Program Review and Action Planning – YEAR THREE
Final Summary Report
Division
Program
Contact Person
Date
Science & Math
Chemistry
Wayne Pitcher
3/13/2011
I. Reflect upon the last three years' analysis and activities.
Chemistry is a successful program, serving both transfer students and allied health students.
Chemistry courses prepare students for further success in Chemistry and biological science courses.
The Chemistry faculty are dedicated, well-prepared instructors with a passion for their field. The
primary area of concern within Chemistry has been the operation of the teaching labs, including the lab
budget. Lab preparation and budget tracking issues are in the process of being resolved. This is an
area of ongoing discussion within Chemistry and with the Dean of Science & Math. An additional
area of concern is writing, assessing, and analyzing student learning outcomes across the Chemistry
curriculum.
Going forward (into the next program review cycle), Chemistry needs to obtain more data
about who our students are. We have a general grasp of our student populations, but additional
numbers will allow us to fine-tune our program.
II. Briefly summarize the accomplishments of the discipline, and how they relate to the review of the
program, the program-level outcomes (PLOs) and course-level outcomes (CLOs).
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Updated Laboratory Instrumentation
o Used LabQuest in updated Chem 1A, 1B, 10, and 30A experiments
o Obtained new spectrophotometers for Chem 1A and Chem 1B
o Obtained new microscale organic chemistry glassware kits
o Implemented organic microscale kit rental program through bookstore
o This new lab equipment has aided and will continue to aid in the revision and
development of our laboratory curriculum
o The purchase of additional microscale kits has allowed for the increase in the number
of sections of Chem 12A, and an increase in the section size of Chem 12B. This
increases student access to these in-demand courses.
o Keeping equipment up-to-date provides students with laboratory skills and experience
necessary for future success
Developed Chemical Inventory
Continued with Chemistry Tutor Program
o Presently have 18 tutors tutoring approximately 50 students on a weekly basis
o Tutoring in Chem 31 results in a 77% success rate vs. 62% for non-tutored students
Started Revision of Chem 1A Laboratory Manual
o Introduced new experiments
o Continued re-writing old experiments
III. Please list what best practices (e.g., strategies, activities, intervention, elements, etc.) you would
recommend? What was challenging? Was there a barrier(s) to success?
Best practices:
One of our best practices is having regular faculty meetings. Continuous communication among the faculty makes
the day-to-day running of the labs easier, and it facilitates planning and enacting new projects.
Challenges/Barriers to Success:
One challenge is not having regular meetings. When communication between faculty members does not occur,
everything gets a little more difficult.
Another challenge is not having a true “point person,” along with back-ups, to go to when issues arise. In the
recent past the dean has asked whoever was available to do purchase orders, etc. Not having a well-defined
administrative structure in the discipline has made dealing with immediate needs more difficult. This is an issue
we have planned to address.
IV. Next Steps: Recommendations for program and institutional improvement.
Program Improvement:
One area of program improvement is to obtain data about who our students are. This includes plotting pathways
of courses that our students take at Chabot.
Another area of program improvement is to increase both success and participation of minority students in
chemistry (and science in general). More data needs to be collected in this area.
Institutional Improvement:
Ultimately, the best institutional improvement would be to re-define Chabot’s science programs. Preliminary
analysis indicates that there are some common pathways that science students at Chabot follow—many, if not
most, of our students take the same chemistry, biology, and physics courses, regardless of their declared majors.
We need to work together across disciplines to define a true program that best meets our students’ needs.