Student Progression Through Developmental Sequences in Community Colleges

Developmental education is designed to provide students with weak academic skills the opportunity to strengthen those skills enough to prepare them for college-level coursework. The concept is simple enough—students who arrive unprepared for college are provided instruction to bring them up to an adequate level. But in practice, developmental education (or “remedial” education, we use these terms interchangeably) is complex and confusing. Experts do not agree on the meaning of being “college ready,” and policies governing assessment, placement, pedagogy, staffing, completion, and eligibility for enrollment in college-level, credit-bearing courses vary from state to state, college to college, and program to program. The developmental education process is confusing enough simply to describe, yet from the point of view of the student, especially one with very weak academic skills and little previous success in school, it may appear as a bewildering set of unanticipated obstacles involving several assessments, classes in more than one subject area, and sequences of courses requiring three or more semesters of study before the student (often a high school graduate) is judged prepared for college-level work

Examining the Alignment of Subject Learning Outcomes and Course Curricula Through Curriculum Mapping

Content analysis has been used to conduct curriculum mapping to map the course objectives, course content, and the assessment tasks of 14 compulsory courses, onto the five Subject Learning Objective (SLO) factors of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (DC&I) in a teacher education institution in Hong Kong. The results show that the SLO factors appear either as a cluster or a concentrated whole in the courses, suggesting a connective nature and dominated feature among them. The situation can be explained by the planned integrated learning experience as well as emphasis on specific SLO factors in response to change in educational context. Comparison of the coverage of SLO factors in the Bachelor of Education (BEd) and Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) is performed. The results suggest that the BEd program by design has more curriculum space for students to achieve this set of SLO factors than of the PGDE. It takes advantage of more curriculum space to adopt a spiral curriculum to facilitate complex learning in a logical progression. The study recommends that curriculum mapping is a useful tool to evaluate the extent to which the courses offered by an academic department are in alignment with its agreed SLOs. The methodologies can be used in other educational settings. Implications are made to enhance curriculum planning of teacher education program

Practice Experience and the New Social Work Professor: Implications for Advanced Generalist Programs

The need for social work practice experience to become more effective social work instructors hasbeen the subject of much controversy for several years. The goal of this study is to advance the conversation about whether new faculty, who are highly experienced social work practitioners, have a necessary prior skill set to more effectively teach advanced practice courses than new inexperienced professors. Data was used from 488 student assessment of teaching surveys for eight new faculty teaching at an advanced generalist social work program at a mid-west university. Findings suggest that practice experience increases the quality of practice-oriented teaching. Implications for advanced generalist social work programs pertaining to the recruitment and sustainment of clinician-scientists are discussed

English Language Proficiency as a Predictor of Academic Performance in the College of Nursing, Kuwait

The English language proficiency of international students has gained considerable attention in the media, but more significantly in the academic realm. Proficiency in the English language is of prime importance and is regarded by numerous researchers as one of the determining factors of academic success. This study aimed to gain insight into the correlation of the English proficiency with the academic performance of all 50 students who have graduated from the College of Nursing, Kuwait in the Academic Year 2015 – 2016. Utilizing a retrospective and correlational research design, students’ records in levels one to five were reviewed. Data were collected through record review of graduate students. Data analysis utilized the Minitab version 14. Other tests used were the descriptive statistics, T-test, ANOVA and Pearson Product Moment Correlation, with p value set at less than 0.05. Results of the study revealed that there is a moderate correlation between the overall English language proficiency and the overall academic performance both in nursing courses, with p value of 0.001, and in non-nursing courses, with p value of 0.0. As the student’s period of stay in the college increases, there is a negative correlation with the following: English proficiency (- 48%; p =0.0); academic performance in nursing courses (-50.6%; p=0.0); and, academic performance in the overall courses (-53.6%; p=0.0). For both, English language proficiency and academic performance, there is no relationship with other variables such as age, sex, and nationality. Findings of this study may facilitate modifications both in the English Language Program and strategies to make them more responsive to students’ needs in nursing and non- nursing courses, thereby leading to an improved academic performance of the students and ultimate enhancement of their productivity. Keywords: English Language Proficiency. Academic Performance. Grade Point Average

Opening New Doors: Hands-On Participation Brings A New Audience to the Clay Studio

This case study examines how The Clay Studio, a ceramic-arts studio, gallery and shop in Philadelphia, attracted younger audiences to its workshops and exhibits. In 2007, the studio became concerned that its audience was getting older and few newcomers were signing up for classes or making purchases. The studio then sought to engage younger professionals ages 25 to 45. Audience research helped identify elements of activities that could attract younger professionals, including flexible schedules, shorter courses and the ability to socialize. The studio therefore added new experiences such as "Date Night," a Friday evening event where novices could experiment with clay in an informal environment. It also redesigned its website and print materials to emphasize the visitor experience rather than the skills participants might learn.Five years later, the number of students taking classes tripled and revenue from the school more than doubled. Monthly workshops regularly sell out, and many newcomers have gone on to take longer classes.But challenges remain. The organization must now balance the needs and desires of long-time students and collectors, who want to see the more serious side of Clay, with those of the newcomers, many of whom prefer a more social, informal experience.This publication is part of a set of case studies and reports looking at the efforts of arts organizations that received Wallace Excellence Awards to reach new audiences and deepen relationships with current ones. In three accompanying videos, Clay Studio president Chris Taylor and Magda Martinez, the program director of Fleisher Art Memorial, another Philadelphia arts organization that received a Wallace Excellence Award, discuss their audience-building efforts

Applied learning in online spaces: Traditional pedagogies informing educational design for today's learners

The challenge to provide engaging, effective learning environments for university students is perhaps greater now than ever before. While the ‘anytime, anywhere’ online learning environment appeals, students also need a learning environment that encourages and retains their engagement. A new teacher-education program with an explicit focus on applied learning commenced at the University of Tasmania in 2011. The fully online course aims to provide an authentic, engaging environment for the students, who are primarily mature-aged, in-service teachers in TAFE colleges. This paper describes the applied learning design principles created to guide the course development and delivery, and the initial findings of a doctoral study being undertaken to examine their effectiveness. The research aims to provide a set of tested design principles to encourage and support an applied learning approach in online teacher-education courses, and more broadly in higher education

Faculty Senate Newsletter, Holiday 2014

Message from President: Christmas, as it was called before it became a generic all-purpose “holiday,” is, at least in the propaganda of western cultures, all about universality: about the day when, so it seemed, the whole world lay at rest, when benefactions went out, if not to all mankind, at least to those on Santa’s good-person list. Christmas, indeed most any winter holiday, depends on the mass distribution of information: on everyone learning (a) that this is the day to keep calm and (b) what it is—what is the cultural and philosophical context—for at least a temporary peace. Everybody’s favorite winter festival thus enjoys a leadership position among those personal and social factors, figures, and influences that advocate for what higher-education professionals call “General Education”: that curriculum or that set of courses or that body of requirements required of everyone who enters the learning’s hallowed halls. That General Education takes at least three forms—either a curriculum or courses or requirements or some combination of these—suggests that it remains somewhat loose and general in its identity. The grandest, richest institutions, which possess the greatest means and resources to implement a mixed program of socialization, acculturation, and education, have, in recent decades, tended to prefer “core” curricula to “general” course distribution requirements. A “core” curriculum, with its strong suggestion of centrality and essentiality, suggests concentration and focus, unlike “general education” or “distribution requirements,” which suggest a hit-or-miss fulfillment of quotas. Closeup examination of both sorts of curricula, however, reveal a curious inversion. Core curricula in tony institutions tend to congregate a smattering of focused courses while general education programs, more common in large state institutions, emphasize the most general, introductory and even “skills” courses. Neither model stands completely on the elusive middle ground of all-purpose instruction that adjectives such as “general” and “core” imply. What is easy enough to recognize is that General Education in any of its current forms either lacks a clear purpose (other than its being required by most accrediting agencies) or cannot, in its current form, fulfil the purposes that we may have recognized. Contemporary American academe prizes enthusiasm and dislikes skepticism. Phrases such as “deep commitment” and “exciting new approaches” garner more applause than doubts about the latest pedagogical fashion. Yet, privately, most honest academic professionals will admit that a large number of students seldom attend General Education courses; that the level of difficulty in these courses has dipped to so low a level as to sink to an elementary allegory of the intended subject matter; and that it is a stretch to imagine that students are learning about foreign cultures by struggling through one semester of German or are grasping the operation of the universe by taking “finite math” or are coming to an appreciation of Condorcet in Social Studies 101. However impressive the skills of the dedicated scholars who teach beginning courses, it is more than a little challenging to observe the formation of an educated citizenry in the typical General Education class. General Education is, indeed, a good deal of what traditional universities have to offer to the general public. The requirement to study broadly and diversely sets legitimate universities apart from online providers and industrial certification schools. It is critical, if universities are to survive in anything resembling their present form, that colleagues begin rethinking General Education. Robust transformations are possible even within the present educational architecture. For example, an institution might choose to end the age of experimentation and create a single first-year curriculum for its students by way not only of educating but of creating an institutional identity. For another suggestion, some campuses might be re-purposed specifically for General Education. Mid-State Regional University of South Dakota, for an imaginary example, might become the designated Dakota State General Education Institute, at which students would spend their first year or two in concentrated General Education study, perhaps at a lower cost than at their intended senior colleges and perhaps in imitation of community colleges but with a four-year upgrade and overlay. The body of material that could be assimilated into a General Education program is greater and more stimulating than ever before. Re-developing General Education could also re-energize a faculty that sorely needs good news, stimulating prospects, and appreciation from the society that it teaches

Application of Blended Learning through Practical Project-based Instruction: Opportunities and Constraints

This paper aims to highlight the application of Blended Learning (BL) for practical courses in the architecture program in the COVID-19 period. Physical Environment course is a theoretical module for first-year undergraduate students in the architecture program. Despite the course being written in theoretical structure, it was proposed to reorient the course into mixed methods with practical activities through online researching, site visiting, and reporting. This research applied a qualitative method with the application of case study, structured observation, content analysis, graphical analysis, and interpretation techniques. The data was collected from 40 students divided into ten groups, four students per group, to discover the application of BL in a practical and project-based activity. The findings of the research showed the students faced limitations to access the search engines and scientific sources to collect the sources for exercises. A half part of the group did plagiarism in the citation and referencing of the reports. The students present more accurate data in the site visiting and practical activities than the theoretical part. To conclude, the application of BL requires sufficient infrastructure for access to online materials through institutions. The implementation of BL helps the students to personalize and specialize the learning process through their own report design and exercises that are more effective for course delivery. Although the BL is implemented just in the activity and course levels by staff and students, BL mode requires to set-up in both program and institutional levels to achieve the result

Analysis of Understanding Ond Strengthening of Character Students Integration Through Passages Qauliyah Course Materials on the Development of Animal

Research has been conducted conducted research to improve the understanding of students and strengthening the character through the integration of passages qauliyah on lecture material development of animals. This research is descriptive research that is focused on the integration of learning materials to strengthen the character through the study of passages qauliah set forth in the form of a paper-making tasks in subjects Animal Development held in Biology Education Studies Program, Department of Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Riau FKIP semester year 2014/2015 teachings. The subjects were students of Biology Education Program S1 are taking courses totaling Animals Developments 31 people. Research parameters measured in this study is the ability of students to integrate the value - the value of character include: religious, honest, disciplined, hard working, creative, independent, curiosity and duties in the form of a report in the form of paper. The result showed the depth of material is relatively good student it is seen by the results of student papers, 48.4% (15 people) of students scored on the category A, 45.2% (14 people) of students scored at the category B and only 6, 5% (2) category students studying material enough in the development of the selected animals. It shows more than 90% of students are able to explore and discuss the materials specified (in the form of verses kauniyah) to explore and integrate verses qauliyah (verse Al-Qur, an). Based on the results and discussion of this study concluded that understanding and strengthening the character of the students can through the integration of passages qauliyah with lecture material development of animals in Semester 2014/2015 in Biology Education Studies Program, Department of Mathematics and Science Education FKIP Riau Universit

Intervention, recruitment and evaluation challenges in the Bangladeshi community: Experience from a peer lead educational course

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The incidence of Type 2 diabetes is increasing worldwide and diabetes is four times more common among ethnic minority groups than among the general Caucasian population. This study reflects on the specific issues of engaging people and evaluating interventions through written questionnaires within older ethnic minority groups.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The original protocol set out to evaluate an adapted version of the X-PERT^®patient program <url>http://www.xpert-diabetes.org.uk/</url> using questionnaires and interviews.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Questionnaires, even verbally completed, were unsuccessful and difficult to administer as participants found the questionnaire structure and design difficult to follow and did not perceive any benefit to completing the questionnaires. The benefits of attending the course were also poorly understood by participants and in many cases people participated in coming to the course as a favour to the researcher. Engaging participants required word of mouth and the involvement of active members of the community.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Peer led courses and their evaluation in older ethnic minority communities needs a very different approach for that in younger Caucasian patients. A structured approached to evaluation (favoured by western educational system) is inappropriate. Engaging participants is difficult and the employment of local well known people is essential.</p