1. Delta College Context
• One of 28 community colleges in the State of Michigan.
• Has 6,283 Full-time equivalents and produces approximately 175,000
credit hours per year (with projected declines in enrollment the next
few years). There are 484 full-time employees 202 are faculty.
• Offers transfer curriculum, occupational training, certificate and
degree programs and a variety of community services.
• The main campus is located in rural Bay County on 640 acres. There
are three satellite campuses in the cities of Midland, Bay and Saginaw.
Source: Delta College Strategic Plan and Budget
AY 2016-2017
2. Geoscience at Delta College (and related disciplines)
• Departments:
• Geology and Oceanography courses are in the Science and Mathematics Division and in the Physical Science Discipline.
• Environmental Science courses are in the Science and Mathematics Division in Biology Discipline
• Faculty:
• Two full time faculty teach Physical Geology and Geology Field Courses. Oceanography and Environmental Geology is taught by one
full time faculty member. Two adjunct faculty teach Physical Geology as well.
• Environmental Science is taught by one full time faculty member.
• The ENV courses are taught by one full time faculty member.
• Students:
• Almost all students in Physical Geology, Environmental Geology and Environmental Science are seeking to fulfill gen-ed
requirements
• Some of the students are seeking degrees in Environmental Technology or Water Environment Technology.
• Students who want to major in geoscience transfer to several different institutions with different programs.
• Courses:
• Most courses are 4-credit science courses, some with a lab. The ENV courses do not have labs. Included are few 1-credit field
classes .
• Geology at Delta College has a number of different courses offered at least once a year.
4. We may include more geology course in future analysis, but these are
where we started and why.
4
GLG 111:
Intro to Physical Geology
4 credits, 5 contact hours
Integrated lab/lecture
~10 sections/year
4 instructors (2 adjuncts)
GLG 130:
Environmental Geology
4 credits, 5 contact hours
Integrated lab/lecture
1 section/year
1 instructor (Andrea)
GLG 110:
Oceanography
3 credits, 3 contact hours
”Lecture”-only
1 section/year
1 instructor (Andrea)
• Our highest enrollment Geoscience
course.
• Predominantly Gen Ed students.
• Andrea teaches ~5 sections/year
• Andrea has implemented high-
structure, interactive engagement
strategies and wrote the lab manual.
(variably used by other instructors.)
• Plans to implement more strategies
aimed at improving student success.
• Andrea taught for first
time WN ‘18
• Plans to implement more
strategies aimed at
improving student success.
• Mix of Environmental
Science/Env. Tech and Gen Ed
students (challenging!)
• Low enrollment/”Class without a
purpose”
• “Strong overlap/connections
with Environmental Science.
• Plans to implement more
strategies aimed at improving
student success.
5. Our other half is Environmental Science.
5
BIO 110W:
Environmental Science
4 credits, 6 contact hours
Integrated lab/lecture
~3 sections/year
1 Instructor (Wendy)
ENV 100W:
Environmental Reg.
3 credits, 3 contact hours
”Lecture”-only
2 sections/year
1 instructor
ENV 130W:
Pollution Prevention
1 credits, 1 contact hour
”Lecture”-only
1 section/year
1 instructor
• Wendy is currently the sole instructor.
• Predominantly Gen. Ed. Students.
• Wendy has implemented many real-world
connections and utilizes Delta’s outdoor
space.
• Wendy has developed all of the lab activities
and written a lab manual specific for this
course.
• Plans to implement more strategies aimed at
improving student success by revision of at
least one lab with “crossover concepts” and
including a case study.
• Environmental Technology Program
requires these courses.
• Env. Tech. is the main program or
major related to Geosciences.
6. Geoscience student demographics vs. Delta College all students
6
1%
8%
0%
6%
80%
4%
55%
0%
7%
0%
6%
83%
4%
56%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Asian African
American
Native
American
Hispanic White Other/Mixed Women
Delta College Geoscience 17-18
Geoscience students represent the Delta College student
population in many demographic characteristics.
Thought: We’ll keep encouraging all students to take our courses, but won’t
plan additional recruiting efforts to increase enrollment diversity.
7. Geoscience student demographics vs. Delta College all students
7
10%
60%
31%
55%
45%
2%
82%
16%
39%
56%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
under 18 18-24 25+ Pell-ellegible Not Pell-ellegible
Delta College Geoscience 17-18
Geoscience students include more traditional “college age”
and fewer Pell-eligible students than Delta College students.
8. Completion/success varies by course, although some sample sizes are small.
Course and # of sections Discipline
Students
enrolled
“C-” or Higher
GLG 111 - Intro to Phys. Geology (4L) - 10 Phys. Science 211 81%
BIO 110W - Environmental Science (4L) - 3 Biology 50 68%
GLG 115 – Oceanography (3) - 1 Phys. Science 21 90%
ENV 100W (1) - 2 Biology 17 82%
GLG 130 – Environmental Geology (4L) - 1 Phys. Science 8 88%
ENV 130W (1) - 1 Biology 6 100%
TOTAL 312 80%*
(L) Indicates course that meets lab science requirement
(#) Indicates number of credits
- # Indicates sections included in analysis
*% of total students
Questions:
Why the lower success of Environmental Science vs. Physical Geology students?
Same prerequisites, fulfils same requirements…assume same demographics otherwise.
Student preparation/college readiness?
9. Completion/success rates (C- or better) by course & demographics
COURSE
All
students
African
American Hispanic White Females 18-24 25+ Pell-eligible
GLG 111: Physical
Geology
81% (43%) 93% 82% 80% 82% 72% 82%
BIO 110W:
Environmental
Science
68% (100%) (none) 71% 76% 69% (72%) 73%
GLG 115:
Oceanography
90% (100%) (none) 89% 85% 90% (100%) (86%)
OVERALL SUCCESS 80% 48% 89% 82% 80% 81% 74% 82%
Shading indicates
313 students total
More than 20
students
10 -20 Students
Fewer than 10
students
10/21
6/14
African-American and “older” students appear less successful in
our geoscience courses.
Thoughts:
Although we do have small sample sizes, the lower success of African-American students in geoscience courses
merits further attention.
We should consider implementing/focusing on strategies that are shown to improve learning for these groups.
10. Student success varies by instructor in Physical Geology.
Instructor Number of sections 17-18
Students
enrolled
“C-” or Higher
Andrea 5 106 88%
All others (3) 5 105 73%
TOTAL 211 81%*
*% of total students
Thoughts:
Is my class “easier” (=less rigorous)?
Is this anomalous?
Are already-implemented efforts to improve student success paying off? (ex. more support for at-risk students, high
structure, formative assessment, interactive strategies)
Common assessment would help answer some of these questions.
What is a desirable success %?
11. What we learned and what we are thinking about:
• Geoscience students are fairly representative of Delta College students overall.
• African-American and “older” students are less successful than other students
in our courses overall.
• Environmental Science overall has lower success rates (68%) than Physical
Geology (80%), even though we think these courses attract similar students.
• Student success in Physical Geology varies by instructor.
12. What we learned and what we are thinking about:
Geoscience students are fairly representative of Delta College students overall.
• Our focus need not change to include major recruitment efforts for representation, but should focus on student success.
African-American and “older” students are less successful than other students in our courses overall.
• We are planning to include more examples of diverse scientists in our courses (ex. Scientist spotlights); we should include diversity in
age as well as ethnicity.
• We should review research on supporting ”adult learners” to make sure we are incorporating appropriate strategies.
• Incorporating more strategies to improve success for ALL students seems important; knowing more about student preparedness
(reading/writing placement scores) might help identify useful strategies.
Environmental Science overall has lower success rates (68%) than Physical Geology (80%), even though we think these courses attract similar students.
• Are students in fact similar? (small sample sizes but worth testing this.)
• Is this an anomaly? (small sample sizes; weird year?)
• We will explore more information on students in these courses (college preparedness? As indicated by reading/writing placement
levels? Might offer more targeted ideas for supporting student success.)
Student success in Physical Geology varies by instructor.
• How do we tease apart rigor and teaching strategies as possible effects?
• We should implement an independent assessment of student learning (mixed success and implementation in past.)
• We need to better understand strategies for communicating our success with colleagues in ways that avoid the perception of
judgement, etc. Interpersonal history may make this difficult within our discipline!
