SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT

SABBATICAL REPORT FORM

Submit your completed Sabbatical Report as an email attachment (*.doc file, only), within 60 days of

your return to duty. Send your report to the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources &

Employer/Employee Relations, David Bugay (dbugay@socccd.edu) with a copy to his assistant

Beverly Johnson (bjohnson@socccd.edu).

The first page of this document is the first page of your report.

Submission of a final Sabbatical Report is a component of the sabbatical process. (See SOCCCD 2001-2014 Academic Employee Master Agreement, Article XXVI, Section K-1, “Upon completion of the sabbatical and within sixty (60) days of the faculty member’s return to duty, a narrative report shall be submitted to the Sabbatical Committee for Review and acceptance (or non-acceptance).”

COMPLETE ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:

Name: Amy L. Stinson

College: Irvine Valley College Division: Physical Sciences & Technology

Period for which your sabbatical was granted:

Academic year___2013-2014_____

Fall__2013____ Spring______ Both______

Date and location of required presentation: January 16, 2014, School of Physical Sciences flex

week school meeting

Description and location of materials produced for college/district use (if applicable):

1. A lab manual for IVC’s course MS20: Introduction to Oceanography was created during the sabbatical. The lab exercises are currently being used in all course sections, and are posted on each MS20 section’s Blackboard website. A copy of the lab manual has been provided to the Dean of Physical Sciences (on CD-ROM).

2. Completed an online course through the Center for Dark Energy Biosphere (C-DEBI) on the

topic of microbes living in the extreme conditions found in the sediment and rock below the deep seafloor (course title: The Science of Life Below the Seafloor; see Attachment A for confirmation of course completion). This information was incorporated into lecture and lab material.

3. Participated in the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) review team of

online activities, held before the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting. Attachment B of this document contains my working notes of the activities I was assigned to evaluate.

4. Attended lectures at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. Lecture

content has been integrated into updated lecture and lab materials.

5. Completed Saddleback College’s EDUC220-Universal Design for Online Instruction, to

prepare for writing lab materials that were ADA compliant.

Narrative Report

1. Activities

1a. Describe in detail the activities conducted during the sabbatical.

The main focus of the sabbatical was to write a lab manual that would be used in all introductory

oceanography courses taught at IVC. Fifteen separate lab exercises were written and incorporated into the MS20 lab manual that is used in all introductory oceanography courses at IVC. The lab exercises are currently in use this Spring 2014 semester, and distributed to students via each instructor’s Blackboard website. Additionally, an instructor’s edition of the lab manual was written that contains lab exercise answers, information concerning necessary materials and equipment, and teaching suggestions such as the sequence or positioning of a specific lab exercise within the course.

Preliminary work on the lab material consisted of a review of the MS20 curriculum, specifically

the course outline of record (COR). The review was meant to ensure the inclusion of materials related to specific curricular goals and student learning outcomes that are stated in the course outline of record.

I attempted to investigate all public domain materials that I would incorporate into all of the

various lab exercises when I first began writing the lab manual. I abandoned this approach after spending a large amount of time on internet searches that were vaguely applicable to the main lab topics. Some of the lab exercises that have real-time data components to the lab exercises posed the greatest challenge because many of the government websites were undergoing updates and revisions. Instead, I investigated the public domain material as I wrote each lab exercise. See the timeline table in section 1c for information as to how I went about organizing my time while writing the lab manual.

Other activities I participated in during the sabbatical were:

An online graduate course through the Center for Dark Energy Biosphere (C-DEBI) on the topic of microbes living in the extreme conditions found in the sediment and rock below the deep seafloor. I was not initially planning on incorporating this specific material into the lab manual, but the opportunity to participate in this course changed my mind. Topical information from the course was included in the lab exercise titled Microbial Communities of the Deep Seafloor, which focuses on the occurrence and economic value of deep seafloor microbial communities. This field of research is fairly new, within about the last decade, and participation in the course allowed me to update my knowledge base on the topic of microbial sources, and deep seafloor sampling technologies. Resources relating to microbial communities include gas hydrates, which are considered an emerging marine energy resource.

Participated in the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) review team for online activities. Through an NSF grant, NAGT houses a large number of science activities and lab exercises online available for use by educators. The goal of the review team was to rank

activities, and make suggestions to activity authors as to how to improve their posted materials. Preparation for completing the activity reviews included participation in the September 25, 2013, informational webinar for the review team. The review team met on October 26, 2013, on the Auroria Campus of the University of Colorado to discuss, and synchronize ratings. Attachment B of this document contains my working notes of the activities I was assigned to evaluate before the review team meeting.

Attended the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. This was a four-day convention that contained several thousand presentations on current research in the geological sciences. Many of the presentations contained information that I have integrated into my lectures.

Completed Saddleback College’s EDUC220 course, Universal Design for Online Learners. Although the course title suggests that the course is for online instruction only, the course content was invaluable in explaining the methods of constructing accessible word and powerpoint documents, native formatting suggestions, as well as evaluating the accessibility of websites and other multimedia.

1b. Explain how these activities achieved the goals stated in your application.

The goal of the sabbatical was to create a lab manual to be used in all sections of Introduction to Oceanography (MS20) taught at IVC. The lab manual I compiled is accessible free of charge to all students enrolled in a section of MS20. The ‘free of charge’ cost of the lab manual is a benefit to students who already incur the high price of a science textbook for the lecture portion of the course. Lastly, this lab manual represents an improvement on the previously used lab materials in the MS20 course. The most recent materials were an amalgam of lab exercises from various authors that were customized by Pearson publishers. The lab manual I created represents a continuation of style and theme.

My participation in the C-DEBI course provided me with very current scientific information that I could integrate into a lab exercise. My participation in Saddleback’s EDUC220 course assisted me in the following ways: creation of lab exercises that were well-structured and stylized word documents; make images in word accessible; and accessibility evaluation programs that I subsequently used to evaluate my lab materials (e.g. Pro Version of Adobe Acrobat accessibility check function; WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool to evaluate accessibility of websites students are referred to in the real-time data sections of the lab exercises).

Lastly, the participation in the NAGT review team provided me with additional experience in

identifying and creating well-written lab materials. This was a bonus activity that I participated in that really helped me focus my own writing. And as always, updating content knowledge by attending national conventions is beneficial for the delivery of current scientific content in both lecture and lab materials.

1c. Provide a timeline or calendar showing when these activities were carried out.

Date Activitiy Description

Spring, 2013

EDUC220 @ Saddleback College March 4 thru April 7, 2013

Completed the Universal Design for Online Learners course.

Late August

MS20 curriculum, CORs

Identification and review of public domain materials to integrate into lab materials (especially graphics).

Reviewed curriculum course outline and student learning outcomes to assist and defining the scope and objectives for each lab exercise. Explored educational resources at the following: Climate Prediction Center: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov COSEE West: http://www.coexploration.org/cosee_west/ Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE): http://www.dlese.org/library/index.jsp The Globe Program: http://www.globe.gov National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT): http://nagt.org/nagt/teaching_resources/index.html National Marine Educators Association (NMEA): http://web.vims.edu/bridge/ National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): http://www.education.noaa.gov National Weather Service: http://www.weather.gov NOAA: National Marine Sanctuaries: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/education/teachers/welcome.html NOAA National Geophysical Data Venter (NGDC): http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov NOAA Ocean Explorer (Expedition reports and drilling logs): http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/explorations.html Ocean Literacy: http://oceanliteracy.wp2.coexploration.org Pacific Tsunami Warning Center: http://ptwc.weather.gov United States Geological Survey: http://www.usgs.gov University of Washington, Interactive Oceans: http://www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu

Early September

Wrote, edited and revised the first lab

Compiled and wrote Lab 1: Metric System & Conversions. No accessibility issues when the exercise was run through Pro Version of Adobe Acrobat accessibility check function

September thru mid-November

Wrote fourteen other exercises (Labs 2-15)

Researched and incorporated applicable public domain graphics and content into each lab exercise. Checked accessibility. Compiled lists of equipment and materials that would need to be acquired for each lab exercise.

September 25, 2013

NAGT review team webinar

Informational webinar for review team participants on the preferred process of standardizing activity reviews. Discussion of goals and ruberic use.

October 26, 2013

NAGT review team meeting

Review team meets to synchronize reviews. Each activity was reviewed independently by two reviewers prior to the review team meeting. The two reviewers discussed and worked through disparities in review ratings. I was assigned and reviewed six additional activities at this meeting.

October 27-30, 2013

Geological Society of America Annual Meeting

Attended talks and workshops at the annual convention. A wide range of disciplines were presented at the meeting. I was able to incorporate updated information in lecture materials for all the courses I teach. Especially informative was detailed meteorlogic and flood data information relating to the widespread flooding in Colorado four weeks prior to the meeting.

November 4-15, 2013

C-DEBI microbes course

Course focused on the topic of microbes living in the sediment and rock below the deep seafloor. Course emphasis was on identification of microbes, sampling techniques (via CORK), and chemosynthetic environments. This course material led me to develop a lab exercise (Lab 7: Microbial Communities of the Deep Seafloor) that I intended to

bridge the physical world of the seafloor and sediments to the living components of the oceans. The exercise was developed to provide reinforcement of plate tectonic concepts, and map reading skills.

Late November thru December

Final edits to lab exercises

Review of, and edits, to the collection of lab exercises. Check for consistency of formatting, spelling, etc. Compilation of instructor lab answers

January 16, 2014

Meet with other MS20 instructor, Doug Neves

Met with adjunct instructor, Doug Neves, to go over the content and format of the lab exercises. Also, discussed the location of materials and equipment needed for each lab exercise.

January 16, 2014

Presented sabbatical at school meeting

Presented the sabbatical results at the flex week school meeting (School of Physical Sciences). Explained that all instructors teaching in the geology department would have access to the lab materials, and that all were welcome to use whatever parts they would like as supplements in their courses.

January thru March, 2014 (and ongoing)

Use of the labs in three sections of MS20

Approximately six labs have been used in three separate sections of MS20 to date in the Spring 2014 semester. I have continued to make edits and revise the labs as needed. This will be a continuous, ongoing process.

1d. Provide evidence of these activities:

i. Attach transcripts, letters from collaborators, acknowledgements, news reports

Not applicable.

ii. Copies of papers written

Two copies of the lab manual have been delivered to the Vice Chancellor’s office (on CD- rom). A copy of the lab manual was also given to the Dean of Physical Sciences at IVC.

iii. Photographs of artwork, projects, etc.

Not applicable.

iv. Addresses for websites where work can be seen

Not applicable. (Blackboard websites are not available to non-registered students.) 2. Impact of these activities

2a. On teaching and learning The ‘free of charge’ cost of the lab manual has a positive impact on MS20 students who must

incur the high price of a science textbook for the lecture portion of the course. This lab manual also represents an improvement to the lab materials previously used in the course, which were an amalgam of lab exercises from various authors that were customized by Pearson publishers.

2b. On the faculty member’s professional development I benefitted from all aspects of the sabbatical. From identifying and creating succinct well-

written lab exercises, to making the materials in all of my courses more accessible to all types of learners. The time also allowed me to participate at professional meetings, and in courses, that I would otherwise not have had time to pursue.

2c. Benefit of these activities to students and the district

3. Products of the sabbatical

3a. List all products of the sabbatical

Created a lab manual for use in all sections of introduction of oceanography. Some of these materials have also been used and adapted by instructors teaching other courses in the department.

3b. If appropriate, state the location and accessibility of these products

The product (lab manual) is available to all students enrolled in an MS20 section at IVC.

Additionally, copies of the lab manual have been distributed to the Physical Sciences Dean, the

SOCCCD Vice Chancellor’s office, and to the District’s Sabbatical Committee.

4. Dissemination of results

A copy of the lab manual was made available to all other instructors teaching in the Geology Department at IVC beginning in the Spring 2014 semester for use specifically in MS20, but also for adaptation into other geology courses. I also met with the other instructor teaching MS20 in Spring 2014 on January 16, 2014, and reviewed the contents of the lab manual and the

materials needed for each lab exercise. Additionally, the contents of the lab manual were presented at the January 16, 2014, Physical Sciences school meeting during flex week. See the meeting’s minutes in Attachment C.

Attachment A

From: Pat Harcourt <pharcourt@gmail.com> Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2013 13:37:04 -0500 To: Pat Harcourt <pharcourt@gmail.com> Subject: Credit for Microbes Down Below Hello all, Congratulations! You have successfully completed the requirements to receive credit for the “Microbes Down Below!” course on C DEBI research and microbial life in the deep biosphere. I am including below this message instructions about how to access and view your grade and order a transcript. The official title for the course is “The Science of Life below the Sea Floor” and it is listed at Framingham State University as PRDV 70024. The course web site will remain permanently accessible on line, and all the resources will remain posted. You can log in to the site any time using the same username and password you chose for participating in the course. Please stay in touch, and you can send any questions or inquiries to me any time. We hope to offer additional online courses on marine science for credit in the near future. Thank you very much for your participation and hard work, and good luck with your classes in the future! Pat Pat Harcourt pharcourt@gmail.com 508 215-9641

Attachment B

SERC Review Camp – Reviewed Activities (summaries)

Title Date Reviewed Comments

Watershed Delineation & Geomorphic Characterization

10-1-13 First one! Well laid-out activity that goes through prep/ math calculations in detail. Not being a hydrologist, so accuracy not too easy to judge. Referenced. Two discussion questions at end of activity. Could there be more? They seemed to be all-encompassing ?’s however. (this got deleted when I tried to re-access and review my earlier review)

Life of a River from Headwaters to the Sea

10-4-13 No activity was on the site. Only instructor notes of the activity that projected what the students should find when conducting the activity. Determining whether students have met goals=essay question on exam (& again a link to the SERC ‘Assessment Tool’). Of minor importance, a few typos.

Measuring Coastal Change 10-4-13 A description of an activity is available on the SERC site. No activity ready-made to hand to students is included. Doesn’t say specifically how students are evaluated (written essays, test questions); does outline with part of the activity will be evaluated.

Fluvial Processes Project – Analysis of Redwood Creek Field Data

10-4-13 Oh my, very little info is contained on the SERC cover page of the activity (no context or goals described). The linked activity is more detailed, however. No data set available, but an instructor with some data could modify this.

Cattaraugus Creek Characteristics

10-4-13 Activity is ready for student use. Good descriptions of ‘Context’, ‘Goals’ & ‘Description..” on SERC cover page for activity. (More of instructor advice is in the ‘Determining whether students have met the goals’ area on SERC activity cover page.)

Build a Delta! 10-4-13 Very detailed description on SERC cover page & all activity components thorough. Very detailed assessment plan. This is a good one.

Fluvial Geomorphology of the Upper Yellowstone River Drainage Basin: Using Google Earth to Analyze Rivers

10-7-13 Clear objectives. Good step-by-step directions on exercise for using Google Earth & topo maps. Most URLs active except the Yellowstone River KMZ file used for the lab.

Drainage Basin Morphometry 10-7-13 This is a computational lab activity that refers back to the textbook for instruction. The

textbook is not identified, and no topo maps available. Clear objectives and assessments linking outcomes included.

Discharge Measurement of Streamflow

10-7-13 Assessment: general link. This is a field activity with subsequent calculations (field aspect not readily apparent on SERC cover page). Step-by-step directions on making discharge measurements in the field.

Hydraulic Geometry in the Greys River Watershed

10-7-13 Activity for a first-time-out field experience. Assessment > basic link. Detailed goals, and a how-to achieve the goals with a ‘tasks’ list. This is a good example of field instruction.

Analyzing a Drainage Basin to Understand Flooding and Erosion Problems: K-16 Student Levels

10-7-13 GSA Poster. Lots of different skill levels so skills needed are all over the place. Evaluation technique fishy. Directions not too clear for calcs. Very topical field activity though given the recent flooding.

Beach Classification 10-9-13 Not quite a full activity; more of something done during a lecture to engage students. (Wright & Short beach classification). Assessment links to general SERC info.

Learning Landscapes: RIVERS 10-9-13 Geologic goals on webpage weak (specific skills not outlined). This is activity links to a webpage with active links to pictures & questions for one topic. Limited use. Instructors have access but it is not clear if general students could use this tool.

Geologic Techniques and Problem Solving: A Course for New Majors

10-9-13 How to on field work data collection, creating maps & profiles, and writing a geologic report. Evaluation techniques not specific, but it is implied from description that the write-up and presentation will be assessed. An example of the components that go into creating a field course.

Introductory Field Camp for New Geoscience Majors

10-15-13 GSA Poster: intro field class for geology majors. Clearly states on intro webpage goals, audience, evaluation. Describes what/how field data is collected. No real activities to be evaluated.

Investigating the Student Experience of Field Work

10-15-13 GSA Poster: hmm, SERC cover page has strange description. Referenced about the benefits of field work and challenges. Survey analysis of student responses thru 2 years.

Hometown Geology 10-15-13 SERC main page identifies critical info (goals, description, assessment). Not flashy but lets students know what is required of them in a

paper where they research an areas geology using topo & geologic maps.

Personal Timeline 10-15-13 Interesting concept. How it is situated in the course not detailed; assume by content it is with geo time ideas. The directions for scaling are not detailed for the earth history timeline; however links to another SERC activity that details timeline creation is detailed. Error is first occurrence of fish (listed as 510 m.y.-Cambrian; first occur in Ordovician 44 m.y. and diversity in Devonian 416 m.y.)

Field Exercise: Caddy Canyon Debris Flow(s)

10-16-13 Sr./grad level activity. Activity consists of directions for a course fieldtrip. Students are asked to measure/note specific landscape characteristics, calculate sediment production. Assume they know how to do this?

Using a GIS to Asses Stream-Channel Migration (title missing from ‘review it’)

10-16-13 GIS activity on how river channels migrate. Main goals are related to GIS tasks. Assessment/eval clear. Activity consists of a how-to guide of downloading info to manipulate in GISArc. Not so much instruction on river channels, calculation of margin widths only.

South Carolina Studies: Bringing the Geologic Time Scale Down to Earth in the Students’ Backyard

10-16-13 Poster: Activity was written for middle school students. They visit a plantation & note geology (goals list note landscape changes but this seems minimal). I am confused by the use of paleogeographic maps going back to the Paleozoic. The author uses the terms historic and prehistoric changes, but there is one 25 m.y. old fossil, and most of the fieldtrip notes/guide to instructors notes little else. This seems more like a recent history type trip.

Assessment of Active Tectonic Behavior in a Continental Region using google Earth

10-22-13 Well thought-out assessment criteria to determine if students have met goals. Student activity describes how to set-up project succinctly. Good one ready for use.

AREC: Model for Enhancing Science Literacy Using Field Geology

10-22-13 Field geo trip as a semester culminating activity; no activity, just description on SERC webpage. ‘Skills Needed’ listed on SERC webpage state no specific geology skills, yet the learning goals have hefty geology associated with them (e.g. topo map use and landform id, general strat principles).

‘Evaluation Goals’ awkward. Pretty messy.

Field-based Instruction as Part of a Balanced Geoscience Curriculum at Washington and Lee University

10-22-13 GSA Poster consisting of a description of the department’s use of field experiences to reinforce classroom concepts. This is a general description of a program that uses three different activities used in different courses to make the case that they integrate field work into their curriculum. There is not a specific activity. One activity is a general description of an intro geology lab (Pace & Compass/ GPS/ GIS). Two other activities described for different courses. ‘Evaluation Techniques’ not specific for the activities but is an assessment of their program (skills matrix at end of course….). A good example of how to promote a department.

The TIMES Project: Inquiry-and field-based Professional Development for Middle and High School Earth Science Teachers

10-22-13 GSA Poster describing a middle/high school ERTH Sci. teacher summer institute. This is not an individual activity, but a summary of an in-service summer program for teachers. There is an evaluation tool of the teachers listed that is specific.

Placing Palm Pilot Handheld Technology in the Hands of Introductory-level Geoscience Students During Field Experiences

10-23-13 GSA talk or poster centering on data collection with ‘technology’ (palm pilots, pocket pc’s). Dated activity, outdated technology. The activity is showcasing how they used the technology on fieldtrips, but doesn’t detail what data was collected in the field.

Revisiting Nearby Outcrops to Build Depth in Understanding: A Technique for Building Transferable Field Observation and Interpretation Skills

10-23-13 Stated on SERC’s main page that this is a partially developed activity. There is no activity linked to, but it is a summary of what to have students do in the field when visiting the same outcrop for field trips (in a single course, or in sequences of courses). Could have some value to new instructors.

The Case of the Mystery Conglomerate: Scientific Discoveries on Field Trips

10-23-13 There is no info on the SERC descriptive page. GSA poster (older) that has two main points: 1) general greatness of field work with students 2) process students went through at a specific outcrop. Has a value I guess.

Illinois Through Time 10-23-13 Investigation of paleo-conditions using websites. Good idea, but the links to the geology students read to complete the activity go to a general info page for instructor. Rubric is contained in assignment.

Attachment C – School of Physical Sciences Agenda (following two pages) The third item on page 2 of the meeting agenda (below the table) is when/where I presented my sabbatical outcomes to my colleagues. A copy of the lab exercises and a Table of Contents was shown to all in attendance (a copy below).

Introduction to Oceanography (MS20)

Lab Materials

1. The Metric System & Conversions

2. Latitude/Longitude & Marine Geography

3. Plate Tectonics & Seafloor Physiography

4. Bathymetric Maps, Profiling & Seafloor Topography

5. Analysis of Southern California’s Bathymetry

6. Classification of Marine Sediments

7. Microbial Communities in Deep Seafloor Environments

8. Water Chemistry

9. Common Marine Organisms

10. Heating Earth’s Atmosphere & Climate Variability

11. Meteorology

12. Ocean Current Circulation

13. Waves

14. Tides

15. Shoreline Processes