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Impact of OER Materials on Student Grades in a Coding Course

Submitted by Tim McMichael on

The rising costs of textbooks may be a barrier to student access, and most of those books are not well-suited for CIS150AB students. Traditional textbook authors approach coding from a Computer Science perspective, which doesn’t quite align with the occupational nature of CIS150AB. And while technical reading is a critical skill for professional programmers, the depth of these textbooks results in large chapters that may be intimidating to students.

Using Student Feedback to Improve HUM250

Submitted by Kelly Loucy on

Choice matters! I responded to student feedback that they wished we had more time for certain niche topics in a large survey course. I replaced two of my personal niche topics with the chance for them to explore topics that interested them. This improved submission rates, the overall quality of the assignments, and student satisfaction without compromising the overall learning objectives. 

Connecting the Dots: Improving student learning and note-taking skills through concept mapping in Bio156 General Biology Course.

Submitted by Hikmet Nural-Guvener on

Introductory biology courses serve as a foundation for upper-division coursework and are expected to develop not only content knowledge but also essential skills such as note-taking, organization, and conceptual understanding. A persistent challenge in BIO156 is that students struggle to identify key information, organize their notes, and connect concepts, often relying on memorization of isolated facts. This limitation affects their ability to apply knowledge and create effective study tools, such as exam cheat sheets.

Weekly Reports for Humanities Classes

Submitted by Susan Malmo on

I changed the organization of most of my HUM and ENH classes so that students were compiling their responses into one Weekly Report at the end of the module. This has made grading easier for me, and it has helped students see a connection between the various activities and has caused them to value the Learning activities more highly.

Weekly Check-ins and a Standardized Due-Date Structure to Help ACE Students Manage Their Time in a 5 Week Summer Course

Submitted by Keri Szejda on

I assessed two interventions for a 5-week summer 2025 Introduction to Communication (COM 100) course for ACE students: 1) weekly check-ins and 2) standardized due-date structure. The vast majority of students found these interventions helpful for their success. The weekly check-in was scheduled on Monday and included preparation for the project due on Friday, a grade check, and questions. Students reported that the intervention helped them stay on track, clarified expectations, encouraged early planning for their project, and increased awareness of grades and progress in the course.

Assessing Accounting at the Program Level

Submitted by Kortney Song on

This assessment analyzed student mastery of three Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) across the sequential accounting courses (ACC111, ACC112, and ACC212) in the Associate of Business Administration (ABUS) program. Following new course designs and textbook adoption in Fall 2023, faculty embedded PLO assessments in Canvas to track learning progression.

Rethinking Online Discussions: The WWKD Method

Submitted by Susan Malmo on

Because I found many of my online students weren't participating meaningfully in online discussions, I changed my approach and asked them to Post in the discussion board and then use a separate Report, that only I read, to discuss their classmates' posts. I found that students were more focused on the questions and more willing to participate fully; these two improvements resulted in a significant improvement in their grades.

Increasing success rates through walkthrough videos in PSY230WL Introduction to Psychology

Submitted by William Farrar on

This study showed how the creation of walkthrough videos, that move students through the complicated steps of doing calculations, leads to students empowering themselves and increasing their success in a PSY230WL online class that uses mastery learning, where students can engage the material as much as they want to earn a high grade. The videos have helped students persist with the material and be successful in the class.

5, 8, or 16 weeks: A Comparison of Success Rates in MAT 151 ONLINE

Submitted by Bobbi Mohr on

Subjectively, it is believed students are more successful in MAT 151 ONLINE if they can process the information over 16 weeks versus 8 or 5 weeks.  After analyzing the data objectively, students enrolled in Bobbi Mohr's MAT 151 ONLINE courses from Spring 25 to Spring 24, using the same MOER course structure, yield the highest average success rates in 5 week courses.  The collective student success rate average for 5 week classes was 75.4%.

Turning Inches Into Miles: Student Retention Rates in MAT Courses

Submitted by Bobbi Mohr on

With OPIE data from AY 22-23, MAT instructors have implemented instructional best strategies to improve student retention rates from Fall 23 to Fall 24.  To contribute to the EMCC Strategic Goal of increase college retention and persistence by reducing the within semester withdrawal rate from 16% to 14% by 2026, MAT instructors have implemented and documented (monthly) instructional best practices, as well as reported (monthly) the number of students retained in their courses.

Laptop Checkout and Student Success

Submitted by Chad Galligan on

The necessity for the laptop checkout program became evident in the academic year 2019-2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and students were required to complete the Spring 2020 semester online. The laptop checkout process was identified as a need by students who did not have the proper equipment to complete a course(s). The results indicated that the course completion rate of students who checked out a laptop is consistently close to students who did not check out a laptop.

Using AI for Goal Setting to Enhance Student Success in FYE101

Submitted by Jake Ormond on

This assessment aimed to evaluate how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts student learning by enhancing their ability to craft specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART) goals. Students in FYE101 often struggle with creating SMART goals, and this course assignment had students use AI to support the refinement of their drafted goals. Students were tasked with developing an academic SMART goal, engaging with an AI tool of their choice to improve it, and reflecting on their experiences with these tools.