Face to Face

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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

Within ENG101, last fall in the 2016 semester (traditional 16 week Face-to-Face class met on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.), the instructor incorporated the Weekly Wellness SMART Goal Tracking System into her curriculum.  After Lyle’s delivery of the initial orientation to ENG101 students, the instructor invited her entire class to participate in the Weekly Wellness.  Nevertheless, interestingly enough, as time progressed, the class naturally broke into the two groups: participants vs.

The Communication Abilities Rubric assesses areas of physical and vocal delivery.  Instructors and students have not fully understood the categories in the rubric. As an innovative approach, my Com230H section did a media project breaking down each element of the rubric into video. I allowed for flexibility with strict guidelines to ensure all disciplines and communication research was covered. Next, 18 students assessed themselves 3x for 3 group presentations.

In my F 2016 BIO181 classes, I noticed several students checking email, texting, sleeping. Those students  usually sat alone in the back of the room. I use “think-pair-share” activities to promote collaborative learning and communication, but this is challenging when disengaged students are spread out all over the classroom. To boost engagement, I established a seating policy mid-semester.  All front seats must be filled first, and no one sits alone at a table. I asked students to get up and move, and late comers could not avoid being directed to open seats.

To combat students being overly concerned with page length and the number of quotes/paraphrases when writing research papers, I decided to take the paper out of the equation. For this research project, students use the research process to determine how realistic the science/technology is in a selected Marvel film. By removing the paper, the students are able to focus on and practice the various steps in the research process, such as crafting a research proposal, annotated bibliography and outline.

In both my ECN211 and ECN212 courses, I include a learner outcome related to student success habits (along with course-specific outcomes).  Each week, I post a discussion assignment related to brain-based learning techniques (e.g., practicing recall, spacing learning over time), wellness behavior (sleeping, nutrition, exercise), and metacognitive skills (mindfulness, metacognition).  To assess the impact of this module on student learning, I will provide an open-ended assessment question where students will report what was particularly impactful for them that semester.

I have used the textbook for reviewing physics content.  In the fall spring of 2015, I allowed students an option of doing small at home labs/demos, video themselves doing the activity and explaining the physics behind it.  I found that the students who did these activities liked them and demonstated a deeper understanding of the material. In the fall of 2016, I decided to expand this idea and make the assignment a larger requirement of the overal grade. I also provided more opportunities to do these type of small projects.

A prior CATS (Accounting Chapter 6 Re-Teach, March of 2016) measured what was learned in inventory valuation from one semester to another, after a teaching intervention (candy example) was included.  Although the grade/scores improved from the formative assessment, the first quiz, the class average for the second quiz was only 11 out of 20 or 55%, which is a failing grade.  Since this second quiz was not for a grade, but rather just a summative evaluation for research purposes, I decided to use the same quiz, but as a graded item for Fall of 2016 and Spring of 2017.

Students enrolled in Culinary courses measure ingredients by weight and volume on a daily basis while producing a variety of recipes/baking formulas.  Challenges occur with differentiating between weight and volume measurement / fl oz, and the ability to identify the appropriate measuring vessel (gal, qt, pint, cup, TBSP, TSP). I sought collaboration from other Culinary instructors at local high schools and colleges in relation to instructional methods on volume.

This is the start of the CATS for the Learning Inquiry Group on Curricular Models for Sustainable Undergraduate Research. As the semester goes on this will be edited to include more of the details of our work. But in brief we will be creating a cross prefix class for undergraduate research. This will include course outline and comptenecies that can be put through the curriculum process for multiple prefixes (PHY, CHM...). Then next academic year we hope to offer at least one of these to complete cycle. 

For only the second time EMCC offered PHY131/MAT231 LC this fall. While N was small (12 and 15) some interesting results were found. On CSEM post test both classes scored above national average of 47% and no real difference in classes. The LC improved dramatically from first exam to last (pre-final) where the other remained flat. It is encouraging that the LC even though the students started at least 1 MAT class behind performed as well and improved up to traditional class scores as semester progressed.