The department intends to expand and improve its integrated lecture and laboratory offerings. This will include further imbedding laptop based computer activities into the courses as well as a new technology called the Vernier LabQuest. The department has purchased 24 of these units because they provide a less complicated and less intimidating platform than the laptops. That makes them a worthy technology to further improve the quality of the conceptual physics offerings. In progress Completed No longer applicable While the department continues to be in favor of integrated lecture and laboratory offerings for educational reasons, we might be forced to scale back the number of courses and sctions where course material is presented in this modality due to the necessity of full time faculty having to meet load. With semester conversion, lower overall enrollment, and integrated lecture/lab offerings, the total number of credit hours offered by the department has decreased. We will continue to watch enrollment trends during Spring semester 2013 and proceed accordingly. The technology that was purchased will be used in the classroom regardless of the mode of presentation. The conversion of the Introduction to Physics course will begin in the Fall 2012. This effort is very large but will serve as another model for the delivery of laboratory based science in the online format. In progress Completed No longer applicable Initial consultation with Distance Learning has taken place and a schedule is in place to proceedwith this venture. The course and associated lab is scheduled to go live, online, in Fall 2013. It is the department’s plan to create an online format for the Problem Solving in Physics with Matlab. This course has a strong enrollment and is held with high regard with students. The department hopes to use this course to possibly rekindle interest in the other Computational Science courses. In progress Completed No longer applicable The plan to convert this course into an online offering has been postponed for the time being. Art Ross was the instructor of record for this course since its initiation and was going to work on the conversion. However, he is unable to proceed with this effort at this time due to health reasons.
Below are the Recommendations for Action made by the review team. Describe the progress or changes made toward meeting each recommendation over the last year. RECOMMENDATIONS Status Progress or Rationale for No Longer Applicable It does not appear that the department has fully addressed the recommendations from the last Program Review. Those previous recommendations are listed below. In addition to prioritizing the recommendations from the current Program Review, priority should also be given to taking action on the previous items which are listed below. Clarify for the department the steps needed to expand and formalize an assessment plan. Continue development and implementation of the department’s assessment plan, and report on progress annually. Make more extensive use of data to improve assessment. Consider developing a formal advisory mechanism to provide regular feedback and assistance to the department. Include regular feedback from area universities as well as Sinclair Community College. Continue work to support the In progress Completed No longer applicable (1)The department met with Jared Cutler and upon his recommendation is in the process of finalizing a set of department outcomes which will be assessed during Spring 2013. Common assessments will be administered to students across different sections of the same course. Once this effort is in motion, we will commence work on drafting an assessment plan to assess course and general education outcomes. (2)We have an excellent professional relationship with the Physics Department at Wright State University and enjoy a similar realtionship with the University of Dayton's Physics Department. We can form an advisory board in conjunction with these partners and faculty from Sinclair. (3)We offered a workshop on implementing inquiry methods and hands-on activitites in the classroom to both full and part time faculty. This is a first step towards providing pedagogical support for part time faculty. We intend to work closely with them to align the curriculum across all sections of a course. Once an assessment plan is in place, we intend to work with them, on a basis if necessary, to successfully
Section III: Assessment of General Education & Degree Program Outcomes The Program Outcomes for the degrees are listed below. All program outcomes must be assessed at least once during the 5 year Program Review cycle, and assessment of program outcomes must occur each year. General Education Outcomes To which degree(s) is this program outcome related? Year assessed or to be assessed. Assessment Methods Used What were the assessment results? (Please provide brief summary data) Oral Communication All programs 2011-2012 Students were required to work on various projects and present their findings to the class. Oral communication was not assessed separately. An overall grade was assigned for the projects. Written Communication All programs 2011-2012 Students are required to write papers, answer short conceptual questions and engage in discussion forums in online classes.All the online assessments for the astronomy courses have been linked to course outcomes and data is being gathered starting Fall 2012.. We will provide data as soon as it is available. Critical Thinking/Problem Solving All programs 2012-2013 Values/Citizenship/Community All programs 2013-2014 Computer Literacy All programs 2014-2015 Information Literacy All programs 2015-2016 Program Outcomes To which course(s) is this program outcome Year assessed or to be assessed. Assessment Methods Used What were the assessment results? (Please provide brief summary data)