Planning and Resource Development

FUNDED PROGRAMS AWARDED 96/97

Application Abstracts

Project Title: Improving Anatomy Instruction with Computer-Assisted, Self-Paced Instructional Media
Project Director: Kenneth Garver
Organization: Victor Valley College
Phone: (760)245-4271,ext.2355

The Biology Department at Victor Valley College will enter into a consortium with Barstow Community College with the primary goal to produce computer-assisted, self paced instructional material for anatomy instruction. Victor Valley College seeks to improve retention by 20% and raise the class average to a "B" grade.

Material will be field tested to identify needed revisions and the most effective presentation techniques. In addition, a workbook will be produced to guide student use with the computer material.

Preliminary evaluations with computerized material developed at Victor Valley College for test review and selected lecture topics have indicated significantly improved student achievement and a positive student response. This proposed project will expand on these initial efforts to produce computer-assisted material covering all lecture topics and providing tutorial assistance for all examination topics.

Project Title: Technical Instructor Intensive In-Service Training, Environmental Hazardous Materials Program
Project Director: David Mathews
Organization: Victor Valley College
Phone: (760)245-4271,ext.2392

In order to prepare individuals for what has been called "the growth industry of the 90's," Victor Valley College proposes to send a faculty member, Dr. Phronsene Chimiklis, to obtain training to assist with development of an Enviornmental Hazardous Materials Technology Program. The Enviornmentas Hazardous Materials Technology Program will provide training opportunities for hazardous materials handling to enhance the success of individuals for a highly trained workforce for the future. Victor Valley College is located in Victorville in a desert area that is surrounded by mountains. The College's service area has had many accidents of trians and trucks transporting hazardous materials through Interstate 15. In addition, the College has faced the challenge of removing hazardous materials from the campus on an on-going basis. The College's service area contains mostly small and medium-sized businesses who will benefit from the training.

The motivation for the program is a result of public, business, and industry seeking knowledge and education to meet regulatory compliance as indicated in the Economic Advancement Survey. Objectives and activities include in-service training, development of curriculum, integration of academic and vocational education, integration of SCANS competencies in the curriculum, establishment of Hazardous Material Technology Advisory Committee, and linkages with business and industry. The College's commitment is demonstrated by the selection of an outstanding faculty member, Dr. Phronsene Chimiklis, who is committed to obtaining the professional development and training. Dave Mathews, Fire Science Chair, will serve as the Coordinator of the Program.

Project Title:New Horizons Program
Project Director: Dr. Fay Freeman
Organization: Victor Valley College
Phone: (760)245-4271,ext.2414

The Victor Valley College New Horizons Project is designed to serve the growing number of single parents who are returning to an educational learning environment in order to improve vocational skills and improve their living conditions. The paradigm shift will focus on transition for displaced homemakers from dependancy to economic self-sufficency. Major target groups shall be economically disadvantaged and minority women.

The project will address these objectives:

	1) To increase life long learning educational opportunities for 30 single parents/displaced homemakers to transition from dependency to self-sufficiency.
	2) To develop an academy program for 30 single parents/displaced homemakers that will provide self-esteem building, cultural diversity, non-traditional career information and academic educational plans.
	3) To provide job placement information and assistance for single parents/displaced homemakers.

The activities to accomplish these objectives include outreach (advertising and recruitment), orientation, assessment and testing, career/educational counseling, life skill development, pre-employment preparation, linkage with campus supportive services, referrals to other community services (health care, legal aid, etc.) and job placement.

The New Horizons Project will be evaluated on the basis of acheivement of the stated objectives. We plan to enroll 30 single parents/displaced homemakers and graduate 70% percent.

Project Title: Project Launch--Summer Science Academy for 9th and 10th Graders
Project Director: Kathleen Moore
Organization: Victor Valley College
Phone: (760)245-4271,ext.24882

Nationally, over the previous two decades, the data from scientific journals and labor market statics indicate marginal numbers of minorities entering post-secondary institutions as declared science or technical majors. Project Launch, a four-week Summer Science Academy will target minority and disabled ninth and tenth graders to build skills in experimentation and research using Internet resources. Students will observe how science impacts their enviornment regardless of disability, ethnicity, or gender. Field trips to science industries and interaction with technicians and employers are included. Learning success strategies based upon results of individualized learning profiles will add to increased learning potential for Project Launch participants. Under the direction of a Learning Specialist, participants will learn to identify their preferred learning modality; learning style; learning strengths and weaknesses; motivational and self-esteem levels; interests; physical/cultural barriers, and potential for success. Students will explore professional and technical career paths in the sciences, reporting on one. Curriculum is a learner-center collaborative approach within a multi-sensory framework to match students' needs, and the classroom is a place for them to practice newly acquired learning awareness. Participants will have peer mentors from previous successful Summer Science Academies. Successful completers will earn one-half unit of college credit and will mentor completers as they transition through high school. The project will create higher under-representd student enrollment in high school science courses and increased transfer to community colleges as science majors.

The purpose of VATEA is to develop more fully the academic, vocational, and technical skills of secondary students and postsecondary students who elect to enroll in vocational and technical education programs by:
building on the efforts of state and localities to develop challenging academic standards; promoting the development of services and activities that integrate academic, vocational, and technical instruction, and that link secondary and postsecondary education for participating vocational and technical education students.

The general authority for the uses of funds is interpreted to mean that the funds are to be used for:

to improve or expand, not maintain, programs
to develop, implement and improve vocational and technical education, not general education, programs
to improve programs, not isolated courses

Funds were expended in the following categories: Basic Skills, Curriculum Development, Equipment, Guidence and Counseling, Instruction, Professional Development, Supplementry Services, Administration, and special population services.

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