Written Communication

Helping students find success is the goal of teaching. By adding a short preview assignment allowing students to focus on upcoming larger essay assignments in Canvas, they learn the importance of taking the time to review assignment instructions before starting in, they think about what they're being asked to do, what challenges they might face while working on the asisgnment, what resources they can access for help, and ask specific questions of their instructor. Instructors can immediately respond and clarify or realign student preceptions setting students up for success.

The effectiveness of concept mapping (CM) has been investigated in introductory chemistry students' achievement.  The researcher tested the hypothesis which stated that the implementation of concept mapping in teaching introductory chemistry will increase students’' performance.  The sample was two sections, experimental group and control group.  Both groups had taken a pretest.  The experimental group draw CM’s for the units taught.  The units included naming, moles, balancing equation, stoichiometry, and molarity.  At the end of the semester, the performance

We increased the acceptance rate at the Student Conference 2018 while increasing rigor by providing scaffolding and a revise/resubmit process with support structures.  Acceptance rates rose significantly from 28.7% in 2017 to 70% in 2018 with added rigor as expressed by MCCCD faculty who had attended previous conferences.  Additionally, for the first time, 9 out of 10 MCCCD colleges participated in the conferences.

Chemistry students are required to think about the atomic nature of matter, while only being able to see the macroscopic level.  To help them, we use particle (atomic) level diagrams that rely on different colors, shapes and lines to represent different types of particles, phases, reactions, and temperatures.  These models are used throughout their chemistry courses particularly when systems become too complex to describe concisely in text or formulas.  A firm grasp of understanding and drawing these diagrams is important for success in the future.  However we never dire

In fall 2010, I wrote a workbook to replace the $250 textbook.  Please note:  I do not receive royalties from this workbook.  The workbook (wb) was used in the calculus/physics learning community as well as traditional calculus classes by me only.  Over the years, I have made modification to the wb.

CPD 104 is a Career & Personal Development course. Students prepare for a Mock Interview event to learn how to acquire a career with a successful interview. A career portfolio is an assignment my students complete prior to the Mock Interview. Students would have their portfolios but use it only to give a copy of their resume.  Students would also reflect afterwards that they recalled an example they forgot to share when nervous. For fall 2018, I included a cheat sheet into the portfolio, a typed document that has examples for behavioral questions.

Applying course content to real world experience so students understand why they are learning an applicable skill. Although using desktop publishing programs such as Adobe InDesign is a critical skill expected in many graphic design occupations, few students understand what desktop publishing is or how important it is. I wanted my EMCC students to experience the "scratch and sniff" effects of producing and publishing print products. So, when I first taught Adobe InDesign in Fall 2016, I arranged for my students to create print products for the Career and Transfer Center.

Multiple Intelligences is a theory that students have "intelligence" in a variety of fields (artistic, mathmatic, kinestetic, verbal, etc). By allowing students to use their strengths applied in to context of the discipline (in my case Communication), students can hopefully feel more confident in their abilities and engage better with the content. This could be aplied to practically any project in any discipline.

I planned an intervention to increase retention of online introductory students by making telephone contact with them early in the semester. The intervention did not go as planned as it was far more time-consuming than expected and I was unable to leave voicemail messages for a variety of reasons on a number of student provided cell phones.  Students were aware of this planned intervention and have provided information to me during the first week of class about how to contact them and best times.

College Success Week events aim to connect students with members of the College Community to build connections vital to their success. Roary’s Amazing Race was developed this year as a way to re-envision how information about campus resources is provided to students more effectively for campus resource staff and more engaging for students. As students traveled the pathway to earning their free t-shirt, they were given information by each pit stop on upcoming campus events that may interest them (i.e. upcoming shows at the PAC).

The purpose of this CATS is to document a qualitative review on my experience in the 2nd semester calculus/physics learning community (MAT231/PHY131).   Second semester physics covers charges, electric and magnetic fields, circuits, current (etc), and these concepts have been quite difficult for me to grasp and tie into calculus without Dwain’s help.  The attached narrative provides my previous experiences, current experience, and plan for the future .   

Gen Ed Abilities assessment participation is low I developed customized scoring templates for each section to simplify data entry, automate tabulation, &  streamline reporting by pre-populating term, instructor, course, section, and student ID.  Outcomes:

This semester I am provided a sample of a successful paper submitted by a 1st year student last semester to test the idea that identifying a peer who succeeded with similar challenges will provoke greater effort and ultimately greater success. For the full background on this CATS please see "Will Providing a Peer Sample Motivate Growth?"

In the Fall of 2016, I decided to convert some of the many writing assignments in my online and hybrid CRE101 course to video submissions rather than written submissions.  Unfortunately, at the time, the recording tool in Canvas was unpredictable and made it very difficult for many students to successfully submit their video submissions.  Submitting by attaching video files was also problematic due to the increased time it took for the students to upload the files and the time for me to download them to grade.  It was so problematic that many students either contacted me abou