LAVC Annual Plan 2011-2012

Discipline Assessment Plan (DAP) for Student Learning Outcomes

Discipline: All inclusive (Anatomy, Biology, Env. Science, Microbiology, Physiology) Department Name:Biology

Date:10/14/2011

1. For each course offered by your department indicate:

·  the semester in which you will gather the data (D)

·  the semester in which you will complete the assessment analysis and submit to SLO Committee (A)

Course Name and Number / Number of sections offered per year / Assessed prior to Fall 2011 / F11 / Sp12 / Su12 / F12 / S13 / Su13 / F13 / Sp14 / To be assessed F14-Sp15
Anatomy 1 / 12 / X / D / A
Biology 3 / 28 / X / D / A
Biology 6 / 4 / D / A
Biology 7 / 4 / X / X
Biology 22 / 4 / D / A
Biology 33 / 4 / D / A
Biology 40 / 1 / D / A
Bio 185-385 / 8 / D / A
Microbio 20 / 10 / X / D / A
Physiology 1 / 8 / X / X

Note: At minimum, your goal should be to assess 20% of your courses annually. Courses with large enrollment should be a priority for assessment.

2. Looking back at your 2010-2011 annual plan, how many courses had you planned to assess this year?

For 2010-2011: A total of 5 courses. We planned to acquire data and assess 3 courses (Anat 1, Bio 3, & Micro 20). Additionally, we had collected data prior to Fall 10 and then assessed 2 more courses (Bio 7 and Physio 1).

3. Did those assessments take place?

All of the above assessments have been completed, and submitted to the VCCC for review.

4. If not, what were the major challenges to completing the assessment? How do you plan to address these challenges for future assessment?

A significant problem is that we have a large number of sections of Biology 3 that are taught by non-fulltime adjunct instructors. We plan to hold a training session/workshop to train these instructors and others with seniority rights on use of the assessment tool and note their perfromance of this responsibility with the faculty evaluation as indicated on Form : Basic and Comprehensive Evaluation Summary Form for All Faculty under heading : "Professional Qualities: Professional Responsibilities, #9.

5. If so, summarize how the results of completed assessment s are being or will be used to improve student learning.

We plan a department faculty workshop (inviting the adjunct faculty), to go over the results and determine ways to 1. modify coursework, if necessary, that encourages the SLOs and 2. ensuring that the assessment tool/rubric is a valid indicator of the outcome that we want our students to have by the end of the course.

6. How has dialogue among faculty members about assessment results and improvement plans been conducted?

We have met in small groups, such as instructors teaching the same courses. We have also formalized discussions at department meetings where several small groups are formed for discussion, follwed by lively discussion of the entire group.

updated 8/18/11