Economics
2022-2023 Program Review
1
Unit Profile
1.1
Briefly describe the program-level planning unit. What is the unit's purpose and function?
The Department of Economics at American River College offers several general education courses in economics, specialty courses in economics, and an Associate in Arts degree in Economics for Transfer (AA -T).
The AA -T degree provides students with a major that fulfills the general requirements of the California State University (CSU) for transfer. Students with this degree will receive priority admission with junior status to the California State University system.
General education courses we offer include Principles of Macroeconomics and Principles of Microeconomics.
Besides the general education courses mentioned above, we also offer several specialty courses in economics. They include Statistics for Business and Economics, Introduction to Economies of Africa, and Concepts in Personal Finance.
Courses offered by the Economics Department are designed to satisfy general education requirements at American River College, and they are transferable to the CSU system, the UC system, and other fine institutions of higher learning in the United States. Furthermore, these economics courses will provide students with essential tools to analyze contemporary national and international economic issues.
Many students take our classes for their college degree requirement, certificate programs, graduate degree programs, and lifelong learning enrichment.
1.2
How does the unit contribute to achievement of the mission of American River College?
To contribute to achievement of the mission of American River College, the Department of Economics places students first. The faculty members at the Department of Economics engage students early through Starfish solutions. The faculty members at the Department of Economics provide one-to-one personalized support to students.
To further contribute to their academic success, we encourage students to utilize ARC student support services, such as Beacon tutors and LRC Tutorial Center. The faculty members at the Department of Economics connect students with the RAD program.
To ensure academic success for all students and also enjoying a sense of community and belonging, we refer students to Dusty Baker Center and HomeBase coaches.
We teach students how to think critically and relate the concepts of economics to their own community and personal experiences.
We ask students to construct analytical models and evaluate these models to explore consequences of economic proposals in the economy.
To facilitate inclusive learning environment, the faculty members at the Department of Economics ask students to form learning groups and assign them group projects. These group projects enable the students to learn economics collaboratively and increase their success rate in economics classes.
We encourage students who are interested in transferring to a CSU campus to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Economics to meet with a counselor to confirm the courses required for lower-division preparation in the major.
2
Assessment and Analysis
The program review process asks units to reflect on the progress they've made towards achieving the goals they identified in each of the Annual Unit Plans they submitted since their last Program Review. Follow this link to access your previous EMP submissions. For Faculty support, please contact Veronica Lopez at lopezv@arc.losrios.edu.
2.1
Consider the progress that has been made towards the unit's objectives over the last six years. Based on how the unit intended to measure progress towards achieving these objectives, did the unit's prior planned
action steps (last six years of annual unit plans) result in the intended effect or the goal(s) being achieved?
Based on the American River College Integrated Planning System Reports, the Department of Economics has achieved its intended goals for the past three academic years.
With increasing demand for distance education and the pandemic, we had all Econ 302 and Econ 304 courses fully online for the past two academic years.
To increase the variety of our economics courses and to accommodate different student needs, we will offer a new Econ 310 course fully online in the fall semester of 2023. This new Econ 310 course, Statistics for Business and Economics, was approved by the ARC Curriculum Committee and it will be catalogued at ARC on January 1, 2023. Hope this new course will improve our enrollment next academic year.
Besides the new Econ 310 course, we are also in the process of working with ARC Instructions Office to add dual enrollment to our economics programs next academic year.
To further increase our enrollment, we are working with the program director of ARC Workforce Development to offer economic courses to the employees at California Department of Taxes and Fee Administration (CDTFA) in 2024-2025 academic year.
Furthermore, we received approval of our Econ 305 course from ARC Curriculum Committee and it is catalogued at ARC on August 1, 2022. However, we are not able to offer it due to the low student enrollment and the pandemic.
Besides the courses mentioned above, we have successfully revised Econ 320 course and it is also catalogued at ARC on August 1, 2022.
To facilitate student transfer to four-year colleges and universities, we added an Associate in Arts degree in Economics for Transfer (AA -T) in the fall semester of 2017. This AA -T degree program is currently being updated due to changes in some required courses and the CA AB 705 and is waiting for ARC Curriculum Committee's approval.
The standard data set is intended to provide data that may be useful in promoting equity and informing departmental dialogue, planning, decision making, and resource allocation.
Recent updates include (1) better integration with ARC’s Data on Demand system to provide users with more sophisticated and nuanced ways of exploring their unit’s data and (2) greater emphasis and access to disproportionate impact data (how student achievement outcomes vary by gender, race/ethnicity, veteran, foster youth, disability, and income/poverty level status) to enable users to engage in more advanced student-centered and equity-centered analysis, reflection, and planning.
To access the Enrollment or Disproportionate Impact data reports, you may be prompted to log in to ARC’s Data on Demand system. If so, click on “Log in with ARC Portal” and enter your Los Rios single sign-on credentials (same as Canvas or Intranet).
(To streamline the standard data set, the productivity data element has been removed, as has the green-yellow-red light icon system for all data elements except for department set standards.)
The two data sets show 5 years of fall or spring duplicated enrollment, disaggregated by gender and ethnicity. Note that ARC's data-on-demand tool will soon provide considerably more sophisticated ways of viewing and analyzing your planning unit's headcount and enrollment trends.
- Green
- current fall/spring semester enrollment is equal to or exceeds the prior year's fall/spring enrollment.
- Yellow
- current fall/spring semester enrollment reflects a decline of less than 10% from the prior year's fall/spring enrollment.
- Red
- current fall/spring semester enrollment reflects a decline of 10% or more from the prior year's fall/spring enrollment.
The two data sets show 5 years of fall or spring productivity (WSCH per FTEF: the enrollment activity for which we receive funding divided by the cost of instruction). Note that ARC's data-on-demand tool will soon provide considerably more sophisticated ways of viewing and analyzing your planning unit's productivity trends.
- Green
- current fall/spring semester productivity is equal to or exceeds the prior year's fall/spring productivity.
- Yellow
- current fall/spring semester productivity reflects a decline of less than 10% from the prior year's fall/spring productivity.
- Red
- current fall/spring semester productivity reflects a decline of 10% or more from the prior year's fall/spring productivity.
Precision Campus Report Links
Disproportionate Impact
The disproportionate impact (DI) links now direct you to your unit’s DI data in ARC Data on Demand. The DI data will show which student groups are experiencing disproportionate impact for course success rates (A, B, C, Cr, P), A-B rates, and course completion rates (students who did not withdraw) at the course level.
In addition, a new report on intersectional DI (e.g., ethnicity/race by gender) is available for assessing intersectional Di for course success rates. The intersection DI report defaults to the subject code level (e.g., all ENGWR courses). Use the org tree in the side bar to filter to individual courses (click on the right arrow next to American River College, right arrow next to your division, right arrow next to your department/discipline, then select the specific course to view).
If prompted to log in, click on “Log in with ARC Portal” and enter your Los Rios single-sign on credentials (same as Canvas or Intranet).
Department Set Standards
Shows course success rates (# of A, B, C, Cr, and P grades expressed as a % of total grade notations) compared to lower and upper thresholds. Thresholds are derived using a 95% confidence interval (click the report link for details). The lower threshold is referred to as the Department Set Standard. The upper threshold is referred to as the Stretch Goal.
- Green
- Most recent academic year exceeds the upper threshold
- Yellow
- Most recent academic year falls between the lower and upper threshold
- Red
- Most recent academic year falls below the lower threshold
SLO Data Set
The faculty's continuous review of student achievement of course SLOs is documented using the Authentic Assessment Review Record (AARR), which involves a review of student work demonstrating achievement of the course SLO. Faculty record student achievement for a randomly assigned course SLO based on one or more authentic assessments that they regularly perform in their classes. The aggregated results are then reviewed annually as part of Annual Unit Planning, in which the results may serve as the basis for actions and, if applicable, resource allocation, and are aligned with college goals and objectives.
The AARR summary link provides an aggregate of the results of the most recent AARR implementation. The AARR results by SLO link provides a more detailed view, including the specific ratings assigned by faculty to each randomly assigned course SLO, and what, if any, actions were taken.
Note: Established thresholds (i.e., green/yellow/red indicators) have yet to be developed for SLO data.
In addition to reflecting on the metrics shown above, it may prove useful to analyze other program-level data to assess the effectiveness of your unit. For instructional units, ARC's Data on Demand system can be used to provide program and course level information regarding equitable outcomes, such as program access or enrollment, successful course completion, and degree or certificate achievement (up to 30+ demographic or course filters are available).
You might also consider pursuing other lines of inquiry appropriate to your unit type (instructional, student support, institutional/administrative support). Refer to the Program Review Inquiry Guide under the resources tab for specific lines of inquiry.
2.2
What were the findings? Please identify program strengths, opportunities, challenges, equity gaps, influencing
factors (e.g., program environment), data limitations, areas for further research, and/or other items of interest.
Although the Department of Economics has reached its set standards in the past four academic years, (from fall 2018 to Spring 2022), we do have our strengths and challenges.
For the success rate:
Strength: In terms of student success rate, the Department of Economics has achieved its intended goals for our Econ 302 and Econ 304 courses in the past three academic years. (From fall 2019 to Spring 2022)
We also reduced drop rate for all students in the past three academic years except African American students. (From fall 2019 to spring 2022).
Furthermore, we found that the success rates for the Economics Department is significantly higher than in the BSS Division.
Challenges: Although we made good progress in the success rate for the past three academic years, African American, Hispanic/Latino and individuals who identify as multi-race students are still lag behind other student groups. This is a challenge not only for the Economics department, but also for the Behavioral and Social Science Division.
SLO Results:
Our SLO assessments indicate that most of our students have achieved the Econ course SLO's.
For student enrollment:
For all Econ courses, our spring enrollment (-5.04%) exceeds fall enrollment (-12.98%) by 7.94% for the past two academic years. (From fall 2020 to spring 2022)
Strength:
Enrollment for the spring semester:
In terms of ethnicity, our spring semester enrollment for Filipino (+68.75%), Native American (+100%), Pacific Islander (+37.5%), and Unknown (+50%) students have increased significantly from the spring semester of 2021 to the spring semester of 2022. The enrollment for Hispanic/Latino (-0.96%) and Multi-Race (-1.27%) students are barely changed from the spring semester of 2021 to the spring semester of 2022.
Enrollment for the fall semester:
In terms of ethnicity, our fall semester enrollment for African American (+40.35%), Multi-Race (+6.78%), Native American (+133.33%) students have increased significantly from the fall semester of 2020 to the fall semester of 2021.
Challenges:
Enrollment for the spring semester:
In terms of ethnicity, our spring semester enrollment for African American (-11.39%), Asian (-9.21%), and White (-9.84%) students have decreased about 10% from the spring semester of 2021 to the spring semester of 2022.
In terms of gender, our spring semester enrollment for male students have increased 1.3%; while the enrollment for female (-10.7%) and Unknown (-30.77%) students have decreased quite a bit from the spring semester of 2021 to the spring semester of 2022.
Enrollment for the fall semester:
In terms of ethnicity, our fall semester enrollment for Asian students decreased 2.92%. And for Filipino (-20.59%), Hispanic/Latino (-20.41%), Pacific Islander (-22.22%), Unknown (-25%), and White (-21.43%) students, the enrollment have decreased significantly from the fall semester of 2020 to the fall semester of 2021.
In terms of gender, our fall semester enrollment for all students: male (-10.32%), female (-14.69%), and Unknown (-55.56%) students have decreased significantly from the fall semester of 2020 to the fall semester of 2021.
3
Reflection and Dialog
3.1
Discuss how the findings relate to the unit's effectiveness. What did your unit learn from the analysis and how
might the relevant findings inform future action?
To reduce the DI success rate gap, we engage students early in the semester. The faculty members at the Department of Economics use Starfish solutions to conduct a progress survey for our Principles of Economics classes early in the semester. We use Starfish to inform the students who need to make improvement in the course in order to receive a passing grade for the semester. After informing the students, we discuss the options with them and develop a plan of action for them to succeed in economics courses.
Furthermore, the faculty members at the Department of Economics ask the students to reach out to ARC Success Coaches if they want to learn about services and other supports that may help them to be successful. It is common for students to encounter challenges in courses and overcome them by enacting a plan for success. Being proactive to work with our students and Success Coaches quickly will support our students and increase their success rate.
We also want to note that the Economics Department was forced to drop the Math 100 pre-requisite since Fall 2019 and this may have contributed to the decline in the success rate, particularly among African American and Multi-Race students in Fall 2020 and onwards.
Finally, our department plans to have meaningful discussions with other departments in our division, since many of the challenges faced by our department, particularly among the DI students, is also experienced by other programs in our division.
3.2
What is the unit's ideal future and why is it desirable to ARC? How will the unit's aspirations support accomplishment of the mission, improve institutional effectiveness, and/or increase academic quality?
To accomplish the mission of American River College, the Department of Economics places students first. The faculty members at the Department of Economics engage students early through Starfish solutions. The faculty members at the Department of Economics provide one-to-one personalized support to students.
To further improve students' academic success, all faculty members at the Department of Economics encourage students to utilize various support programs at ARC, such as RAD program, Campus Tutoring Programs, and LRC Tutorial Center. We all hope this utilization will improve student success rate of our economics courses.
To ensure academic success for all students and also enjoying a sense of community and belonging, we refer students to Dusty Baker Center and HomeBase coaches.
We teach students how to think critically and relate the concepts of economics to their own community and personal experiences.
We ask students to construct analytical models and evaluate these models to explore consequences of economic proposals in the economy.
To facilitate inclusive learning environment, the faculty members at the Department of Economics ask students to form learning groups and assign them group projects. These group projects enable the students to learn economics collaboratively and increase their success rate in economics classes.
We encourage students who are interested in transferring to a CSU campus to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Economics to meet with a counselor to confirm the courses required for lower-division preparation in the major.
To close the equity gap, all of our full-time faculty members are participating in the OER Award Program for Spring 2023. We believe that by offering OER resources to our students, we will be able to make resources more accessible while improving the quality of the OER resources available. It also will reduce the costs associated with taking our classes and may attract more students to enroll in our classes.
4
Strategic Enhancement
4.1
Identify/define one or more program-level objectives which enhance the unit's effectiveness. What does your unit intend to do to work towards its ideal future? How will success be measured?
We will use inclusive assignments and authentic assessments that bring in student perspectives, experiences, and encourage engagement and critical thinking.
We will make changes in how we construct our students' learning process. This process approach encourages the use of smaller, formative, assessments that help scaffold student learning. Each low-stakes, formative assessment--from student-driven discussions to quizzes, to practice problems -- provides an opportunity for faculty to gauge student learning and provide feedback or coaching to help students note and fill gaps in their learning. Moreover, formative assessments also offer opportunities for students to reflect on their learning, raising their awareness of their own learning process.
The assessment process allows us to improve our students' learning by:
- incorporating multiple opportunities for formative assessment,
- including rich feedback to support revision and improvement,
- engaging students in self-assessment,
- designing multiple forms of formative and summative assessment, and
- fine-tuning course content and activities.
The success will be measured by how much we can reduce the DI student enrollment gap and their success rate gap. We will ask students to provide effective and authentic online feedback and assessment in our classes.
4.2
How will the unit's intended enhancements support ARC's commitment to social justice and equity?
The faculty members at the Department of Economics is very diverse. One from Kenya, one from the Philippines, and one from China. We are committed to diversity, social justice, and equity in our economics classes.
The faculty members at the Department of Economics value diversity and equity. Our economics courses are committed to creating a learning and working environment in which all people can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.
The faculty members at the Department of Economics are in the process of building culturally responsive classrooms. We are designing courses and coursework that:
- guide all students to develop their own voice
- enable learning through their cultural filters and become independent learners
- develop cognitive resources for all students
- creates environments in which students "lean-in" intrinsically rather than fleeing away due to stress, fear and disconnection
- foster the elimination of the achievement gap.
All faculty members attended Los Rios Foundations of Canvas Course Design and received a certificate for completion during the 2021- 2022 academic year. This course is designed to be welcoming to, accessible to, and usable by everyone, including those who are English-language learners, have a variety of learning styles, have differing abilities, or are new to online learning.
Besides the Los Rios Foundations training course, we have attended a variety of professional development on equity and social justice for the past few academic years. We will continue attend future professional development on equity and social justice at ARC.
All of our full-time faculty members are participating in the OER Award Program in the spring semester of 2023. We hope that by offering classes that utilize OER resources, it would reduce the costs of textbooks used in Economics classes and increase enrollment. Moreover, the OER Award Program is an important tool in advancing equity for our disproportionately impacted students, including Native American, Black and African American, Latinx/e, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and LGBTQIA+ students. It promotes the development of course materials that are culturally responsive.
To further close the DI success rate gap and to create a sense of community that promotes equity, social justice, self-discovery, student achievement, diversity, and pluralism, we will work with the UNITE Center at ARC. The UNITE Center is an intentionally inclusive support community space for the whole educational community. It includes Black Student Success Center, Native American Resource Center, Pride Center, PRISE, Puente, and Umoja Sakhu Learning Communities at ARC.