Face to Face

My ESL students have been challenged to produce clear and coherent writing on a particular topic, even when the topic is on their own preferred choice. I came up with the idea of using a visual, a graphic organizer, and work step by step toward producing good writing. Dissecting and discussing the paragraph structure, looking closer into each of its parts helped my students understand the purpose of writing – how each part (beginning, body, and ending) contributes to producing cohesive and clear writing.

One of the biggest factors to student success is whether students are able to manage their time efficiently.  Canvas offers a fantastic way to sync personal calendars in i-cal and Google with Canvas assignments. To asses and encourage students use of this function, I compared a PSY 101 F:F course in which students were not provided instruction or calendar sync assignmet, to a SWU 102 course in which students were assigned a calendar sync assignment with instructions.

This assessment is to help with the concerns of the students overall learning objectives, test scores, application in the nursing clinical setting, and critical thinking knowledge. We attacked the problem by doing a classroom assessment of all 29 students. The outcome of the assessment showed that learning and testing was on a roller coaster ride. So we became innovated and created voice threads with power points to be done at home, and the classroom became the s environment for active learning.

To get the best image quality from a digital camera, you need to shoot in camera raw (.dng).  Raw files contain more detail compared to a jpg file.  I'd shown before and after images to my Photoshop class, and demonstrated how to use Camera Raw but students tended to accept the image basically as it stood.  

Calculus III covers material from calc I/II, but in 3D.  One part of calc III is to graph in 3D.   A program called Maple is used to draw the graph, then students draw this on their exam.  For 6 years, a lecture approach was used to cover this topic.  Overall, students did not do well on this part of the exam (approximately C-D average).  Students had no comprehension as to why the graph looked the way it did and were not able to draw basic shapes.

The EDU students at EMCC strive to become future preK-12th grade teachers.  I strive to prepare my students for the reality of teaching by teaching the students to lesson plan, to provide effective instruction,  and in maintaining strong classroom management.   For the past 3 years, my students have learned the foundational skills in each area through in-class lesson plan writing and teaching their lessons to peers.  While this is valuable practice,  it is not the same as actually teaching children.   In or

Observation is the heart and soul of cultural anthropolgy. For ASB 214, an Intro to Comparative Religion, I assigned the class to view a video explaining the basics of ethnrographic research. For the next class, I paired them up and assigned each pair to observe a specific "culture area" on campus, i.e. the studuent union, the bookstore, etc. They had to develop a research question (Which do students use more often for purchases? Cash or debit?), observe their area for 20 mins and take observation notes, then analyze their findings. Were they able to answer their research question?

Over the years I have struggled with getting students to choose speech topics that are an appropriate 

In prior semesters, I would verify that students completed the example spreadsheet exercises in ACC111 by visual walking around the room.  With 32 students, this is almost impossible to complete efficiently.  As of Fall 2015, I have added the example spreadsheet exercises to the Attendance/Participation Assignment.  Student now complete the exercise and submit for credit.  Satisfies the attendance and insures participation.  I am able to assess that students can perform the necessary Excel functions that will be needed for homework and chapter quizzes.  Student

Most chemistry labs are of the "cookbook" style, the labs are a series of steps to perform in the alloted time and not much thought goes into the performance.  The other option is to give students a problem to solve and then give them free reign to design a lab.  Many of the students have no idea where to begin the design phase of a lab and end up just looking up a cookbook lab and trying to make it work.  The other problem with the free reign option is safety and logistics with the laboratory prep.  Is it a safe lab?

This semester I am assigning students online homework problems using Sapling Learning. After the due date expires, I plan to analyze which questions were most frequently missed.  Then I will bring these back as part of a study session prior to the midterm 1.  Similar questions will be restested as part of their midterm, and an analysis conducted to see if students' scores improved as a result of the feedback and additional practice in these areas.

At the beginning of each class I post 3-4 questions on the board to review the previous day's information.  This also allows time for me to take attendance and set up the classroom for the days activity. I would allow about 10 min. for this activity and then have students present their solution.  I did not collect the papers.  There was not much accountability and some student's would purposefully come in late to avoid the work.  

The "I Am Human" Campaign focuses on choosing language that creates an inclusive culture demonstrating social awareness. Students watched the "I Am Human" video in addition to reading about the campaign on the EMCC website. Students participated in a pre/post survey and discussion board directly connected to the campaign. Their weekly video reflection and final journal entry are typical assignments in the Sociology courses. The students mentioned the campaign in both assignments as examples of what impacted them in the course. Please see the attached document on the results.

In ESL Grammar 2, I’ve offered a standard exercise final exam. The average 79% score was not acceptable. I developed a more authentic “end of the semester” way to bring together all the information offered in this grammar course. I assigned a guided autobiography.  At the class prior to the final exam, students were shown a presentation and given colored notecards.

Culinary students are required to create a marketable portfolio for a catering business while enrolled in CUL213 Buffet Catering.  Students use buffet items from private and public luncheons in Regions Restaurant to build content for the portfolio.  Students are challenged by the provision of details, professional appearance, and organization of a portfolio that can be potentially used for sales and marketing in a catering operation due to lack of overall experience in industry.  In past semesters, students submitted their portfolios at the end of the course, with many misund