COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUCTIONAL
PROGRAM REVIEW
Psychology Discipline
Riverside City College
2011
Completed by Peter Matsos
Associate Professor of Psychology at Riverside City College
Web Resources:
http://www.rccd.edu/administration/educationalservices/ieffectiveness/Pages/ProgramReview.aspx
Need Help? Contact Dr. Jim Thomas (Jim.Thomas@norcocollege.edu) or
David Torres (David.Torres@rccd.edu) )
1
Table of Contents
A.
Mission and Relationship to the College ………………………………….
3
B.
History …………………………………………………………………….. 3
C.
Data and Environmental Scan …………………………………………….
4
D.
Programs and Curriculum …………………………………………………
8
E.
Student Outcomes Assessment ……………………………………………
9
F.
Collaboration with Other Units ……………………………………………
9
G.
Outreach …………………………………………………………………… 10
H.
Long Term Major Resource Planning …………………………………….. 10
I.
Summary ………………………………………………………………….. 11
J.
Recommendations to the Program Review Committee…………………… 12
Appendix
Analysis of letter grade distributions in Psychology from 2001-2009…………………………13
2
COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM REVIEW
PSYCHOLOGY DISCIPLINE
2012
A. Mission and Relationship to the College(s)
The psychology discipline at the Riverside City College is dedicated to producing learners able to
critically evaluate the scientific investigation of behavior and mental processes. It is the goal of the
discipline to prepare learners to evaluate, explain, and predict these behaviors and mental processes
within the context academia, self-discovery, and society.
This mission aligns with the mission of the College as our Psychology courses “empowers and
supports a diverse community of learners as they work toward individual achievement and life-long
learning”. All of our psychology courses are transferable and so can be used towards higher degree
and certificate goals. Certainly our Psychology courses enhance “critical thinking, develops
information and communication skills, expands the breadth and application of knowledge, and
promotes community and global awareness”.
B. History
A major development in the Psychology Discipline was the achievement of College Status to both the
Moreno Valley and Norco campuses. The Discipline remains unified across campuses however.
At the Riverside City Campus, the Psychology Discipline continues to be a member of the Behavioral
Sciences Department, which also includes Anthropology, Sociology, and Justice Studies. There have
been significant changes in Psychology faculty, to both full time and part time positions. One full
time faculty member retired in 2009. Conversely, one full time, tenure-track faculty member was
hired in 2009. Thus the Discipline remains at four full time psychology faculty. Much more severe
changes have taken place to part time psychology faculty. From a high of 12, we now have four to
none (4 to 0) depending on the term or semester. This drastic decrease is due to the large number of
psychology courses eliminated in the past two years. As a Discipline at the Riverside City Campus,
Psychology has taken – at minimum - a proportional share of course cuts during the fiscal downturn.
An overall goal was to create new psychology courses to offer our students that will help in transfer
objectives, and in meeting other articulation needs.
RCC created Social Psychology (Psychology 8) in 2010 and first offered it in 2011 - in both spring
and fall terms.
The unit is also nearing completion of a major goal – the creation of a Research Methods in
3
Psychology course (Psychology 50). The course will allow the Psychology Discipline to meet SB
1440 and Transfer Model Curriculum (TMC) requirements.
A psychology statistics course that will complement Psychology 50 is under development. At present
the discipline will use Math 12 (Statistics) to fulfill the needed Statistics prerequisite for Psychology
50.
C. Data Analysis and Environmental Scan
In the Psychology Discipline at RCC, there have been large reductions in Enrollment, and more
minor changes in Retention, Success, and Efficiencies rates.
RIV PSY Enrollments,
Retention and Success Rates, Fall 2001 - 2011
2,200
100%
1,980
1,760
80%
1,540
1,320
60%
1,100
880
40%
660
440
20%
220
-
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Enrollments 1,706
1,742
1,770
1,718
1,713
1,455
1,802
2,138
2,144
1,862
1,413
Retention
86.9%
85.6%
85.3%
84.9%
86.6%
84.6%
84.4%
82.6%
81.8%
80.8%
78.5%
Success
55.0%
57.2%
57.2%
50.6%
55.9%
51.8%
54.1%
54.5%
54.9%
52.6%
48.1%
4
0%
Enrollment Analysis
Enrollment in Psychology courses at RCC peaked in 2009 at 2,144 students. Since then course
enrollments have been slashed to 1,413 students in 2011; a cut of over one-third. This incredible
decline in enrollments is due to District budget cuts in funding courses. This historic decline in
RCC psychology course offerings is making it difficult to meet the educational needs of our
students.
Success Analysis
Success statistics are slightly lower than overall RCC psychology data from past terms, down to
48.1%, although well within the range of success expected in demanding content-based courses
like Psychology. Moreover, based on grade distribution data provided by RCCD, the Psychology
Discipline has moved to address non-normative grade distributions over the last few years (i.e. A
= 47, B = 8, C = 2, D = 0, F = 2). It was found that Part Time Psychology faculty were more
likely to be responsible for such distributions (see the Appendix), and the Discipline has worked
to address these concerns, for instance with the development of a Best Practices Document that
has been given to all Psychology faculty at RCC.
Although course rigor cannot be a victim in the goal for success, the Discipline is also hoping to
increase success rates by offering new courses (Psychology 50) that will enhance students’ ability
to achieve proficiency in psychology courses overall.
Retention Analysis
Retention data shows some slight declines since 2001, to a 78.5% retention rate as of Fall 2011.
In a related fashion, the RCC Psychology Faculty has been active in making sure that all
Psychology instructors regularly review class rosters and drop inactive students. This is another
advisory listed in the Psychology Best Practices Document, recently distributed to all Psychology
instructors, which may have impacted the slight decline in our retention rate. And again due to
budget cuts, the proportional increase of online psychology courses with their higher attrition
rates, could also be a contributing factor here.
5
RIV PSY Efficiencies,
Fall Terms 2006 -2011
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Efficiency
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
679.44
754.23
808.30
968.15
831.12
718.71
Efficiency Analysis
Efficiencies have declined from recent highs, going back to levels seen in 2006. There are a number
of possible explanations for this decrease. One could be that the ratio of online to on campus classes
changed. In psychology, only Full Time faculty members teach online courses, and the offerings of
online psychology classes are relatively consistent from term to term. In contrast, Part Time
Psychology faculty members teach face-to-face classes exclusively. As mentioned, the number of
Part Time Psychology faculty has been decimated due to budget cuts. This combined with the fact
that online courses have lower enrollments and higher attrition compared to face-to-face courses,
could explain the change.
6
10.0
8,000
9.0
7,200
8.0
6,400
7.0
5,600
6.0
4,800
5.0
4,000
4.0
3,200
3.0
2,400
2.0
1,600
1.0
800
0.0
FTEF
Discipline WSCH
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
8.40
8.60
9.44
7.93
7.50
6.40
5707.26
6486.35
7632.92
7675.00
6233.40
4599.72
7
0
WSCH
FTEF
RIV PSY FTEF and WSCH,
Fall Terms 2006 -2011
D. Programs and Curriculum
The Psychology Discipline has recently submitted updated CORs according to the most current
standards, i.e. sample assignments, most recent textbook edition listings.
Likewise, Student Learning Outcomes have been, and continue to be assessed, for all of our existing
courses.
Name of Course / Program
Date CORs
Launched
Stage of Assessment*
Psychology 1 General Psychology
11/11/2011
SLO completed 5/12
Psychology 2 Physiological Psychology
10/3/2012
SLO completed 5/12
Psychology 8 Social Psychology
launched as new
course
SLO completed 5/12
Psychology 9 Developmental Psychology
11/2/2012
SLO completed 5/12
Psychology 33 Theories of Personality
10/28/2011
SLO completed 5/12
Psychology 35 Abnormal Psychology
10/19/2012
SLO completed 5/12
Program Level SLOs do not apply to the Psychology Discipline at this time.
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E. Student Learning Outcomes Assessment
The Psychology Discipline as a whole and the City Campus in particular, have made substantial
efforts to assess Student Learning Outcomes and implement teaching improvements based on the
result of assessing SLOs. In a substantial way, SLOs have been on every agenda of every discipline
meeting for the past four years and beyond. Likewise, intense and laborious discussions concerning
SLO assessment has been a part of all Psychology Discipline meetings that are held twice each
Academic year. Both the Psychology Discipline Meeting Agendas and Minutes attest to this fact.
Additional discussions about SLO assessment have taken place informally on campus, via email, and
in phone conversations by Psychology Faculty. These discussions were essential before the
Discipline felt able to participate in formal SLO assessment.
In the Fall term of 2008, selected RCC Psychology 1 students participated in a survey developed at
the Moreno Valley campus. The study sought to investigate student’s self-assessments of course
outcomes. The Discipline also participated in a study assessing student attributions of course
outcomes conducted by Sociology faculty. RCC Psychology faculty collaborated by allowing the
study to use psychology students for data collection and also assisted with data compilation. The
completed study was presented to the District, and results are very salient to any consideration of
SLO assessment.
For the past three years, the RCC Psychology Discipline has assessed SLOs in every course on an
annual cycle. Documents that summarize these efforts were submitted to the appropriate Department
and District personnel, as well as being included in the yearly Annual Program Review/Unit Program
Reviews. Part Time Adjunct Psychology Faculty at RCC have also participated in SLO assessment.
The results of SLO procedures and implementation of any remedial actions is unique to any given
RCC Psychology course or instructor. This is expected and appropriate. Details of those results and
any remedial actions are detailed in the documentation submitted annually.
F. Collaboration with Other Units Including Instructional, Student
Services, or Administrative Units (Internal)
Since Summer 2010, one Psychology Faculty member gained approval to run a pilot using the
Riverside Assessment Center (RAC) to deliver a proctored Final Exam in his online Psychology 9
courses. In coordination with RAC director David Lee, the ongoing pilot has been very successful, so
much so that another Psychology Faculty member now also uses the RAC to give a proctored Final
Exam in his online Psychology 1 courses. He too is very pleased with this innovation. To date, over
800 psychology students have been given proctored exams at the RAC, and the intent is to continue
9
this successful program.
There are a number of benefits with the use of proctored exams in online courses. For example,
proctored exams are specifically recommended by the Accrediting Commission for Community and
Junior Colleges (ACCJC) to insure academic integrity in online courses and to meet Federal
requirement that colleges take active roles to verify student authenticity. (ACCJC Distance Education
Webinar, May 9th, 2012. More information can be found at; http://www.accjc.org/events/accjc-cosponsored-conferences/accjc-special-event-de-on-the-front-burner).
It is important to mention how helpful David Lee at the RAC has been in making this pilot program a
success. His willingness to have a long-range view about the need for a proctoring resource for all
instructors on the campus is a welcome perspective. It is the position of the Psychology Discipline
that more resources should be devoted to the RAC. This will aid the Riverside Assessment Center to
fulfill its potential in helping instructors comply with ACCJC best practices in Distance Education
G. Outreach Activities
(none at this time)
H. Long Term Major Resource Planning
A few key resources will be needed for the Psychology Discipline to meet both SB 1440 and TMC
goals, and to promote student retention and student success - both in particular courses (Psychology
50) and in a future Psychology Program.
First, the discipline needs to take a classroom and have it designated for psychology use, so that it can
be fitted and used for lab work for our Research Methods course (Psychology 50). Quad 229 is a
good candidate for this purpose. The infrastructure needed is not extensive, and would consist of
locking cabinets in the back of the classroom. Then six to eight desktop computers would be added,
and housed in the cabinets. These computers would be used for research purposes i.e. delivery of
experimental stimuli, computer simulations, etc. Ideally, 4-6 partitioned testing stations would be
added as well. This would allow the delivery of stimuli and assessments to research participants to
occur in a more controlled way - versus open desks. In addition, the C-ID Descriptor (Course
Identification Number System) for a research methods course in psychology stipulates that data
analysis by way of the use of statistical software is part of a properly articulating course. At present
the RCC Psychology Discipline has absolutely no resources to deliver this course requirement. Thus
the computers mentioned here would also allow students to be taught in the use of statistical software
as required for the Research Methods course.
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Obviously it is part of the college’s strategic plan to have Psychology fully implementing SB 1440
and Transfer Model Curriculum requirements. The infrastructure listed above will be essential for the
Psychology Discipline to move forward on this very important objective and facilitate student
success.
At some point, the RCC Psychology Discipline will need new Full Time Faculty to assist in offering
and teaching the new courses on a regular basis. Research Methods and Statistics are specialty
courses in psychology and not all faculty can teach them with equal competence. Part time faculty in
particular may be limited in their ability and experience to teach these relatively specialized courses.
Accordingly, new Full Time Psychology Faculty would help to assure compliance with SB 1440 and
TMC goals.
I. Summary:
The RCC Psychology Faculty will continue to teach our full range of courses with enthusiasm and
rigor. However, devastating course cuts have done great harm to the Psychology Discipline. Our
reduced psychology course offerings have and will impair students’ ability to be successful. It is
hoped that many of the cut courses in Psychology can be returned in the near future.
The RCC Psychology Faculty will continue to be active is assessing SLOs in all of its courses.
Discussions about SLO assessment will continue to be held at our twice-yearly Discipline meetings.
Program level SLOs will be explored and developed as needed.
Careful coordination with, and supervision of, Adjunct Faculty is an ongoing objective.
Presently the Psychology Discipline is not meeting SB 1440 or the Transfer Model Curriculum
requirements. The Discipline is working hard to change that circumstance and the RCC Psychology
Faculty has been the leader in this undertaking. Faculty at the City College have created a new
course; Psychology 8 - Social Psychology - that now gives us six courses and 18 total units that
students may complete if all psychology courses are taken. The RCC Psychology Faculty is also in
the process of creating a Research Methods course (Psychology 50) that will allow us to fully comply
with SB 1440 and the TMC. The Research Methods course has received both Department and
Discipline approval, and the COR is in final draft condition. The intent is to get the course and COR
fully approved in Fall 2012 for inclusion in the Catalogue soon thereafter. Offering the course at
RCC would then follow, however, certain infrastructure needs (e.g. “lab” space and computer
resources) must be fulfilled in advance for student success to be possible.
To comply with SB 1440 and achieve Program status, the Psychology Discipline must rely on the
Math Department for the required Statistics prerequisite course. While this is acceptable in the
interim, it is not optimal in the longer run, and a Behavioral Statistics course taught by the
11
Psychology Discipline would better suit the needs of Psychology students. Hence, RCC Faculty
members are currently doing background work that will lead to the creation of a “Statistics in
Psychology” course in the future.
The Discipline is also investigating the prospect of creating a Human Sexuality course that is a typical
component in most undergraduate psychology course offerings. Completion of an undergraduate
Human Sexuality course is a current requirement for licensure as a mental health professional in the
State of California. This course, along with a Behavioral Statistics course would greatly enhance the
Psychology Discipline at Riverside City College.
J. Recommendations to the Program Review Committee
(none at this time)
12
Appendix- Analysis of letter grade distributions in Psychology from 2001-2009
% letter A
grade
Overall
23
Psy dis.
FT
15.6
Discipline
B
C
D
F
26.8
22.5
9.5
18.2
25.4
23.9
11
24.2
PT
27
Discipline
27.6
21.7
8.6
15
By
Campus
MOV
17.5
27.9
26.8
12.4
15.3
NOR
32.3
27.5
19
8.4
12.7
RIV
20.3
27.1
23.1
8.5
21
MOV FT
13.3
27.6
27.7
14.9
16.4
MOV PT
19.6
28
26.3
11.2
14.8
NOR FT
12.6
21.5
28.4
15.8
21.6
NOR PT
35.6
28.7
17.5
7.1
11.1
RIV FT
16.8
25.3
21.8
8.9
27.2
RIV PT
24.4
26.3
22.5
8.4
18.4
Campus
x FT/PT
13