PCC Geography: Mr. Lee

Geography and the PCC Mission Statement

Feb 18, 2003

Mr. Lee's Geography classes directly support the PCC Mission Statement. The PCC Mission Statement provides the overall goals of the college. Each course at PCC should support as many of these goals as possible. Further, it is the social duty of the faculty to provide qualified information age workers and responsible citizens for our society.

PASADENA CITY COLLEGE

MISSION STATEMENT (Revised June 19, 2002)

The mission of Pasadena City College is successful student learning. The College provides high-quality, academically rigorous instruction in a comprehensive transfer and vocational curriculum, as well as learning activities designed to improve the economic condition and quality of life of the diverse communities within the College service area.

At Pasadena City College we serve our students by:

*Offering courses and programs which reflect academic excellence and professional integrity,

*Challenging them to participate fully in the learning process by encouraging them to be responsible for their own academic SUCCESS,

*Fostering a creative learning environment that is technologically challenging and intellectually and culturally stimulating,

*Recognizing them as individuals who may require diverse and flexible learning opportunities, and

*Encouraging and supporting continuous learning and professional development in those who serve our students: faculty, staff, and managers.




Mr. Lee's Geography Courses & the PCC Mission Statement

Mr. Lee's Geography courses are accepted for UC and/or CSU transfer credit. This means the course meets the academic standards required by those college systems. Mr. Lee is an active member of various professional organizations (e.g. Association of American Geographers, National Council for Geographic Education, California Geographic Alliance, California Geographical Society, Los Angeles Geographical Society, the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, and the American Meteorological Society-Los Angeles Chapter among others). He served as president of the Los Angeles Geographical Society for 3 years (one of only two people to ever do so in the 50 year history of the organization). He led study adventure trips to Indonesia, Maui, Egypt, 3 trips to China (Shangri-La Sojourn to Yunnan, the Silk Road in China, Three Gorges & Selected Tributaries), the Philippines, and Thailand. These activities brought attention to, and raised the professional stature of the PCC Geography Department.

The use of SCANS (the US Dept. of Labor Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills), Service Learning Options (for active student community involvement), and the Study Skills section of The Student Survival Guide for Physical Geography provide students with basic insights, skills, and tools for academic success. Preparatory exercises using the Pinpoint computer program in the PCC Career Counseling office, combined with www.salary.com (a website providing salary, benefit, and educational preparation information) further empowers students to independently and actively investigate and plan their education and career orientation.

The use of a class website with interactive functions (e.g. calendar, a discussion page for E-tutoring) as well as static informational pages, encourages students to use information technologies for more contact and interaction with the instructor. The "IT-IS Literacy" article in the Student Survival Guide for Physical Geography offers a perspective on integrating technology skills with their academic and career preparation.

Mr. Lee's Geography classes provide a wide range of options designed to accommodate a wide variety of student modalities. All web-based information is also made available in traditional print form and place on reserve in the PCC Library. Class instructional activities range from traditional classroom interactive sessions, supplementary homework, and a wide variety of extra credit options ranging from on-campus and off campus activities. The Service Learning Option gives students a chance to apply Geography while doing community service. For Spring 2003, Mr. Lee, through his volunteer efforts in the NPCA/LACP (National Parks Conservation Association/Los Angeles Community Partners) helped secure more than $46,000 in federal grants to employ students to perform outdoor environmental tasks in US National Park Units (i.e. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Manzanar National Historic Site). Other extra credit options involve attending free public lectures (e.g. Los Angeles Geographical Society, American Meteorological Society, Von Karman series, and others) in the greater Los Angeles Metropolitan area. On past field trip courses, hearing impaired and wheelchair-bound students actively participated by going to Death Valley and other natural areas they never visited before.

Mr. Lee's GEOG 30 (Field Methods) course was used by various local community outdoor environmental groups to train staff about Geography and the environment. He successfully adapted his Geography lessons to become the core curriculum for the NPCA/LACP Jr. Ranger Pilot Program. This highly integrated project worked with urban youth to connect them to the outdoors, train them to be job ready for entry US National Park Service Jobs, and become community leaders for outdoor environmental education. Youth from the pilot program successfully founded THEFLABA (To Help the Environment and the Future of Los Angeles for a Better America), the Youth Council for the NPCA/LACP. Some of the key leaders of the group completed high school, enrolled for college for the first time in Mr. Lee's GEOG 30 course, and are now functioning as youth community leaders. Internationally, Mr. Lee successfully adapted geography lessons to train rural Thai farmers in soil erosion control, non-toxic pest control, and composting. He also initiated training Chinese tour guides in ecotourism methods. In the past, Mr. Lee conducted summer English workshops in China for the Yanzhou Coal Mining Bureau, Qufu Normal University-Rizhao Branch, and Yantai University. These international opportunities are available for PCC staff and faculty involvement. So far 3 persons have availed themselves to these uniqe opportunities. On campus, he has been involved with the Office of Economic Development and Vocational Education and made English presentations to several visiting Chinese delegations on a wide variety of topics. While serving on the Faculty Technology Committee, he presented the "IT-IS Literacy" model that served as the basis for integrating the desktop publishing course from different departments and became the basis for a campus-wide technology survey. All of these efforts demonstrate life-long learning and successful use of basic geographic principles to a wide variety of subjects.