4 research outputs found
The Importance of Support Networks for At-Promise Students
At-promise students enter colleges and universities with various challenges including being academically underprepared and lacking those essential critical thinking skills to be successful. However, providing support mechanisms within a nurturing environment can help these students overcome academic obstacles as well as personal challenges in order to achieve academic success. This article explores the role of an educational opportunity program and its efforts to support student success
Addressing Misperceptions of Underprepared Students: A Case Study at a Public American University
This study examines faculty/staff perceptions of underprepared students as well as the experiences of these students in the college setting. Understanding that this crucial population has poor retention, we sought to understand who they were and how the faculty/staff felt about them in an effort to better serve them. While most students surveyed believed their professors wanted them to succeed and were interested in their learning, they also offered insight into areas where faculty could further assist their progress. Faculty/staff revealed both positive and negative feelings about underprepared students, often acknowledging feelings of helplessness when working with them. Through data analysis of surveys from both populations, we identified key areas of focus on which to build a professional development model. By bridging gaps in faculty/staff understanding through a faculty networking approach, we are working together to become more student-ready in addressing student needs wherever they fall, thus promoting student success and retention
Upgrading to Credit-Bearing Courses: Redesigning Curriculum with Students First
Students who take remedial courses are often prevented from continuing their education because the classes do not count toward their degrees, so they lose financial aid. They also suffer from stigma and disengagement while taking classes that label them as underprepared for college-level work. To reduce such negative effects of developmental education while promoting retention, we redesigned our reading and writing courses. Elevating the rigor and better addressing the needs of our students as college-level readers and writers, our courses now earn college credit. In this article, we describe the rationale for the course restructuring, detail the steps we took to obtain credit, and discuss the challenges. Evidence suggests that these changes have positively influenced student effort and engagement while continuing to tackle student deficiencies