danaleeling

SC 130 Physical Science is centered on four course level learning outcomes: Explore physical science systems through experimentally based laboratories using scientific methodologies Define and explain concepts, theories, and laws in physical science. Generate mathematical models for physical science systems and use appropriate mathematical techniques and concepts to obtain quantitative solutions to problems in physical science. Demonstrate basic communication skills by working in groups on laboratory experiments and by writing up the result of experiments, including thoughtful discussion and interpretation of data, in a formal format using spreadsheet and word processing software. The course is philosophically centered on science as an emergent truth that arises from experimentally observed data. Hence course learning outcome number three refers to generating mathematical models, not to being given mathematical models.  In this respect the course is guided by Galileo's observation...

Students in SC 130 Physical Science were surveyed on their favorite and least favorite laboratory along with other affective domain assessment questions. Only seven surveys came in, and some responses were left blank. Lab nine was done as a resonance tube, this was a new approach and may be explored in the future when rainy days confine the class to the laboratory.  Laboratory seven comments refer to the laboratory having to be done along the covered walkway west of administration due also to rain. Students who arrived more than a half hour late did not realize that the class was just to the west.  Attitude towards science At the start of the term students had a dominantly negative attitude towards science as a subject. At term end all of the respondents had a positive attitude. This is perhaps the most important and consistent result of SC 130 Physical Science: a shifting of attitudes towards science among non-science majors. Motivation to understand a field only comes with a...

 Students were asked what was their favorite laboratory and what was their most disliked laboratory. Laboratories one and thirteen were the most favored laboratories. Laboratory seven was the most disliked. Reasons that laboratory was liked: One: It’s the first laboratory we did that I felt and knew it will be an interesting course. One: Because it taught me that some brands of soap can float One: Learned that some brands of soap can float Twelve: because i learned so many things from how they work with electricity and how they operate their systems when there are problems. I Thirteen: because i can see it with my own eyes about it and also it is very easy to tell whether it is an  acid or base. It's interesting to test the way things change. Thirteen: because I get to actually do lab experiment and it was pretty fun when you actually get to work with others Reasons that a laboratory was disliked: Seven: I don’t understand what we were doing  Seven: because i'm not really...

Five students in SC 130 Physical Science were given a pre-assessment of their understanding of linear equations which focused on the interpretation of graphical and tabular presentations. Four of the five students had completed MS 100 College Algebra, the remaining student had completed MS 099 Intermediate Algebra.  Three students either left questions blank or provided wrong answers to every problem. Two students successfully answered six and eight of nine questions respectively. These are bright young students who have had at least twelve years of mathematics including high school algebra and collegiate math courses. The one student in MS 099 Intermediate Algebra was the student who answered six of nine correctly. In some sense, that the level of mathematics did not predict success is an indictment of the failure of the mathematics curriculum to teach mathematics. And when asked if they like math class, only two students responded that they did. Most students are only all too hap...

Systemwide metrics Week seven brought closure to the regular summer term. A few courses for new freshman which started a couple weeks behind the regular summer term remain in session. Of note this week was the appearance for the first time of course learning outcomes from the institutional bank of course learning outcomes in Canvas from courses other than my own MS 150 Statistics and SC 130 Physical Science courses. The above dashboard was explored in a video . Another  video  explains how to add these institutionally stored course learning outcomes to any college course in Canvas. This dashboard, along with others that have been produced, remain proof of concept explorations. The design and the metrics reported can be specified by the college. The data powering the dashboard is actual data from those courses. Trends by category in Canvas remained consistent with the trends seen over the past four weeks.  The surprise this week was a spike in page views on Monday. Monday...

Systemwide platform metrics for courses in Canvas After wrapping up a laboratory, a number of students would often remain to work on their laboratory report in the classroom. This was not something that was seen during regular fully residential terms in the past. Week six of the summer 2021 term saw modest increases in the number of assignments, discussions, files, and media recordings.  The number of students dropped by five students, marking a third consecutive week of small decreases in the number of students. As a proxy for engagement, page views showed a second week of reduced week-on-week pages views for each day of the week versus the first four weeks of the term. Page views are incurred whenever a student loads a new page in Canvas. While some of decrease in page views may reflect increasingly efficient access to materials by students, there are hints that there may be some disengagement occurring late in the summer term. Teasing out whether the students are more efficient ...

All nine students registered in  SC 130 Physical Science  at term end summer session 2021 completed a written anonymous survey. Because submission rates for online surveys can be low, this survey was done in class at the end of a residential laboratory class.  This summer was a second term for the Instructure Canvas pilot. The students were asked "What did you like about Canvas?" The student comments were overwhelmingly positive. Although this sort of survey is usually a Likert style survey, an open written response can provide more detail and texture than a "strongly like/like/dislike/strongly dislike" survey. Easy accessing Everything. The way it is set was very convenient for as a student Helpful I like Canvas because it gives me details on everything that I need to learn and have to learn in Physical Science. I like Canvas because it makes things easier I like it because it is built to make teaching and learning easier for everyone, from the littlest learners to...

Systemwide platform metrics for courses in Canvas Week five saw increases in the number of assignments, discussions, files, and media recordings. The increases were modest and indicative of the term starting to wrap up. The number of students dropped slightly again - the last day to withdraw from courses was at the end of this week.  The number of students active in Canvas courses dropped by another eight students. Canvas analytics cannot provide a definitive cause for the drop in the number of active students, but the most probable cause is withdrawal of students from courses prior to the last day to withdraw from classes.  Trends over the five week period show the sharpest rise has been in the number of media recordings and assignments.  Page views, a proxy for engagement on the Canvas platform, saw a Thursday peak this week, a return to the pattern of Thursdays being the most active day of the week based on page views. Overall page views for the week were down ...

Week four in the summer term ends a day early with the midterm break Friday at the end of the fourth week. While the number of assignments, discussions, files, and media recordings increased, the number of students dropped slightly.  Category Week one Week two Week three Week four Active courses 19 20 21 21 Teachers 10 10 10 10 Students 212 250 277 269 Assignments 477 534 584 654 Discussions 66 78 101 110 Files 800 850 876 900 Media recordings 84 176 263 340 The number of students active in Canvas courses dropped by eight students. Canvas analytics cannot provide a definitive cause for the drop in the number of active students, but the most probable cause is withdrawal of students from courses either by faculty or the students.  Activity on the Canvas platform saw a Monday peak this week, which coincided with the first day of midterm examinations on the schedule. Thursday had not come to a close at the time this report was written, but activity appears to be tapering one day e...