Achieving The Dream Course Completion Gateway Courses Subgroup

Achieving The Dream Course Completion: Gateway Courses Subgroup 2/20/2008

Surprises v. OCCC is currently using many of the initiatives that other At. D colleges are focusing on: learning communities, early warning programs, and success/freshman experience/orientation courses. v. All three of these programs should be tracked and improved with faculty development opportunities. 2

Overall Recommendations v. Whatever is done to improve student success and retention/persistence in gateway courses should include faculty development opportunities for full time and adjunct faculty. v. The faculty (full time and adjunct) should have input into the selection and development of any new program or strategy. 3

Potential Strategies/Barriers v 1. Improve student success and retention by initiating a program of student engagement through teaching strategies across the gateway courses. v Year One-FY 09: Set up a faculty task force to research and choose an appropriate teaching strategy such as, but not limited to, collaborative learning, critical thinking, and responsible/critical reading. v Year Two-FY 10: Provide faculty (full time and adjunct) professional development opportunities focused on the chosen teaching strategy. These should be paid one-day or two-day workshops with outside experts. Start a pilot program with faculty (full time and adjunct) volunteers (approximately 20 -25) from the Success course and targeted gateway courses (ENGL-1113, MATH-1513, POLSC 1113, HIST 1483, PSY 1113). 4

Barriers to Strategy One v. A. Expense of adequate on-going paid professional development opportunities by outside experts (at least for the pilot group) for all faculty (adjunct and full time) v. B. Getting faculty input and buy-in for the use of an across-thecourses/departments/divisions teaching strategy 5

Potential Strategy/Barriers v 2. Improve student success and retention by initiating a program of student engagement through creative and/or structured time in and use of the learning labs. This initiative would engage students more directly with instructors, lab staff and resources, technology, and each other as well as encouraging additional engagement with the course content. v Year One-FY 09: Focus on MATH 1513 College Algebra. Investigate and research in the fall and pilot in the spring a small number of MATH 1513 sections with a required one extra hour of lab time. The course would not increase in credit hours, but an assigned additional lab hour would be required. 6

Potential Strategy Two v Year Two-FY 10: Continue the MATH 1513 pilot. Based on the results of that pilot, expand to additional MATH 1513 sections if appropriate. Begin discussions of creative and/or structured use of the learning labs in an additional Gateway course (PSY 1113, HIST 1483, ENGL 1113, or POLSC 1113) perhaps to pilot in FY 11. The expansion would not necessarily mean an additional lab hour; it could be the utilization of other creative ways to use our learning labs and increase student engagement with instructional materials. 7

Barriers to Strategy Two v. Scheduling issues related to adding an extra lab hour to the MATH 1513 pilot sections v. Convincing students of the benefits of the extra time-on-task v. Professional development opportunities v. Budget requirements 8

Other Suggestions Discussed v. Engaging faculty more in the early warning system; increasing the capacity of this program to include more staff and tracking v. More research needed on why students drop out or withdraw v. Advisement issues—Assign a specific professional advisor to each division or give specific faculty members reassigned time to focus on the division’s advising of students. 9

Other Suggestions Discussed v. Improve the Supplemental Instruction Leaders program with faculty development opportunities (adjunct and full time), increased student training, increased tracking, and so on 10

Course Completion: Gateway Courses Subgroup v Team Members Marsha Austin Trish Bilcik Jeff Carlisle Mike Franco Markus Smith Jerry Steward Alan Stringfellow Cecelia Yoder Susan Van. Schuyver 11

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