Subject: Instruction Notes 5/12/05
From: Claire Biancalana
Organization: Cabrillo College, Office of Instruction

Instruction Notes
5/12/05

Finals Week Responsibility
Consider this a reminder that instructors are required to be present with their students and have a "final exercise" at the time specified in the final exam schedule or the agreed upon change. Some give tests, some review exams, but all must be there. !

Graduation
I hope you are planning to attend the Graduation Ceremony on Friday, June 3, 2005.  It is so important for students to see you there.  Every year, we honor several students by telling their stories at the ceremony. Please peruse your memory and e-mail me by Friday, May 20th with students’ stories of success, perhaps a star graduate transferring to a prestigious institution, or one who has overcome challenges, struggles, tremendous barriers, or a student that took a course here that inspired them to pursue a life-long dream.  Thank you in advance for your valued assistance, and your anticipation of this joyous ceremony.

Transfer Breakfast
Please invite all students who are transferring at the end of this year to attend Cabrillo’s first celebration of their achievements: The 2005 Transfer Breakfast on Thursday, May 19 from 8 -9 am in the Koppis Community Room of the Horticulture Center. This event, sponsored by the Student Senate, will fete and feed our 2005 transfers. Interested faculty and staff are also invited to attend. Please ask students to RSVP by calling 479-6451. If you are able to attend, also RSVP.

Porter Gulch Review
This year is the 20th anniversary for Cabrillo College's  Porter Gulch Review, a student juried publication of poetry, prose, photography, artwork and plays. The students in David Sullivan's English 1B class have put together an exhibit in the Cabrillo Library lobby with items from early issues of the Review.

Sabbatical Leave Eligibility List
The Sabbatical Leave Review Board announces the availability of the Eligibility List for a sabbatical leave during the year 2006/07. On the list the number next to an instructor’s name is the ranking (8, 7 or 6) for a leave during 2006/07. The ranking determines the priority of an application in the competition for funding.  This list and other information is posted   http://www.cabrillo.edu/services/tlc/sabbatical/
If you wish to apply for a sabbatical for 2006-2007 you must attend a mandatory Flex-week workshop on Tues.,  August  23  from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm in Room  312.  The Sabbatical Program is governed by Article 9 of the CCFT Contract, Professional Growth and Development. The Contract is available on the Web at http://ccftcabrillo.org/contract_04-07/.  Please address questions about the sabbatical process to Johanna Bowen of the SLRB at jobowen_at_cabrillo.edu  or call x6536.

California Great Teachers Seminar
The Best Faculty Development Event Ever is scheduled from July 31 to August 5, 2005 at La Casa de Maria, Santa Barbara.  The Registration Deadline is June 24! Celebrate and renew your energy for your profession while earning 2 graduate units to advance on the salary schedule. Learn and share strategies for success. All this and more in a beautiful place with great people.  All full-time and part-time teachers, counselors, librarians and other faculty are welcome.  For more information; http://ccleague.org/cgts/index.asp The college is  funding two faculty to attend this great event.  Those of you who are interested in attending should  notify the Senate Vice  President Nancy Brown.

SLO Corner

During the feedback sessions at the Food and Thought: Chewing on Learning Outcomes flex workshop, many good questions were raised. The SLO Corner will answer a few of them in each issue of Instruction Notes.  Today’s questions and answers are:

What the difference between an SLO and a course objective? Is there a minimum or maximum number of SLOs for our classes?

An SLO describes one major piece of knowledge or a skill or ability that a student should be able to demonstrate by the end of a course, program or degree.   SLOs ask students to synthesize many discrete skills, require higher levels of thinking, and result in a product that can be measured or assessed.   Course objectives are the building blocks to SLOs.   They are the smaller steps that lead up to the main skill of an SLO.   There is no correct number of SLOs for a course.  It depends entirely on the discipline.  However, in general, one to three SLOs usually covers a course.   A longer description of how to write SLOs and how to distinguish them from course objectives can be found on Fiesta (in those sections of the course outlines), as well as in the three workbooks  (Classroom/Course SLO Assessment, Occupational Programs, and Instructional Planning)  on our SLO web page at www.cabrillo.edu/services/pro/assess/assessweb/index.html.  The web site will also soon contain a Word file of sample SLOs written by Cabrillo faculty that you can download and edit to help you write your own.

How is my syllabus supposed to look?

Once your department has written SLOs for specific courses (which occurs when departments go through Instructional Planning), you are asked to include those SLOs in your syllabus.  Cabrillo faculty who have done so have found that the information is helpful to students and gives them a better idea of what they will be able to do by the end of the course.  It’s also extremely useful to let them know how you intend to assess or evaluate the SLOs for the course.  The design of your syllabus is entirely up to you.   Marcy Alancraig, SLO Assessment Coordinator, is currently seeking sample syllabi that include SLOs to be posted as examples on the SLO web page.  If you have a syllabus you’d like her to include, please email it to her at maalancr_at_cabrillo.edu. Keep your eye out for the sample syllabi at www.cabrillo.edu/services/pro/assess/assessweb/index.html!  Perhaps the creative spirit of your fellow faculty will inspire the design of your own syllabus.