February 2017

Many students who take the Introductory Biology for Allied Health (BIO156) course are new to the field of biology. As with other introductory courses, BIO156 students must begin to learn how to effectively synthesize and present challenging technical information, in a way that is meaningful to them, in the form of notes. Departmental colleagues introduced me to the concept of the Learning Journal. This semester BIO156 students are required to compile a Learning Journal, with the aim of developing their note taking skills.

Occasionally interpreter assistance is needed at the Library Desk but help isn’t always available. Identifying this opportunity, I designed a solution using Google Translate. I created a set of instructions with step-by-step directions for colleagues. Equipment purchased to support this solution were wireless mice & keyboards. This was necessary in order to facilitate sharing in the typing and browsing process. The outcome of the adoption of this approach to service has been successful.

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Need: Students who make use of class/campus resources perform better academically. However, many rarely use their syllabi. As a result, students frequently ask instructors for things like due dates, class policies, or the # of assignments/points in a class. I've attached two docs: Syllabus Questions & a syllabus.

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Need: Increasing the likelihood that students who watch/listen to classmates give speeches will use those watching/listening experiences to become better public speakers themselves.

Last semester, I wanted listeners to enhance their public-speaking skills by having them learn from their peers' speeches. To be clear, this is not about learning from the content of their peers' speeches, rather learning about the nature of good public speaking.  This is different than something else I do, which is have 3 listeners provide feedback that is given to the speaker.

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Need: Students are required to use at least 5 credible sources, but have struggled to identify and use them.

Enhancement (see esp. #2): 

(1) Instruction: Credible sources meet all 3 criteria: (a) written by a named [with rare exceptions] authority on the subject under discussion; (b) timely [which usually, but not always, means recent]; (c) has minimal bias [completely objective sources don't exist].

(2) Template: Students type into/complete the attached Word document, "Research Packet." (10 points of speech)

In differential equations, a programming tool called MATLAB is required for the course.  MATLAB allows students to solve/estimate solutions to complex equations through coding.  The problems on the exams that require solving through coding are the number one reason why students do not pass the exam.   For example, every semester, for the last 5 years, students struggle with coding for two different estimation methods:  Euler and Runga-Kutta (rk4).  In past semesters, these two topics were taught separately with MATLAB done on different days.

One of my goals in implementing service learning into the CPD150 "Strategies For College Success" curriculum was to enhance students’ academic success by collaborating with a local agency partner. The feedback provided using both a pre- and post-assessment provided measurable insight into the mutual benefits for both students and the agencies they served. Finally, the biggest take-away was the measurement of how transferable the CPD 150 skills that I taught were to the actual service learning.

I piloted service learning into my three CPD 150 classes (“Strategies for College Success”) Fall 2016 with hopes of integrating authentic educational experiences with real life applications by meeting the needs of both students and volunteer agencies in our community. I worked closely with Landis Elliott in establishing an innovative way to bring service learning into the CPD curriculum while fulfilling EMCC’s “Learning College” philosophy. By adding service learning to the CPD learning objectives, students were able to apply in-class learning (communication skill

During the week of Oct. 17-21, 2016 The I Will Graduate Committee hosted a “College Success Week” offering a multitude of activities for students to attend. These activities focused on providing students opportunities to learn about programs, strategies, and information from instructors as well as current and former EMCC students to assist them in developing strategies to be successful college students.