Physics Program Plan 2012 - Cabrillo CollegePhysics Program Plan 2011 Joseph McCullough, Carlos Figueroa, and Marcus Watson February 9, 2012 “Education is not the filling of a pail,

Physics Program Plan 2011

Joseph McCullough, Carlos Figueroa, and Marcus Watson

February 9, 2012

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” – William Yeats "In the matter of physics, the first lessons should contain nothing but what is experimental and interesting to see. A pretty experiment is in itself often more valuable than twenty formulae extracted from our minds." – Albert Einstein I. Background, Evaluation and Analysis A. Program Description The Physics Department program currently consists of three full-time faculty, one laboratory technician, three adjunct faculty and 13 student tutors. Our mission as a department is to provide students with the opportunity to develop and analyze physical models based on observed natural phenomena. Students in our classes develop their scientific thinking as they collaborate and work in groups to learn how the universe works. Our students also learn how to communicate scientific results effectively and improve their quantitative analysis skills. As a department, we use many educational tools to keep our students actively involved in their learning. The lecture portion of our classes has been and continues to be student-centered, with the use of student personal response systems, innovative curriculum, and student whiteboards. Our laboratory activities continue to trend away from step-by-step verification labs to more creative, discovery-based activities. Our department’s focus on new teaching methodologies based upon the latest findings from education research has resulted in a collaborative learning environment where our students actively participate in constructing their own knowledge. B. Relationships Elementary and High Schools We successfully attract high school students to our program with fun hands-on demonstrations at Cabrillo College's annual "College and Career Night." Our faculty also work with several Watsonville elementary schools (Landmark, Starlight, and T. S. Macquiddy) to promote science and expose young students to the joys of learning. Cabrillo College The faculty in the ACE (Academy for College Excellence) program, biology, chemistry, engineering, radiology and mathematics, are aware of the importance of our program. We meet periodically to discuss issues of mutual interest. As a result of this collaboration, we have designed and created an integrated science course (DMCP 160 IS) involving biology, chemistry, and physics.

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A four-year-long collaboration between the Engineering, Etech, CS, CIS, MESA, and Physics Departments has recently resulted in a $4.3 million STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) grant. This five-year grant from the Department of Education is designed to increase the number of Hispanic students in the STEM fields and increase their transfer rates to four-year universities. One exciting highlight of the grant for the Physics Department is the construction of a new integrated STEM center. This center will combine the Physics/Engineering Learning Center (PLC) and MESA into a much larger space that will be centrally located in the 800 building. Physics students will have increased access to academic support from peer tutors as well as more proactive academic and transfer advising. The Physics Department has also:

• collaborated with the Mathematics Department to better integrate the curriculum between MATH 5A and PHYS 4A.

• collaborated with the Radiologic Technology (RT) Department to integrate important key ideas for RT majors into PHYS 12.

• collaborated with the Energy Academy to help design innovative curriculum and implement hands-on laboratory activities for students.

• presented four Flex workshops introducing remote-controlled student response (clicker) systems and how to successfully incorporate clickers into instruction. The most recent workshop (Fall 2010) was a joint presentation between the Physics and Biology Departments.

• presented a Flex workshop designed to better integrate the science and engineering programs as well as discuss laboratory policies in each department.

Four-Year Universities Our faculty maintains relationships with other colleges and universities through active participation in both national and northern California section meetings of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). Individual faculty are in contact with organizations and professors at Cal Poly SLO, Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships program (SULI) at San Jose State, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), UC Berkeley, and UC Santa Cruz. These interactions strengthen our program by keeping us aware of the needs of our transfer institutions. Because of these collaborations, our physics students receive coveted internships at national laboratories including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, SLAC, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Our collaboration with UCSC and neighboring community colleges resulted in a $600,000 NSF-S-STEM grant designed to help financially needy and underrepresented college students obtain a B.A. in Physics. This grant has already resulted in six Cabrillo students each receiving a $25,000 scholarship to UCSC with three to four more scholarships expected over the next two years. Transfer Programs A major segment of our physics students are engineering majors who are encouraged to complete their lower division science courses at community colleges to alleviate impacted conditions at the four-year schools. California universities that grant BS degrees in engineering increasingly rely on Cabrillo and other two-year colleges to provide well-prepared junior transfers. We expect this trend to result in continuing strong enrollments for Cabrillo Physics. Articulation agreements have been forged between our program and physics programs at nearly all UC and CSU campuses including CSU San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Chico, Dominguez Hills, Fresno, Humboldt, Hayward, Monterey Bay, and Sacramento and UC Berkeley, Davis, Riverside, and Santa Cruz. Our students have obtained baccalaureate degrees at these institutions and many others.

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C: Costs

The following data describe productivity (WSCH/FTEF) of the Physics Program compared to the college as a whole.

2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 Physics WSCH 4250.5 4132.0 4116.8 4192.9 4455.5 Physics FTEF 6.5 7.0 7.3 7.1 6.9

Physics WSCH/FTEF 653.9 590.3 563.9 590.5 645.7

College WSCH/FTEF 554.1 531.3 543.3 609.9 615.5

Physics/College 118% 111% 104% 97% 105%

Our small department works efficiently to serve as many students as possible. Most of our class sizes are limited by the number of students we can fit within the lab. Even so, our department’s productivity has consistently been greater than the college average. It is also much greater than the 360 WSCH/FTEF recommended for optimum student learning by the American Association of Physics Teachers. The following data compare the Physics Program expenses (as a percent of overall instruction expense) to the FTES generated by our department (as a percent of the overall college FTES).

2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10

Percent of Expense 1.264% 1.335% 1.272% 1.161% 1.314%

Percent of FTES 1.286% 1.268% 1.192% 1.093% 1.226%

The percent expense of the Physics Program is slightly greater than the percent FTES generated by our department. This is not unusual given the equipment intensive nature of our program. Physics is a very real-world, hands-on experience. Up-to-date laboratory and demonstration equipment is therefore essential to the success of our students and we applaud the college for supporting this essential part of a student’s education. Although our program’s expenses do exceed those of non-laboratory programs, we are proud of our overall efficiency. Our department is cognizant of the declining college budget and works hard to decrease our expenses. Some of the ways our department reduces expenses include: scheduling two lab sections in the same lecture to reduce teaching units, repairing laboratory equipment rather than buying new items, and sharing resources such as lab equipment and supplies with other departments. D. Student Learning Outcomes The Physics Department assessed the core four competencies and all student learning outcomes for each of the courses that we teach. This process proved to be very beneficial for our department. It sparked many interesting discussions about teaching methodologies as well as highlighted our students’ strengths. The results of our assessments revealed that our physics students have a very good conceptual understanding of the material that we teach. Our students also do well on the homework assignments and demonstrate excellent data analysis skills in lab. 3

The assessments also revealed several areas in which our students currently struggle. Some of our students’ writing and grammar skills need improvement. They understand the concepts well but have difficulty communicating their ideas in written form. This was apparent in their formal lab reports and essay response questions. Some of our students struggle to arrive to class on time, especially students in our morning classes (PHYS 2A/2B and PHYS 10). Finally, some of our students need more guidance in organizing their work when problem solving and writing lab reports. The physics department has taken concrete steps to address each of the areas where improvement is needed. For example, to improve student writing skills, we have implemented a peer review step into the formal lab report writing process and posted sample lab reports on each course website. To encourage students to arrive to class on time, we often start class with a clicker question. If students arrive late, they miss the question which then lowers their class participation grade. To improve our students’ organizational skills, we have created detailed rubrics for grading homework assignments and lab reports. These rubrics are given to students so they know the expected format and exactly how they will be graded. We have already seen improvement in our students’ writing skills, timeliness, and organization. We will continue to help our students improve in these areas as well as any areas revealed by future assessments. The complete Department Analyses for Fall 2007 through Fall 2010 are included in Appendix A. E. Student Success Although the concepts and mathematics in physics are challenging and rigorous, our student-centered approach to teaching and our carefully designed learning activities enable a large fraction of our students to succeed. Success in physics (grade C or better) indicates that a student (1) has a strong conceptual understanding of the material, (2) is able to solve complex problems using the appropriate mathematical skills, (3) is able to work co-operatively with peers to perform and analyze laboratory experiments, and (4) has developed critical thinking skills necessary for future success. The Physics Department promotes student success in the following ways:

• Our teaching methodologies are highly interactive and student centered. Our department has been using clicker systems with great success for nine years and we continue to refine their use. Our labs continue to move away from the standard “follow these steps and verify this result” labs towards more open-ended, design-your-own experiment activities.

• Our faculty and staff are highly qualified and committed to teaching excellence. Our

active involvement in professional development and physics education research has provided the Physics Department with a strong foundation on which to build student success. Our faculty and staff have presented innovative laboratory activities at national conferences and trained K-12th grade teachers around the country in brain-based teaching techniques.

• Our department’s resources are organized and easy to access. Faculty can access an

online database of all demonstration equipment that includes pictures, detailed descriptions, and location in the stockroom. Faculty also have access to electronic archives of all class materials (quizzes, tests, lecture notes, laboratories, …) spanning almost 10 years for every course we teach. In addition, our department’s well-designed

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web pages provide students with online access to all course materials as well as links to various resources designed for student success.

• Our students feel a sense of community with the department and with each other. This is

in large part due to the success of the PLC, which students consistently cited as one of the major strengths of the department. In addition to getting help from tutors and completing weekly drop-in labs, students use the PLC as a place to study or do homework together. Students often form study groups that support and encourage success throughout the semester. Sometimes these study groups continue for several semesters and occasionally even after students transfer.

• Our department’s physical space includes two smart classrooms, a well-equipped

laboratory, the PLC, and a centrally located stockroom. The stockroom is physically connected to both classrooms as well as the physics lab. In addition to being an efficient design, this central location means that all full-time faculty and staff interact on a daily basis and contributes to the sense of community within the department.

• Our classes have more contact hours than comparable courses offered at the universities.

For example, PHYS 4A/4B/4C at Cabrillo has nine contact hours per week for 16 weeks. At UCSC, PHYS 5A/5B/5C (their equivalent to our PHYS 4 series) has seven contact hours per week for 10 weeks. The challenging topics covered in physics take time for students to assimilate. The increased number of contact hours no doubt contributes to the success of our students.

The Physics Department use a wide variety of methods to assess our students’ success, including in-class quizzes (conceptual and mathematical), problem sets, written exams, clicker questions, formal and informal lab reports, interactive PLC activities, daily journals, and research papers. The following data show retention and success in the Physics Program compared to the college as a whole.

2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/010 Physics retention 90.4% 86.0% 85.8% 87.3% 86.3% College retention 81.0% 80.5% 81.3% 85.2% 85.0%

Physics success 81.0% 77.5% 75.1% 74.5% 76.7% College success 67.5% 66.7% 67.6% 68.7% 70.2%

Success and retention rates of physics students are consistently above the college average. This is impressive given the relative difficulty of the subject matter. We are particularly proud of our excellent record of student success in Physics 4A (Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers). Our success rate in this high-risk course is approximately 70% versus a national average of about 50%. One of the true measures of the success of any transfer program is how well their students succeed after transferring. We consistently hear from former students and from faculty at UCSC, UC Berkeley, SLO and San Jose State that our transfer students are much better prepared and out-perform continuing students at those institutions.

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As expressed in an unsolicited email to former Cabrillo College President John Hurd:

Dear President Hurd,

I am the chair of the physics department at UCSC and I am currently teaching a class that has several junior transfers from Cabrillo. They are excellent, far better than most of the students from other community colleges. This trend has been apparent for some time, but now that I am teaching a class that has a good sprinkling of your ex students it is so clear that I felt I should communicate this to you. Your physics department is really doing an excellent job preparing students for the UC system. Please believe me when I say I have no ulterior motives, I am simply a person who believes in giving credit where credit is due. I write letters of complaint when they are justified, but I also write letters of commendation when the situation warrants it. This situation clearly warrants a letter of commendation. If the opportunity to express these views in a theater where they may help your college comes up, I will be certain to air them. Once again, congratulations on the sterling job your physics faculty are doing. Sincerely, David Dorfan, Professor of Physics, Chair of the Physics Department, UCSC.

F. Results of Student Survey The survey of students done in the Fall semester of 2010 indicates that students are very satisfied with the quality of instruction provided by the Physics Department. Students enjoy and appreciate the cooperative learning environments that are established in the classrooms, in the laboratory, and in the PLC. More than 92% of the students surveyed would recommend physics classes to other students. Most of the written comments cited the instructors as a major strength of the program. Other strengths indicated by the students include the sense of community created by the department, the interesting laboratories, and the Physics/Engineering Learning Center (PLC). The suggestions for improvement of the Physics Program were mainly centered around expanding the hours and the physical size of the PLC. The written comments indicate that about 80% of the students find overcrowding of the PLC to be an issue. Students sometimes have difficulty finding an available workspace or computer and many students would like to have the PLC open on Fridays and weekends. (Note: the $4.3 million grant discussed in Section 1B will result in a larger PLC space within the STEM center that should address these issues.) G: Curriculum Review The physics department met on five separate occasions to look closely at each of the ten courses that we teach. As a result of these meetings, we made changes to the curriculum in each of our courses. The following table describes the changes made as a result of curriculum review. Program Course Changes

PHYS 10 Introduction to Physics Updated Objectives, Content, Assignments, Evaluation, and Representative Texts.

PHYS 10L Introduction to Physics Lab Updated Content, Evaluation, and Representative Texts.

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PHYS 11 Elementary Physics Updated Course Description, SLOs, Content, Assignments, Evaluation, and Representative Texts.

PHYS 12 Conceptual Modern Physics

Changed Course name. Updated Course Description, SLOs, Objectives, Content, Assignments, Evaluation, and Representative Texts.

PHYS 2A General Physics I

Changed Course name. Updated Course Description, SLOs, Objectives, Content, Assignments, Evaluation, and Representative Texts.

PHYS 2B General Physics II Changed Course name. Updated SLOs, Objectives, Content, Assignments, Evaluation, and Representative Texts.

PHYS 4A Physics for Scientists and Engineers I

Changed Course name. Updated Course Description, Requisites, SLOs, Objectives, Content, Assignments, Evaluation, and Representative Texts.

PHYS 4B Physics for Scientists and Engineers II


PHYS 4C Physics for Scientists and Engineers III


PHYS 4D Modern Physics Updated Objectives, Content, Evaluation, and Representative Texts.

The Physics Program section of the 2010-2011 Cabrillo College Catalog is included in Appendix B. II. New Directions The success of the Physics Program is in large part due to the efforts put forth by each of our faculty to incorporate elements from Physics Education Research into their classrooms. Many years of research has shown that students learn physics more effectively when they are actively engaged in creating their knowledge rather than passively taking notes and listening to an instructor. We continue to develop active-student-learning tools and strategies such as:

• Peer Instruction, in which students individually think about a question posed by the instructor, then after discussing their answers in small groups, respond anonymously using clicker systems. The answers are then discussed as a class in a safe and supportive environment.

• Quantum Learning, in which effective lessons are designed and delivered using proven

results from more than 30 years of research on how the brain learns. A few of the many elements of Quantum Learning include creating an optimal environment for learning, piquing students’ interest at the beginning of each lesson, incorporating positive language patterns into the classroom, acknowledging every student effort, and reviewing material at frequent intervals.

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• Innovative, non-traditional laboratory activities including falsification labs, in which students are presented with a plausible but incorrect hypothesis. The students’ experimental data conflicts with the hypothesis and they must overcome their cognitive dissonance to understand why the initial hypothesis is not correct.

The results of our core competency and SLO assessments show that our initial use of these teaching strategies has been extremely effective. We will continue to refine these strategies as well as implement new teaching techniques as we learn more from future assessments. Some of the teaching strategies that we plan on implementing in the future include:

• Modeling Instruction, in which students are guided towards developing models of

physical phenomena. The instructor encourages the students to be invested in their ideas, then to test them in the laboratory. This way, students are actively involved in doing physics, testing their ideas, and constructing their own knowledge.

• Discourse Management, in which students interact like peer scientists rather than relying

on an authority figure to dispense knowledge. The instructor creates a cooperative learning community early in the semester and sets the expectations that students will work with their peers to create and test models. By allowing the class to develop their ideas, students have a stronger investment in their knowledge and retain a deeper understanding of physics concepts long after the class is over.

• Inquiry-based laboratory activities, in which a scientific question is posed, and students

must design and execute an experiment to answer the question. The instructor provides students with the necessary tools by way of intermediate activities designed to teach them key elements that will help guide them towards an answer.

• Topic-based laboratory activities, in which lab experiments are designed around real-

world physics applications based upon our students’ educational interests. For example, PHYS 2 consists of many students who are majoring in biology or kinesiology. The PHYS 2 labs are being redesigned to incorporate more medical applications such as measuring the torques involved in arm movements and modeling the pressures in the heart when measuring blood pressure.

• Accelerated Learning Techniques, in which brain-based teaching techniques are used to

accelerate student learning. A few of the many elements of accelerated learning include preparing the physical space of the classroom (i.e. lighting, seating arrangements, plants, paint color, …), incorporating multiple learning modalities into each lesson, establishing a supportive learning environment, encouraging frequent student interactions, and using music to influence student state.

III. Program Goals and Recommendations The majority of the Physics Program goals listed below are the same goals outlined in our 2006 program plan. Because of the recent budget cuts, our department has lacked the funding to achieve most of our previous goals. Assuming that the college budget recovers sometime in the not-too-distant future, our department’s goals for the next six years are as follows: 1. As revealed in our Spring 2009 core competency assessment (Communication), our students

need more guidance in writing concise and well-documented lab reports. We will increase student learning and success by increasing the budget of the Physics/Engineering Learning Community (PLC) in order to provide students with greater access to peer tutors. (Major Growth, Improved Transfer, Innovative Scheduling and Delivery)

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• Increase the PLC tutor budget from $16,000/yr to $25,000/yr. Schedule tutors in the PLC on Fridays and on weekends. Train tutors to assist struggling students with organizing their homework problem sets and writing formal lab reports.

Costs: $9,000 per year

2. Many of our students have difficulty completing their coursework in two years because they can not get into the classes they need to graduate. Our physics classes often fill to capacity as soon as registration opens. We will increase student access to physics classes by scheduling additional courses and additional sections of impacted courses. (Major Growth)

• Schedule a second lab section for PHYS 11 in the fall semester. Increase staffing by 2.4

units per year. $4,160 per year

• Schedule additional sections (lecture, lab, and PLC) of PHYS 4A, 4B and 4C. Increase staffing by 7.9 units (4.0 units for lecture, 2.4 units for lab, and 1.5 academic specialist units for PLC) for each added section.

$14,200 per section per year; $42,600 total per year • Schedule PHYS 4D every year rather than every two years. Increase staffing by 3 units

every other year. $5,200 every other year

• Schedule a second lab section for PHYS 2B in the spring semester. Increase staffing by 2.4 units per year.

$4,160 per year • Schedule PHYS 12 (Introduction to Modern Physics) every year as an alternative to

PHYS 10 (Introduction to Physics) for students interested in modern physics. Increase staffing by 3 units per year.

$5,200 per year • Schedule a section of Physics 10 Lab in Watsonville in the spring semester. Increase

staffing by 2.4 units per year. $4,160 per year.

Costs: $60,280 per year, $5200 every other year

3. Based on the results of our assessment of the Global Awareness core competency in Spring 2011, our students need more guidance in designing and implementing their own laboratories. We will increase student learning by purchasing new laboratory and demonstration equipment to provide all students with access to updated experiments. (Major Growth, Innovative Scheduling and Delivery)

• Purchase new laboratory and demonstration equipment for the PHYS 4 and PHYS 2

series. In particular, update equipment for mechanics and energy labs in PHYS 4A, update electrostatics and circuits demos for in PHYS 4B, purchase new optics experiments for PHYS 4C, and update the PHYS 2 lab experiments to include more medical applications.

Costs: $35,000 one time

4. As revealed in our Spring 2011 core competency assessment (Global Awareness), our students need more guidance in designing and implementing their own laboratories. We will increase student learning in laboratories by hiring Student Lab Assistants to help students during lab and by expanding our Laboratory Technician contract. (Innovative Scheduling and Delivery)

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• Establish a budget of $3,500/yr for a student lab assistant who will work under the direction of the Laboratory Technician. Lab assistants will assist students during physics labs, assist instructors with classroom demonstrations, test novel experiments, and perform other duties assigned by the Laboratory Technician.

$3,500 per year

• Expand our Laboratory Technician contract from 75% to 100% and add duties to (a) oversee student lab assistants in the physics lab and stockroom, (b) develop and set up demonstration experiments in the PLC, and (c) facilitate independent student research projects.

$17,200 per year Costs: $20,700 per year

5. Based upon the results of our SLO assessments in Fall 2007 and Fall 2008, our faculty would benefit from attending seminars and consulting learning experts about teaching methods. We will increase student learning by enabling and encouraging faculty and staff to attend professional meetings and workshops on effective physics teaching. (Innovative Scheduling and Delivery)

• Create and fund a Cabrillo Foundation endowment to pay for travel and other meeting

costs for faculty and staff. Establish an initial target to provide $1,500 annually to supplement existing conference attendance funds.

Costs: $30,000 startup (external funds)

6. As revealed in our Spring 2009 core competency assessment (Communication), our students would benefit from an increased awareness of the role of physics in society. We will increase student learning and success by developing advanced interactive demonstration experiments for student groups in the PLC. (Improved Transfer, Innovative Scheduling and Delivery)

• Increase the equipment budget by $4,000 annually to purchase individual sets of

experimental apparatus that are too expensive for multiple copies in the lab. $4,000 per year

• Install display cases in the expanded PLC for interactive demonstration experiments. $6,000 one time

Costs: $6,000 one time, $4,000 per year

7. As stated in goal #2, scheduling additional courses and additional sections of impacted courses will benefit those students who can not get into the classes they need to graduate. However, if the number of teaching units taught by adjuncts exceeds 15, we create a substantial risk of not finding local qualified candidates in sufficient numbers. We will increase student access to physics classes by hiring an additional full-time instructor. (Major Growth)

Costs: $66,000 per year

February 8, 2012

Description: Cost1. Increase Budget of Physics/Engineering Learning Center (PLC). $9,000 per year

2. Schedule Additional Sections of Impacted Courses. $59,700 per year, $5,200 every other year

3. Purchase New Laboratory and Demonstration Equipment. $35,000 one time

4. Hire Student Lab Assistants and Expand Lab Technician's Contract. $20,700 per year

5. Create and Fund a Cabrillo Foundation Endowment. $30,000 one time (external funds)

6. Develop Interactive Advanced Demonstration Experiments. $6,000 one time, $4,000 per year

7. Hire Additional Full-Time Instructor. $66,000 per year

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PHYS Program Planning

Goals and Recommendations

Cabrillo College 2/8/2012 3:44 PM

Revised 7/20/07

Transfer and Basic Skills Departmental Assessment Analysis Form

Note: Individual Assessment Form precedes this form.

Use the form below to summarize the results of the department meeting in which you discussed the core competency assessment process or the assessment of course SLOs. Append this form to your Instructional Plan and incorporate the results into the narrative of your plan. Department

Physics

Meeting Date

2/8/2008

Number of Faculty/Staff participating in dialogue Number of Faculty/Staff sharing Assessment Results Total number of faculty/staff in department

FULLTIME ADJUNCT 3 1 3 1 3 2

Core Competency or Course SLOs measured

All SLOs for Physics 10, Physics 10L, Physics 12, Physics 2A and Physics 2B

Assessment Tools (Give examples of major assignments your faculty/staff used to measure the competency or course SLOs)

Research paper, formal lab report, group and individual quizzes, and problem sets.

Assessment Results (Summarize the overall results of your department What student needs and issues were revealed? Were there any areas where student performance was outstanding? Any areas where it can be improved?

Overall, students did very well. Students understand concepts well but need to work on grammar and writing skills. Knowledge of concepts / applications of knowledge. Writing skills need improvement.

Revised 7/20/07

Next Step in the Classroom to Improve Student Learning How might student performance be improved? Check all the items faculty/staff felt would help them address the needs and issues that were revealed by the assessment. When filling out this form on a computer, please indicate selections by deleting unselected items.

o State goals or objectives of assignment/activity more explicitly Revise content of assignment/activities Revise the amount of writing/oral/visual/clinical

or similar work Revise activities leading up to and/or supporting

assignment/activities o Increase in-class discussions and activities Increase student collaboration and/or peer review

o Provide more frequent or more comprehensive feedback on student progress

o Increase guidance for students as they work on assignments

o Use methods of questioning that encourage the competency you measured

o State criteria for grading more explicitly o As an instructor, increase your interaction with

students outside of class o Ask a colleague to critique assignments/activities o Collect more data o Nothing; assessment indicates no improvement

necessary o Other (please describe)

Next Step in the Department to Improve Student Learning Check all that the department felt would help them improve student learning. When filling out this form on a computer, please indicate selections by deleting unselected items.

o Offer/encourage attendance at seminars, workshops or discussion groups about teaching methods Consult teaching and learning experts about

teaching methods o Encourage faculty to share activities that foster

competency o Write collaborative grants to fund departmental

projects to improve teaching o Purchase articles/books on teaching about

competency o Visit classrooms to provide feedback (mentoring) Create bibliography of resource material

o Have binder available for rubrics and results o Analyze course curriculum,, so that the department

can build a progression of skills as students advance through courses

o Nothing; assessments indicate no improvements necessary

o Other (please describe)

Revised 7/20/07

Priorities to Improve Student Learning (List the top 3-6 things faculty/staff felt would most improve student learning)

1) Increase the amount of writing students do inside and outside of the classroom. 2) Emphasize the importance of being able to clearly communicate their ideas in written form. 3) Have students clarify their understanding by writing and explaining their ideas to other students.

Implementation (List the departmental plans to implement these priorities)

1) Implement conceptual questions into quizzes and exams that demand an in-depth written explanation. 2) Use more group conceptual quizzes during class. 3) Increase the amount of writing in Physics 10 and Physics 12.

Timeline for Implementation (Make a timeline for implementation of your top priorities)

1) Implement conceptual questions within one year. 2) Implement more group quizzes within one year. 3) Implement increases writing within one semester.

Revised 7/20/07




Physics

Meeting Date

2/6/2009




All SLOs for Physics 4A, Physics 4B, Physics 4C, Physics 4B, and Physics 11.


Formal lab report, lab journal, group and individual quizzes, and problem sets.


Students not participating in labs / group discussions did less well than other students. Instructors need to organize better working groups, encourage more student participation, and work on increasing conceptual understanding. Students participating do well on quizzes. Encourage students to form working groups and increase student buy-in for group activities.

Revised 7/20/07


o State goals or objectives of assignment/activity more explicitly

o Revise content of assignment/activities o Revise the amount of writing/oral/visual/clinical or

similar work Revise activities leading up to and/or supporting

assignment/activities Increase in-class discussions and activities Increase student collaboration and/or peer review

o Provide more frequent or more comprehensive feedback on student progress

o Increase guidance for students as they work on assignments Use methods of questioning that encourage the

competency you measured o State criteria for grading more explicitly As an instructor, increase your interaction with




Offer/encourage attendance at seminars, workshops or discussion groups about teaching methods

o Consult teaching and learning experts about teaching methods

o Encourage faculty to share activities that foster competency Write collaborative grants to fund departmental







Revised 7/20/07


1) Form better self-managed student working groups. 2) Encourage student involvement outside of class. 3) Learn more about effectively organizing student groups and group dynamics.


1) Attend professional development seminars to see how other instructors are implementing and managing student working groups. 2) Develop funding to support travel to professional development seminars. 3) Apply theories of learning styles to organize working lab groups during the first lab of the semester.


1) Attend at least one professional development seminar within one year. 2) Find increased funding for travel within 2 years. 3) Implement student working groups within 1 year.

Revised 7/20/07




Physics

Meeting Date

8/27/2009




Communication


Formal lab reports, HW assignments, in-class discussions.


Physics 10 students demonstrated poor writing skills and knowledge of application of physics outside of class. Physics 4 students demonstrated a lack of understanding of the proper format for lab reports. Students did very well on HW problem sets. Overall, almost all of our students could improve their writing skills.

Revised 7/20/07


State goals or objectives of assignment/activity more explicitly Revise content of assignment/activities Revise the amount of writing/oral/visual/clinical

or similar work Revise activities leading up to and/or supporting

assignment/activities o Increase in-class discussions and activities Increase student collaboration and/or peer review

o Provide more frequent or more comprehensive feedback on student progress Increase guidance for students as they work on

assignments o Use methods of questioning that encourage the

competency you measured State criteria for grading more explicitly

o As an instructor, increase your interaction with students outside of class

o Ask a colleague to critique assignments/activities o Collect more data o Nothing; assessment indicates no improvement



o Offer/encourage attendance at seminars, workshops or discussion groups about teaching methods

o Consult teaching and learning experts about teaching methods Encourage faculty to share activities that foster



competency o Visit classrooms to provide feedback (mentoring) Create bibliography of resource material Have binder available for rubrics and results

o Analyze course curriculum,, so that the department can build a progression of skills as students advance through courses



Revised 7/20/07


1) Students would benefit from constructive feedback from their peers. 2) Students would benefit from increased awareness of the role of physics and technology in society. 3) Students could use more guidance in how to write concise and well documented lab reports.


1) Implement a peer review step in the formal lab report writing process. 2) Create a writing project in Physics 10 where students read, analyze, and summarize a popular physics article. 3) Solidify lab report guidelines so that students have a more concrete understanding of proper format and procedure.


1) Implement peer review within one semester. 2) Implement writing project within one semester. 3) Implement improved lab report guidelines within 1 year.

Revised 7/20/07




Physics

Meeting Date

11/10/09




Critical Thinking and Information Competency


Problem sets and example problems for Physics 11, 2A, 4A, and 4B.


Developed a rubric for organizing useful criteria to grading/assessing problems. Students need a better understanding of exactly what is important when organizing and solving physics problems. The (initial) rubric is too long and complicated. It should be more straight forward and easy to understand.

Revised 7/20/07




similar work o Revise activities leading up to and/or supporting

assignment/activities o Increase in-class discussions and activities o Increase student collaboration and/or peer review Provide more frequent or more comprehensive

feedback on student progress Increase guidance for students as they work on









o Encourage faculty to share activities that foster competency

o Write collaborative grants to fund departmental projects to improve teaching

o Purchase articles/books on teaching about competency

o Visit classrooms to provide feedback (mentoring) o Create bibliography of resource material Have binder available for rubrics and results




Revised 7/20/07


1) Students should know exactly how the instructor plans on grading HW and test problems. 2) Instructors should grade all problems in a consistent and fair manner. 3) Students should know how to set up and prepare to solve problems to get maximum points.


Use the initial grading rubric in order to be more uniform when grading problems on exams and homework.


Begin using the rubric immediately. Modify and improve rubric and then meet again in spring to discuss/develop an improved rubric.

Revised 7/20/07




Physics

Meeting Date

4/20/10




Critical Thinking and Information Competency


Problem sets and example problems for Physics 11, 2B, 4A, and 4C.


Revised the previous rubric on problem solving to be clearer and easier for students (and instructors) to use. Students need to better understand what the instructor is looking for in grading problems. The new rubric can still be improved with continued use over time.

Revised 7/20/07




similar work o Revise activities leading up to and/or supporting

assignment/activities o Increase in-class discussions and activities o Increase student collaboration and/or peer review Provide more frequent or more comprehensive










o Encourage faculty to share activities that foster competency

o Write collaborative grants to fund departmental projects to improve teaching

o Purchase articles/books on teaching about competency

o Visit classrooms to provide feedback (mentoring) o Create bibliography of resource material Have binder available for rubrics and results




Revised 7/20/07


1) Students should know exactly how the instructor plans on grading HW and test problems. 2) Instructors should grade all problems in a consistent and fair manner. 3) Students should know how to set up and prepare to solve problems to get maximum points.


Use the initial grading rubric in order to be more uniform when grading problems on exams and homework.


The new and improved rubric will be implemented immediately. We will continue to modify and improve the rubric over time.

Revised 7/20/07




Physics

Meeting Date

2/4/2011




Personal Responsibility and Professional Development


In-class clicker questions, student compliance with due dates, HW problem sets in Physics 11, Physics 2A, Physics 4A and Physics 4B.


Most students met the stated deadlines for HW and lab reports. Many students had difficulty arriving to class on time on a consistent basis. Students did very well on HW problem sets. Students can improve in their ability to arrive to class and lab in a timely fashion.

Revised 7/20/07


State goals or objectives of assignment/activity more explicitly



assignment/activities o Increase in-class discussions and activities o Increase student collaboration and/or peer review o Provide more frequent or more comprehensive








o Offer/encourage attendance at seminars, workshops or discussion groups about teaching methods Consult teaching and learning experts about

teaching methods Encourage faculty to share activities that foster



competency o Visit classrooms to provide feedback (mentoring) o Create bibliography of resource material o Have binder available for rubrics and results o Analyze course curriculum,, so that the department




Revised 7/20/07


1) Actively encourage students to take more responsibility for their own learning. 2) Hold students more accountable to posted deadlines. 3) Impart to students the importance of punctuality.


1) Create NQA (No Questions Asked) coupons and clearly define policies for late homework. 2) Make part of a student’s class participation grade based upon punctual arrival to class.


1) Implement NQA coupons immediately. 2) Implement class participation component of grade within one semester.

Revised 7/20/07




Physics

Meeting Date

8/26/2011




Global Awareness


Results from formal lab reports on video analysis projects. Results from formal lab reports on unknown mass lab and acceleration due to gravity lab (both labs that students design themselves).


Students thoroughly enjoyed the scientific process of designing and running their own experiments and video projects. Students analysis of the results of these labs was more in depth and detailed than expected. Some students need more guidance and initial instruction in creating their own labs.

Revised 7/20/07


State goals or objectives of assignment/activity more explicitly



assignment/activities Increase in-class discussions and activities Increase student collaboration and/or peer review

o Provide more frequent or more comprehensive feedback on student progress Increase guidance for students as they work on


competency you measured o State criteria for grading more explicitly o As an instructor, increase your interaction with




Offer/encourage attendance at seminars, workshops or discussion groups about teaching methods

o Consult teaching and learning experts about teaching methods Encourage faculty to share activities that foster








Revised 7/20/07


1) Provide students with more guidance in experimental design. 2) Encourage students to draw more physical pictures. 3) Encourage students to utilize knowledge and concepts from previous courses.


1) Increase the number of design your own experiment laboratories. 2) Prepare and post more detailed lab design guidelines. 3) Train students throughout the semester in open-ended lab techniques.


1) Implement more design your own experiment laboratories immediately. 2) Implement more detailed lab design guidelines within one semester. 3) Implement increased student training in open-ended lab techniques within one semester.

PHYSICSNatural and Applied Sciences DivisionWanda Garner, Division DeanDivision Office, Room 701Joe McCullough, Program Chair, (831) 479-6521Aptos Counselor: (831) 479-6274 for appointmentWatsonville Counselor: (831) 786-4734Call (831) 479-6328 for more informationhttp://www.cabrillo.edu/programs

Program Description:Physics is the study of our natural surroundings, from the tiniest ele-

mentary particle to the entire universe. Physics provides a broad rangeof knowledge and powerful skills which are useful in practically everydiscipline. The program at Cabrillo emphasizes topics that affect oureveryday lives: forces, motion, gravity, waves, sound, electricity, magnet-ism, light, and heat. The excitement of atoms, nuclei, relativity, and thecosmos is also included. A physics major degree generally transfers to afour-year institution to complete a bachelor's degree. Physics graduatesat the bachelor's level are qualified for a variety of technical positionswith government or industry, and they are also well prepared to enter agraduate program in any other science or in engineering. Physics majorsare welcomed into professional programs such as law, business, ormedicine. Teaching at the high school or two-year college level is anoption if a master's degree is obtained. A physicist generally obtains thePh.D. Degree, which may lead to experimental or theoretical researchand/or teaching at the university level or basic research in government orindustry. Nearly every four-year college and university offers a physicsmajor. Requirements vary from campus to campus. See a counselor andconsult catalogs for specific information. High School Preparation:Physics, chemistry, four years of college preparatory mathematics.Cabrillo offers courses that are equivalent to this preparation. The majorwill require more than two years at the community college level if highschool preparation is not complete.

Model Program for Physics The following Model Program fulfills requirements for the A.S. Degreein physics at Cabrillo College. Specific lower division major preparationat four-year public institutions in California can be found atwww.assist.org. Please see a counselor for advisement for transfer toany four-year institution.

A.S. Degree: PhysicsA.S. General Education 21 Units

Core Courses (39 units) MATH 5A Analytic Geometry and Calculus I . . . . . . . . . . 5 MATH 5B Analytic Geometry and Calculus II . . . . . . . . . . 5 MATH 5C Analytic Geometry and Calculus III . . . . . . . . . 5 MATH 6 *Introduction to Linear Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 MATH 7 Introduction to Differential Equations . . . . . . . 3 PHYS 4A Physics for Scientists and Engineers . . . . . . . . 5 PHYS 4B **Physics for Scientists and Engineers . . . . . . 5 PHYS 4C *Physics for Scientists and Engineers . . . . . . . 5 PHYS 4D ***Modern Physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Total Units 60 *Spring only; **Fall only; ***Fall, even years onlyPhysics CoursesNote: UC will not grant credit for PHYS 10, 10L, 11, or 12 if taken afterPHYS 2A or 4A; if PHYS 10, 10L, 11, and 12 are combined, only onecourse will transfer to UC. PHYS 2AB combined with 4ABC maximumcredit, one series.

Cabrillo College Catalog–2011-2012

1

PHYS 2AGeneral Physics4 units; 3 hours Lecture, 4 hours LaboratoryPrerequisite: MATH 4 or MATH 2 and MATH 3 or equivalent knowledge.Recommended Preparation: Eligibility for ENGL 100 and READ 100.

Covers mechanics, heat and sound primarily for life science students.Fall semester only.Transfer Credit: Transfers to CSU, UC.

PHYS 2BGeneral Physics4 units; 3 hours Lecture, 4 hours LaboratoryPrerequisite: PHYS 2A.Recommended Preparation: Eligibility for ENGL 100 and READ 100.

Covers electromagnetism, optics, relativity, and the atom primarily forlife science students. Spring semester only.Transfer Credit: Transfers to CSU, UC.

PHYS 4APhysics for Scientists and Engineers5 units; 4 hours Lecture, 5 hours LaboratoryPrerequisite: MATH 5A, MATH 5B or concurrent enrollment; PHYS 11 or highschool physics with a grade of “B”.Recommended Preparation: Eligibility for ENGL 100 and READ 100.

Covers mechanics, fluids, and waves for scientists and engineers.Transfer Credit: Transfers to CSU, UC.

PHYS 4BPhysics for Scientists and Engineers5 units; 4 hours Lecture, 5 hours LaboratoryPrerequisite: PHYS 4A; MATH 5C or concurrent enrollment.Recommended Preparation: Eligibility for ENGL 100 and READ 100.

Covers electricity and magnetism for scientists and engineers.Students enrolled in the Honors Transfer Program may count this coursetowards the “Honors Scholar” designation. Fall semester only.Transfer Credit: Transfers to CSU, UC.

PHYS 4CPhysics for Scientists and Engineers5 units; 4 hours Lecture, 5 hours LaboratoryPrerequisite: PHYS 4A; MATH 5C or concurrent enrollment.Recommended Preparation: Eligibility for ENGL 100 and READ 100.

Covers thermodynamics, optics, and introduction to quantum physicsfor scientists and engineers. Students enrolled in the Honors TransferProgram may count this course towards the “Honors Scholar” designa-tion. Spring semester only.Transfer Credit: Transfers to CSU, UC.

PHYS 4DModern Physics3 units; 3 hours Lecture Prerequisite: PHYS 4C.Recommended Preparation: Eligibility for ENGL 100 and READ 100.

Covers relativity, quantum mechanics and nuclear physics for scien-tists and engineers. Fall semester only.Transfer Credit: Transfers to CSU, UC.

PHYS 10Introduction to Physics3 units; 3 hours Lecture Prerequisite: MATH 154.Recommended Preparation: Eligibility for ENGL 100 and READ 100.

Covers conceptual topics in physics for the non-science major (PHYS10L lab optional).Transfer Credit: Transfers to CSU, UC, with limits: PHYS 10, 10L , 11 & 12combined: maximum credit- 4 units. No credit for PHYS 10/10L, 11 or 12 iftaken after 2A or 4A.

PHYS 10LIntroduction to Physics Lab1 unit; 3 hours Laboratory Prerequisite: PHYS 10 or concurrent enrollment.Recommended Preparation: Eligibility for ENGL 100 and READ 100.

Presents a hands-on exploration of topics in physics for the non-sci-ence major.Transfer Credit: Transfers to CSU, UC, with limits: PHYS 10, 10L, 11 & 12combined: maximum credit- 4 units. No credit for PHYS 10/10L, 11 or 12 iftaken after 2A or 4A.

PHYS 11Elementary Physics4 units; 3 hours Lecture, 4 hours LaboratoryPrerequisite: MATH 4 or MATH 2 and MATH 3 or equivalent knowledge.Recommended Preparation: Eligibility for ENGL 100 and READ 100.

Presents an introduction to motion, force, heat, electromagnetism,light, sound, atoms and nuclei designed primarily to prepare students forthe PHYS 4 sequence.Transfer Credit: Transfers to CSU, UC, with limits: PHYS 10, 11 & 12 com-bined: maximum credit- 4 units. No credit for PHYS 10/10L, 11 or 12 if takenafter 2A or 4A.

PHYS 12Introduction to Modern Physics3 units; 3 hours Lecture Prerequisite: MATH 154.Recommended Preparation: Eligibility for ENGL 100 and READ 100.

Covers conceptual topics in modern physics for the nonscience major.Explores the nature and meaning of special and general relativity, quan-tum physics, the atom and nucleus, and elementary particles.Transfer Credit: Transfers to CSU, UC, with limits: PHYS 10, 11 & 12 com-bined: maximum credit- 4 units No credit for PHYS 10/10L, 11 or 12 if takenafter 2A or 4A.

Cabrillo College Catalog–2011-2012

2

Documents

Physics Program Plan 2012 - Cabrillo CollegePhysics Program Plan 2011 Joseph McCullough, Carlos Figueroa, and Marcus Watson February 9, 2012 “Education is not the filling of a pail,