January 2014

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Using Canvas Discussions is a good way to use higher order thinking skills and improve communication as our students justify their answers and question others. In Fall 2013, all three of my hybrid classes had weekly discussions that enriched our content. However, the quality of the discussions was somewhat lacking. Mid semester, I instituted rubrics to help guide and measure their posts. For a 15 point discussion, the rubrics were as follows:

To assess students understanding of major theories and content elements I have students present concepts with teammates, or Iearning teams . Students work with a team of 3 to 4 students and present once a week on a topic covered in the chapter we are discussing for that week.

I find that it keeps students connected, helps them manage nervousness they may experience when speaking in front of large groups. They have to check audience understanding by creating a way to involve all classmates.

I assign a Career Exploration Project (attached) for my engineering students to learn about engineering disciplines, careers, and professional societies. They do research, write a report, and present their findings to the class.  They capture the basics of the field and information about the professional societies, but I feel there is room for improvement, especially with professional societies and their benefits.

Using unobtrusive and obtrusive assessment throughout linked ENG101/102 courses, I hope to learn whether an emphasis on learning about types of writing (analysis, cause and effect, etc.) in the ENG101 course will carry over to help students as they work on more complex papers in ENG102.

In past semesters students were awarded 5 extra credit points for 5 hours of tutoring on their exams.  However I started to question if students were going to tutoring just to get the extra credit points or if they really needed the help.  In Spring of 2013 I changed the tutoring requirements for all my courses.  Students would now be required to complete 10 hours of tutoring throughout the semester and this would count towards 5% of their grade.  I wanted students to attend tutoring because they saw a benefit and need, not just to get points.  Students were given a

I have tried multiple methods to improve student completion rates in MAT121.  One was to teach MAT121 integrated with AAA115.  While students learned about college success skills related to math, successful completion rates were not significantly higher with AAA115 than without. In one semester, the successful completion rate of my MAT121 with AAA115 was lower than my other MAT121 sections.

In Fall 2013, I piloted a video reflection assignment in the Sociology courses.

Typically, students who are enrolled in developmental English classes (ENG 081, 091) bring with them a host of issues that may inhibit academic success, namely the lack of preparedness for academic/college-level writing.  What often appears as a more direct issue is a need for college-going behaviors and skills that will ensure their success in college.  I've been fortunate to have had student peer mentors from the EMCC Peer Mentor Program in my ENG 081 classes for the past three years.  In Spring 2014, a peer mentor was assigned to one of my two ENG 091 classes.  While

In teaching Muscle function, I have always used an activity where I physically demonstrate the actions to students. Students then stand and work in pairs, mimic the movements on their own body, and evaluate their partner's motions. I circulate and correct with each new motion. When doing the activity as a class, and only their partner is working with them, students think this activity is fun and interesting. The class is excited and loud.

A new supplement for the microbiology text called Mastering Microbiology was recently released by the publisher. I had heard positive things about the Mastering Biology for BIO 181 (pre-req for micro) and decided to implement Mastering Micro in a like manner. For two semesters prior to utilizing Mastering, the average grade overall at the end of the semesters  was 74.64% (n=73).Not a bad average but many students indicated they wanted practice and micro is very conceptual. I was not sure exactly what I wanted to see with my students other than overall increase in performance.