April 2026

Knowledge is Power–Moving the needle for students close to testing out of CRE 101

Submitted by Nancy Stufflebeam on

EMCC Testing Services wants to increase the number of students who are able to successfully utilize their study path within EdReady to test out of CRE 101.  Testing Services staff will keep data on students who inquire about EdReady testing, check their scores, and reach out to those who haven’t increased their scores on the Critical Reading & Critical Thinking test.

WorkWise Academy Fall 2025 Pilot : Part-Time Employee Professional Development Opportunities

Submitted by Miyah Gaston on

WorkWise Academy is a four-part professional development series designed specifically for part-time and federal work-study staff to bridge the gap between their current roles and future career goals. This cross-collaborative effort included Career and Transfer Center, Center for Workforce and Experiential Learning and Counseling representatives. During the Fall 2025 student affairs pilot cohort, the program focused on fostering an environment that supports individual growth and professional potential.

CTC Career Skills Challenge: Incorporating Fun and Fiction to Create Career-Ready Students

Submitted by Miyah Gaston on

The Career Skills Challenge, hosted by the Career and Transfer Center during the 25-26 academic year, is a low-budget, high-impact workshop series designed to teach NACE competencies through gamification. The program engaged 56 students in scenarios ranging from survival councils to office simulations. The assessment shows a 100% peer-recommendation rate and high skill-connection scores, proving that innovative storytelling and campus partnerships can be equally vital to student engagement than high-cost programming.

Using Student Feedback to Improve HUM250

Submitted by Kelly Loucy on

Choice matters! I responded to student feedback that they wished we had more time for certain niche topics in a large survey course. I replaced two of my personal niche topics with the chance for them to explore topics that interested them. This improved submission rates, the overall quality of the assignments, and student satisfaction without compromising the overall learning objectives. 

Connecting the Dots: Improving student learning and note-taking skills through concept mapping in Bio156 General Biology Course.

Submitted by Hikmet Nural-Guvener on

Introductory biology courses serve as a foundation for upper-division coursework and are expected to develop not only content knowledge but also essential skills such as note-taking, organization, and conceptual understanding. A persistent challenge in BIO156 is that students struggle to identify key information, organize their notes, and connect concepts, often relying on memorization of isolated facts. This limitation affects their ability to apply knowledge and create effective study tools, such as exam cheat sheets.

Enhancing Student Engagement in Conservation and Sustainability in the Southwest-MCCCD Earth Forward Event at Estrella Mountain Community College-April 7th, 2026

Submitted by Scott Milne on

This assessment evaluates the effectiveness of the 2026 Earth Forward Event, hosted at Estrella Mountain Community College, in supporting student learning related to environmental literacy, sustainability, and engagement with career pathways in life sciences and conservation.

Weekly Reports for Humanities Classes

Submitted by Susan Malmo on

I changed the organization of most of my HUM and ENH classes so that students were compiling their responses into one Weekly Report at the end of the module. This has made grading easier for me, and it has helped students see a connection between the various activities and has caused them to value the Learning activities more highly.

Changing the Formula: Alternative Grading in CHM151

Submitted by Fiona Morrice on

Traditional grading practices often fail to measure learning in the way instructors intend, as they can be influenced by subjectivity and implicit bias. These systems frequently turn grades into a form of negotiation, creating an adversarial relationship between students and instructors rather than a collaborative one. As a result, traditional grading can heighten student stress and anxiety while discouraging creativity, critical thinking, and cooperative learning.