend human nature and behavior, social traditions, and
institutions.
Academic Senate
What I’ve Learned about SLOs
-The SLO framework “lives” in the annual update portion of program review:
Available on the
Academic
Senate website.
Academic Senate
What I’ve Learned about SLOs
-I believe the SLO framework/dialog is useful to:
Establish consistent expectations across multiple sections
Establish a progression of skills across a sequence of courses
Discover where improvements are needed
Plan improvements
I believe we already do
most of these things.
Provide rationale for resource allocation requests
Establish a vision for your program
Evaluate the effectiveness of attaining the vision for your program
Four examples to follow
SLO Dialog in Earth Sciences
Purpose:
Demonstrate how Earth Sciences engages in
the SLO framework
SLO Dialog in Earth Sciences
Purpose:
Demonstrate how Earth Sciences engages in
the SLO framework
Describe how dialog leads to improvement
efforts
SLO Dialog in Earth Sciences
Purpose:
Demonstrate how Earth Sciences engages in
the SLO framework
Describe how dialog leads to improvement
efforts
Dialog is the essential component of the SLO
Process
Geology SLOs
1. Explain Earth features in terms of surficial
processes, tectonics, and human influence.
2. Use observations of outcrops and/or
landscape morphology to interpret basic
geologic history and processes
Today’s
Focus
3. (GEO) Use the scientific method to
investigate phenomena in the natural world
and use concepts, experiments, and/or theory
to explain them.
SLO: Use observations of outcrops and/or landscape
morphology to interpret basic geologic history and
processes
How do we evaluate?
Students must:
-Observe a local geologic
outcrop/landscape
-Interpret the basic events
that formed it
-Present posters to class
Why did we choose this
project?
-Incorporates course
objectives
-Incorporates GEO
SLO: Use observations of outcrops and/or landscape
morphology to interpret basic geologic history and
processes
Have we been satisfied
with the students’
achievement of this
outcome?
Not
Entirely
SLO: Use observations of outcrops and/or landscape
morphology to interpret basic geologic history and
processes
Why not? -- Dialog
1. Geologic content
2. Critical Thinking – Process of Scientific Inquiry
3. Basic skills
Have we been satisfied
with the students’
achievement of this
outcome?
Not
Entirely
Big Question: How do we improve student
Big Question: How do we improve student
learning?
Give Students
More Practice
Developed a mid-semester project.
A mid-semester project.
Students receive more time in the field….
A mid-semester project.
Collaboration with
English and Study
Skills Center to
improve quality of
written
communication.
…and more writing practice
-Additional practice on more field trips.
These sidewalks were poured
straight!
-Collaboration with the Math
Learning Center to help with
basic skills.
Student posters used to evaluate the SLO.
It is the student attainment of this SLO that we wanted to
improve.
SLO: Use observations of outcrops and/or landscape
morphology to interpret basic geologic history and process
Do we have quantitative results? No.
Do we have qualitative results? Yes.
We emphasize DIALOG, which leads to……
Greater clarity of what we expect from students (SLOs)
Pedagogical adjustments
Improved evaluation techniques
Improvement of student attainment of SLOs (i.e., student
learning)
This approach is one way to engage
in the SLO framework at MPC
SLO Process
Discussion/Dialog/Reflection
Action
Ideas for Improvement
Dialog leads to improved student learning