Extended Abstract (500K)P1.12
Status of the Online Oceanography Course at California State University, Los Angeles
Pedro Ramirez, California State Univ., Los Angeles, CA; and S. LaDochy
A proposal to offer the online oceanography course is complete and will be submitted for administrative review. The proposal follows-up on an earlier university funded proposal to develop and offer the online oceanography course using AMS materials. However, released time to develop the course could not be taken because of Ramirez' administrative responsibilities. The latest proposal calls for course implementation during summer 2008. We anticipate that the course will have significant impact on enrollments. Additional incentives to offering the course include facilitating access to departmental course offerings for our mostly working students and helping expedite completion of student's general education program. Typically, two sections of the course are offered each quarter including the summer. Enrollments have reached up to 70 students per class, but more recently, they fall mostly below 50. Students enroll in the course to complete the science with a laboratory component of their General Education program. We plan to offer the lecture component of the course online while keeping the laboratory as traditionally taught. AMS investigations will augment the online lectures and will be completed at home and during the laboratory sessions. Advantages to offering the traditional laboratory format include providing face to face guidance to students, the presentation of ample opportunities to work out problems/issues with the online delivery of material, and retention of the important field component to the laboratory. The critical field component centers on a hands-on experience interpreting geochemical, sedimentological, and biological data gathered during a one day ocean cruise aboard a California State University vessel. A trip to examine beach processes is also an important part to the laboratory. The online lecture portion will accommodate a ten week quarter system. Both authors have significant experience in the development and delivery of online materials and the development of the course is facilitated by Ramirez' expertise in oceanography and LaDochy's in meteorology. Hopefully, the addition of the online course at CSULA, a designated Hispanic Serving Institution with a student population comprised of 50.9% Latino, 23.3% Asian, 15.7% white, 9.6% black, and 0.5% American Indian, will help our students make quicker progress through their undergraduate program. California State University, Los Angeles is situated in East Los Angeles and totals about 20,500 students with approximately 16,000 full time equivalent students. Female students (62.8%) exceed male students (37.8). Typically, our undergraduate students average 25 years in age and require six years to complete their degree.
Poster Session 1, Educational Initiatives Poster Session
Sunday, 20 January 2008, 5:30 PM-7:00 PM, Exhibit Hall B
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