Behavioral Sciences & Cultural Studies

What and how do you approach an online course with a required Service Learning component? SWU 291 online, with a 40 hour Service Learning requirement will pilot in Spring 2017. Some of the approaches to ensure fluid communication and support to students include a weekly small group peer support discussion forum, weekly check ins with the instructor, and a journal assignment related to the Service Learning. In addition, a complete timeline and procedure page and Service Learning Module will help guide the students through this process.

During the Module on Sexual Expression, we sociologically analyze masturbation and society's impact on this natural behavior. Students may be uncomfortable with certain topics that we discuss and analyze. It is also a good opportunity to have a different type of activity. Statements on masturbation are printed on 11 X 17 paper. Each student has one statement in front of them. A timer is used for students to comment on the paper in writing with no discussion. It is a silent class period. Once the timer goes off the statement gets rotated to the next student.

*Not being one to explicitly tell students to place their electronic devices away, I wanted to see if I could not only do that (that is, have them put them away) but also assess their basal understanding of communication concepts within COM 225, public speaking.  

Intersectionality is a signficant topic in feminist theory; however, it tends to be forgotten in gender discussions. Kimberlee Crenshaw's definition is used in the course (please see attachment). When teaching SOC 212 (Gender and Society), the focus is obviously on gender. However, the concept of intersectionality needs to be further included in the discussion. Students have had difficulty understanding the concept even after watching a film clip. In order to increase understanding and application of intersectionality, I created new activities along with the film: 1.

As I pilot the the Online version of ASB 214, I want to see how much taking this class improves the students' General Education Abilities of Critical Inquiry and Information Literacy, as these are the two skills I have noticed many students are lacking when they first enroll for the face-to-face version of the class. I will assess the students by assigning them a self-evaluation assignment for both of these skills, both at the beginning and the end of the course, to measure how much they feel they have improved.

Each module for my HIS 102 Online class has a section for student feedback.  I would like to see how much feedback I receive from students and the quality of feedback for each lesson.  Currently, the conclusion section has a few online videos that students can watch so they can learn more about the subject covered and a section where students can ask questions regarding the material (what they understood, what they are confused on, etc.).  I would like to see how many students provide feedback even though it is not required.

Cross cultural psychology (Psy 132), is an introductory course which examines human diversity in behavior and culture using examples from a variety of contexts within western and global societies. This is a popular course among non-psychology majors, based primarily on its “Big 3”General Education designation: Cultural Diversity, Global Awareness, and Social and Behavioral Sciences.

For this CATS I explored how a Kahoot could help students be successful in studying for exams. I gave a traditional review session for Exam 2 (give students terms and tell them to define the terms and give examples for each of the terms in groups), and then for Exam 3 I did a Kahoot review session. Kahoot is an online polling tool where students can compete with one another to answer review questions and get to follow along with their progress as they go through the review session.

After discussing the positive effects of exercise on student learning with EMCC's fitness and wellness director, Lyle Bartlett, I employed a rigorous walking schedule for a minimum of 15 minutes at the beginning of class in one of my statistics courses while another section served as the control group where no class exercise took place. Less than 15% of students in both groups self-reported exercising more than two times per week making groups comparable. I used an independent samples t-test to compare mean quiz scores from the treatment (e.g., those who walked) and control groups.

For this CATS, I wanted to look at if there is any difference in test scores between students who quickly complete an online study tool prior to the exam and students who take hours or days to complete the same study tool. I gave my introductory Psychology students over a week to complete the online study tool (a Collaborate Learning Unit or “CLU,” name courtesy of Dr. Coleman) for each exam (data from 3 exams included in this analysis) and categorized them based on if they took less than an hour, from an hour to a day or more than one day to complete the study tool.

The economics faculty at EMCC collaboratively assessed our students' quantitative reasoning abilities in fall 2015, aligned with EMCC’s Quantitative Reasoning rubric. The assessment required students to place themselves in the hypothetical role of a leader of a task force appointment by the new President of the United States to recommend a strategy for eliminating the US Budget deficit within a year To complete this successfully, students needed to address all areas of the quantitative reasoning rubric.

When I watch some of my students complete a 50 question multiple choice exam in 12 minutes, I wonder to myself, “that student can’t possibly be getting an A, can they?”

As reported on the 2014 CATS "All-USA Scholarship Selection Process," a "6-Trait Writing Rubric" replaced the EMCC Writing Rubric for scoring the 2015 essays. 2014 scorers reported displeasure with the EMCC Writing Rubric, especially regarding content. The 2015 rubric was customized to weight heavily "Ideas & Content," and the semi-finalist judging score sheet was adjusted accordingly. 2015 scorers reported the new rubric was more effective in judging the value of the experiences and accomplishments in the essays.

In 2012 Service Learners in COM100 Honors Cohort prepared and presented Informative Speeches based upon their project and a related Social, Civil, or Global (SCGR) issue. As reported on my CATS submission, only 50% of the students included the issue aspects on the visual aid. In Fall 2015 regular COM100 students (not Honors or Service Learners), were given the opportunity to select a SCGR issue to research and present to class as their "Final Exam" Informative Speech.

I observe many students frantically cramming before quizzes, stressing themselves out and potentially reducing their academic peformance due to test anxiety. Research shows test anxiety could diminish academic performance.  To test if anxiety reducing activities lead to better test performance, I randomly led a anxiety reduction activity with two of my sections (stretching exercises, spontaneous laughter) and did not with three of the others, and compared results (see spreadsheet).