Critical Thinking

This assessment focuses on supporting students retaking ALT 100: Academic Literacy Through Integrated Reading and Writing, a foundational course that prepares students for English 101. These students, having previously failed or withdrawn, faced a range of academic and personal barriers, including time management challenges, low confidence, limited access to technology, and gaps in literacy skills.

This study explores the implementation and impact of Objective Based Grading (OBG) in a college math classroom, inspired by insights gained from the Maricopa Student Success Conference. After adopting a structured grading approach that included two in-class Mastery Checks, a scale of 0 to 4 for individual concepts, and an emphasis on self-reflection, I observed significant improvements in student engagement and performance. Notably, the number of students seeking retakes on their own increased by nearly 300%, and average scores rose by 18% in Class 1 and 16% in Class 2.

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%.

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.

• Continue to review processes and look for ways to simplify/streamline whenever possible.
• When there are continual pain points, challenges, or overly complicated processes use that to identify a solution. Put your time toward finding/creating/requesting automation to improve the process. It will take additional time in the beginning to determine and implement a solution. Once the solution is implemented it will make up for the extra time it took to identify/make the changes.

The Career and Transfer Center collaborated with the Administration of Justice Studies Program to develop a customized resume handout that maps course and program outcomes to the NACE Career Competencies. This tool seeks to help students communicate their classroom experience into career-ready, transferable skills. Initial feedback suggests faculty satisfaction and engagement with career services as a result of the handout, improved Career Navigator confidence to guide specific career skill conversations, and improved resume quality.

The assessment of the game’s effectiveness was based on participant feedback, which was overwhelmingly positive. All participants rated their overall experience and engagement as excellent. Despite the high ratings for the format and interactive elements, there was variability in the perceived enhancement of knowledge regarding accreditation and assessment, suggesting areas for improvement in content delivery.

An independent honors student completed a project in ACC212 that the subsequent semester was piloted as a group assignment for an in-person course. The project provided the real-world application of producing a product and calculating and analyzing the associated production costs. An update to this CATS will be provided with a comparison of the student population who completed the group project versus those who did not upon completion of the Spring 2025 semester.

The purpose of this assessment is to explore the potential benefits of reintroducing Lab Write-Ups in science courses at EMCC as a means to enhance students’ science literacy. Lab Write-Ups provide an opportunity for students to share their data collection experiences, interpret results, and engage in scientific reading and writing. They also allow students to incorporate findings into their understanding of the natural world.

This study assesses the impact of an educational activity designed to enhance AI tool utilization among CHM151 students, with a focus on promoting ethical, effective use in academic work. Delivered as an in-class Canvas module, the activity aimed to educate students on AI operation, benefits, risks, and practical applications. The module also sought to improve students’ ability to identify inaccurate AI outputs and foster creative, responsible AI applications.

This CATs explores the use of a game-based learning activity, modeled after Taboo©, to boost student engagement, communication skills, and conceptual understanding across disciplines. Students worked in pairs to describe and guess course-specific terms without using certain "taboo" words, reinforcing complex concepts while improving verbal and listening abilities. Mixed-methods assessments revealed increased engagement, deeper understanding, and enhanced skills critical for STEM, healthcare, humanities, and social sciences.

Students teach peers how to schedule Spanish tutoring sessions to practice conversation via Cranium and Brainfuse.

Café Mariposa is an open pedagogy and experiential learning project. Students engage with the content and the campus community in a relaxed atmosphere where they can build Spanish vocabulary, and hone listening and interpersonal communication skills.