Los Angeles Mission College
Department of Life Sciences
Minutes
Friday, Dec 9, 2016 @ 10:00am (CMS 214)
Present: Steve Brown (by phone), Par Mohammadian, Diane Livio, Erica Seubert, Elizabeth Atondo, Sheila Fennoy
Old Business
1. Update: Articulation discussion - A.S. degree, C-ID.net, BIO 6 & 7 redesign (All with Elizabeth Atondo): Elizabeth recommends that Steve and Diane can rearrange the course content of BIO 6 & 7 as long as we still cover the minimum content as listed on c-id.net between the two courses as a pathway. It is a concern that some students might break up the sequence between different campuses, and while this is strongly discouraged by the universities and counselors, it has not prevented transferring. There is still a concern about some students being caught in the middle of the transition having taken one of the courses in the old design and still needing the other after we have rearranged content. Steve and Diane will need to continue discussions to work out an action plan for this. Regarding the local A.S. degree, Elizabeth recommends that it is not enough for transfer, Par notes that it is not servicing enough students to be worthwhile, and we all agree that there is no reasonable argument to keep it and thus it should be archived. Elizabeth notes that any student currently on the track for it will have catalogue rights to continue.
2. Monthly Budget Update (Pong): Pong reported to Steve that we are at approximately $32,000 which is higher than what we usually have at this point. Updated 1/17/17: The estimated budget was misread. The current amount is approximately $8,066.
3. Monthly Status Update of Garden (Nadine): “No change. Again talked to VP Villaneava today about the shed. He will make it a point of talking to Victor next week about the shed.” Sheila, Steve, and Nadine will work on a list of specific plants that can be plotted in the garden and will cover the needs for BIO3&7.
4. Progress: BioTech pathway approved by EPC and Curriculum (Par): Approved on Dec 7th by the BOT, up to Dean Hernandez to send to state level. Hopefully the courses will be offered starting Fall 2017.
5. Update: status of floor repairs in the Microbiology & BIO3 labs and hallway (Nadine): No update from Nadine. Erica reports that two men came in to the BIO 3 lab and took a photo of the bubble on the floor.
6. Update: Number of lab techs vs number of lab sections between LAMC, LAVC, & Pierce = avg 14.44 sections per technician (Pong): Par reports if we get the Biotech fund, it could cover a new lab technician to cover the new Biotech lab sections. Erica asks what courses currently being offered overlaps with the Biotech pathway, and Par notes that there is some, such as Microbiology. Par says that part of this depends on how much funding we get to determine if we can hire a full-time lab tech rather than a part-time.
7. Update: contract renewal for Steris Autoclaves (Steve, Pong): In progress.
8. Update: scheduling a meeting for the BIO 3 faculty (Diane): Diane still needs to put together a poll to see about a BIO3 faculty only meeting to discuss issues regarding the course specifically. Erica recommends a couple of surveys to collect information about issues and suggestions for the course to complete before the meeting and guide the discussions.
9. Update: moving glassware to store in the BIO3 classroom for students (All) [*See Appendix for Nadine’s emailed comments] We held a discussion of the potential merits and concerns regarding this plan. There is no concern regarding moving the glassware into the BIO3 lab. We plan to continue the discussion with the other BIO3 instructors at the meeting before the next semester regarding the expectations of the students.
10. Update: Implementation of rules of food and drinks in lecture/lab rooms (All): Steve needs to consult with Facilities and report back the official regulations. We can then come up with clearly defined rules for all to follow, which might be helped by the issue in item #11.
11. Update: prospect of changing when lecture and lab sections are scheduled (Steve): Steve will discuss with Isabelle options for spreading out a section of Bio 3 to have the lab meet on Friday separate from the lecture days and for introducing a longer break between the scheduled lecture and lab sections, minimum 30 minutes. Steve will also discuss with Zoila from the Bookstore about expanding the hours that the café is open to meet the needs of the BIO students during the day.
New Business:
12. Laptops in a rolling cart approved for the Life sciences labs, as well as the Skills lab of Allied Health programs (Par): Par requested from the CTE program to have a laptop cart that contains 30 laptops, that can be used by any BIO instructor, to administer quizzes and exams in the classroom through CANVAS. This will be a solution for our printing account budget and will be more environmentally friendly. Par notes that this is another reason for all instructors to become familiarized with CANVAS to use this feature.
13. VeriCite and Respondus Lockdown discussion (Par): VeriCite is a software that is similar to TurnItIn.com and works with CANVAS to check submitted student work for plagiarism. Respondus Lockdown is a software that will prevent students to access other sites on the internet outside of CANVAS.
14. Biology new position approved! (All): The position will be focused for a BIO3 coordinator. Steve will check with Isabelle to find out if she received the announcement documents and is processing it.
15. Policy on electronic dictionary usage by ESL students in exams (Erica): Erica had issues with a student repeatedly requesting to use Google Translate on her cell phone or an electronic dictionary during exams. Par reports that this is an instructor-specific policy, and Steve will talk to Isabelle to find out if there is campus/district policy.
16. Canvas plug-ins to use in the classroom, e.g. Softchalk (Erica): Erica demonstrated the features of Softchalk to use for online interactive lessons to have students complete, which records their responses and grades them, and it integrates with CANVAS to easily become part of the course Modules. The license for the program is expensive, but the storage space is huge and thus could be shared among instructors. Erica will send the information regarding the software to Par who will communicate with OEI about purchasing a license for the faculty to use.
On hold assignments:
1. Postponed: Look into the scheduling pattern of Bio classes of Pierce, Valley and COC during the Winter break (All) – We will go with our needs. To Be Removed
2. Postponed: Validation study for interdisciplinary prerequisite for math in BIO3 and BIO5 to be scheduled in Spring 2017 (Diane & Erica) - to be addressed during the Winter Break
3. Postponed: meetings for rearranging Bio 6 and Bio 7 curricula, Bio 6 as a prerequisite for Bio 7, to take place in August (Steve, Diane) - Steve and Diane will meet during winter to decide if we will follow CID140 or CID190.
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Next meeting: “Spring in to Spring”, Wed, Feb 1, 3-5pm (CMS 214)
[For March meeting, we can try to set up a meeting through CCC Confer.]
APPENDIX:
9. Nadine’s comments regarding glassware in BIO3 lab:
“I have added dish tubs so that the students can clean their dishes easier.
Moving glassware------
We do not have as much extra glassware as we did in the Ins. Bldg.
Our students seem to be clumsy.
Putting drawers of glassware in the lab and having the students take out the glassware they need, then using and then cleaning up the glassware is time consuming for the lab, more dangerous for glassware breakage and student injury, and will consume way more glassware then is used now in the labs.
At present the glassware use is at a minimum, it is easily monitored, and with the built kits the students are ready to start their experiments right away. It might take the students much longer to start performing the labs.
There is some lapse of glassware cleaning but it is minimized and easily taken care of.
Is their a lot more time in the labs for students to get their own glassware set up and then completely clean up and put away the glassware?
There is a logistics problem in Bio 3 lab, all the glassware would have to be stored in the back where the floor is damaged. There are a minimum of drawers on the sides of the room.
What person that is teaching Bio3 right now wants this?”
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