Experiential Learning

This study assesses the impact of an educational activity designed to enhance AI tool utilization among CHM151 students, with a focus on promoting ethical, effective use in academic work. Delivered as an in-class Canvas module, the activity aimed to educate students on AI operation, benefits, risks, and practical applications. The module also sought to improve students’ ability to identify inaccurate AI outputs and foster creative, responsible AI applications.

Café Mariposa is an open pedagogy and experiential learning project. Students engage with the content and the campus community in a relaxed atmosphere where they can build Spanish vocabulary, and hone listening and interpersonal communication skills.

Providing a hands-on, active learning experience for online classes is difficult. BIO 201, Human Anatomy & Physiology, students prepare a Histology Atlas using tissue images supplied by the instructor. It was a passive learning process.

I searched and introduced Virtual Microscope, an Open Access technology. It allowed an active learning experience similar to using a microscope during in-person lab settings. The students could:

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

Through conversations with the tutors, a desire was discovered to be better.  The tutors know their material very well but wanted to see if there was a way to improve on their delivery style and customer service.  I introduced the concept of continuous quality improvement (CQI) which is a culture of never-ending improvement.  The assumption is that unless we learn something about what we are doing, we are unlikely to know how to improve it.

The Academic Success Center provides in-person tutoring for STEM courses which includes Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Due the discontinuation of Developmental Education courses, there has been a shift in tutoring demand for Gatekeeper and STEM courses in semester Fall 2019. With the collaboration with STEM faculty, the ASC is developing and experimenting new intiatives on how to support the increase in demand of tutoring for these subjects. 

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The program was held during a five week summer session. Twelve students met Monday through Thursday for Math 151 College Algebra/Functions, followed by one hour of tutoring. Students also met Monday through Wednesday for CPD115, Creating College Success in STEM. Every Thursday, students had the opportunity to partake in hands-on STEM workshops and programs, meet current and/or former STEM students, meet with different community professionals to explore the different careers in STEM, and learn about the different supportive programs, such as undergraduate internships.

One of the goals of the Academic Success Center is to provide quality tutoring in the content areas of mathematics. These review sessions will contribute to this goal by helping tutors identitfy the gaps in their mathematics content. In addition, the subject material is to be reflected in what is taught in the classroom. Through MOER, the tutors are able to review and refresh math topics throughout the semester. With the content training sessions, we are able to assist students more effectively because the material is fresh in our minds!

CPD 104 is a Career & Personal Development course. Students prepare for a Mock Interview event to learn how to acquire a career with a successful interview. A career portfolio is an assignment my students complete prior to the Mock Interview. Students would have their portfolios but use it only to give a copy of their resume.  Students would also reflect afterwards that they recalled an example they forgot to share when nervous. For fall 2018, I included a cheat sheet into the portfolio, a typed document that has examples for behavioral questions.

Applying course content to real world experience so students understand why they are learning an applicable skill. Although using desktop publishing programs such as Adobe InDesign is a critical skill expected in many graphic design occupations, few students understand what desktop publishing is or how important it is. I wanted my EMCC students to experience the "scratch and sniff" effects of producing and publishing print products. So, when I first taught Adobe InDesign in Fall 2016, I arranged for my students to create print products for the Career and Transfer Center.

Multiple Intelligences is a theory that students have "intelligence" in a variety of fields (artistic, mathmatic, kinestetic, verbal, etc). By allowing students to use their strengths applied in to context of the discipline (in my case Communication), students can hopefully feel more confident in their abilities and engage better with the content. This could be aplied to practically any project in any discipline.

Assessment Happens: January 11 in CTL. Over 73 faculty, administrators and support personnel attended.   The SAAC Co-Chairs introduced the new format of other colleagues sharing “best practices”.  Erin Bloomstand and Michelle Breaux presented “It’s Okay to Fail.  52 evaluations were filled out.   Surveyed items:  Workshop content matched description. 33 strongly agreed, 16 agreed, 3 somewhat agreed;  The presenter(s) was effective. 38 strongly agreed, 8 agreed, 4 somewhat agreed; Content was relevant to my needs.