Hybrid

In my RDG courses my students complete weekly Reading Response Journals (RRJ). Students are required to read anything they would like and fill out a template with required information about what they read. They are required to format the information in a specific way. I observed that students consistently struggled with the correctly formatting the document and making sure they included all the correct information, and were losing many points as a result. I had provided detailed instructions on how to format the document/information but students were still struggling.

We struggle with student tardiness, especially in our early morning classes. We have tried everything from locking the door the minute class starts (which then prevents the student from learning the subject that day) to allowing a maximum number of classes to be tardy in (which we have to keep track of). None of these strategies, or other ones tried, have been successful in reducing tardiness. Plus, the burden is on the teacher to keep track, provide materials missed, etc., thereby increasing our load.

Note: This CATS is being submitted by Rebecca Baranowski, Michelle Breaux, Teri Graham, Sarah Lockhart and Luvia Rivera. In summer 2015, these math faculty attended the Johnson & Johnson Cooperative Learning Institute at SMCC. One of the suggested activities for increasing cooperative learning is to put folders on the tables at the beginning of class. Inside of the folders is a warm up for students to work on together. The institute suggested having only 1-2 sheets of paper in the folder to "force" students to talk to each other about the documents in the folder.

Beginning Spring 2016, new E-Learning courses require students to submit the ELSO E-Learning Student Orientation badge. Previous courses have linked to the "Learner Responsibilities Orientation." The same online survey (quiz) used in the MAT182 Hybrid will be used to measure if students "understand" the Getting Started assignments in the MAT212 Hybrid (new) versus the MAT182 Hybrid (old). The survey asks students to “check” the competencies they understood before the module, and to “check” the competencies they understood after the module.

In the flipped classroom, we spend the majority of class time working in groups at the boards.  I typically only change groups a couple of times in the semester.  My goal for Spring 2016 is to change groups at least twice each class session, meaning that students will work in at least 3 different groups each time the class meets.  Since this hybrid class meets 13 times (excluding 2 days for Midterm and FInal), this means that the students will work with at least 26 different groups.  This will force the students to work with nearly everyone (if not everyone) in the class

For over three years, I have collaborated with peer mentors from the peer mentoring program in my developmental reading classes including rdg 081, 091, 095, and CRE 101 when the group looped up from RDG 091.  There has been a dramatic increase in student retention, course completion and completion of the next round of courses at the 100 level and above as compared to those sections without a peer mentor.  

All EDU courses require a Field Experience (where students go into a local K-12 classroom, under the tutelage of a certified teacher). Taking students through the process to ensure their success is always a challenge, since there are a variety of factors beyond our control (Fingerprint Clearance Card acquisition - FPC -, school placement, etc.). EDU teachers have incorporated a variety of documents and strategies to help achieve a higher success rate (see attachments).

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.

The beginning of the course is dedicated to helping students become familiar with the Canvas system, and the specific requirements for submitting online assignments for the class. The requirements for submitting online assignments for this class may be different from other online classes students have had. Especially since MyMathLab isn’t used. In-class and out-of-class practice will prepare students to submit online assignments and check their grade. An online survey (quiz) will measure if students "understand" the Getting Started assignments.

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

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.

Every anthropology class starts with an explanation of anthropology and the fact that there are four main sub-fields in anthropology (i.e. Archaeology, Cultural, Linguistics, Physical.)  Each anthropologist specializes in one of these fields.  At the beginning of the semester each field is discussed, explained, and students are encouraged to think of examples of each.  After understanding the fields, they are asked which of the fields they think they would like best.

My BIO 160 students often have difficulty identifying and locating peer reviewed resources for a disease research paper. I have worked with the EMCC librarians to show students databases, citation tools, and a discussion of peer revied versus popular articles. At this time the students used the library website and found two potential resources. To improve this process, Jennifer Wong has created a screencast that shows how to use the library website to locate resources.

The first step to building professional relationships of respect with students is to know and use their name. I have problems remembering the names of some of my students that are in my hybrid classes, since we only meet once per week. The Great Southwest Teaching Conference in October is an annual conferenced for sharing out of good teaching ideas. A colleague I met there confessed to the same dilemma, and shared their solution - a picture of each student at the beginning of the semester!

This assessment is intended as an alternative to the syllabus quiz. It is primarily for use in online and hybrid courses, but could be used in face-to-face classes that utilize Canvas. Students are required to preview each module of the course in the first week of classes. Students open each module and preview each assignment, activity and due dates within each assignment. Students then write a summary of what is required for each module. This gives students a clear picture of what will be required of them throughout the semester and first hand experience negotiating Canvas.