I created a series of discussion assignments for my BIO201 courses titled Anatomy of a Superhero for the purpose of prompting students to think about human anatomy and physiology from a different perspective and to help reinforce the principles of normal human anatomy and physiology.
In conjunction with the 4DX campus initiative and the EMCC Super Goal #1, the math division developed the following WIG: To contribute to closing the equity gap and improving a student’s sense of belonging, the Mathematics Division will increase the student’s response average on the twenty questions of the Classroom Community Survey (Rovai, 2002) from a 2.2 to 2.5 by December 2021. Residential faculty reported what types of activities/practices were implemented in their classes to increase a student's sense of belonging. Students reported an average score of 2.7898
After taking a PLC assessment/Tableau workshop, I felt it was important to the new CPD101-A First Year Experience Class that I was teaching online in Fall 2021 to find out if one of the major goals for this new class (being piloted for all 10 MCCCD colleges for Fall 2022) if indeed students were able to correctly match their Field of Interest (FOI) to the associate degree that they were pursuing.
As evidenced in multiple CATS written about journaling in STEM, faculty from chemistry, physics, calculus, and biology utilize journals to improve students' deeper level of learning. Critical thinking skills and written communication skills (EMCC ILOs) are important in STEM. I want to ensure my students leave my own course ready and prepared for the other STEM courses. Also, these journals are used to asses physics' classroom learning outcomes. Please see attached documents for sample survey results and journal entries.
Using discussion protocols in a live online learning format promotes independent student collaboration and engagement in group discussions through quality instruction and student support. In conjunction with the use of Google documents and live online breakout rooms (Zoom, Webex, or Google Meets), protocols drive independent student discussion and collaboration using a set of guidelines that include student roles and responsibilities. Discussion protocols also allow for fostering student-to-student relationships and for providing immediate real-time feedback by faculty.
This assessment assesses the CLO of "Students will pick the most appropriate tool/technique to solving a problem" as well as the ILO of written communication.
Anatomy & Physiology is the foundational subject ; students learn about human body systems' structure and function. Structure and function complement each other if the structure changes it will affect the function and vise versa. The deeper understanding of the subject will help students understand the change and make connections among body systems; this is central to understand and treat the diseases. Case studies assignments help students link content knowledge to clinical application.
In Fall 20, math courses transitioned to a Live Online format versus traditional online. Faculty spent the summer frantically learning technologies and strategies through workshops, brainstorming sessions, and social media. Math faculty also trained one another on Zoom/Webex, NearPod, and Whiteboard.fi with a common goal - to learn and implement new tools in the virtual environment to keep students engaged; increasing student success and persistence.
