Individual Growth and Development
Team and Institutional Context »
The Faculty as Change Agents program sought to support faculty Change Agents' growth as instructors and leaders so that they could have a greater impact on their students and in their programs, departments, institutions, and regional networks.
Karen Braley, Daytona State College
The biggest impact that the project had on me was my confidence. The workshops provided me with confidence to try new things in the classroom. I have been able to incorporate more active learning such as gallery walks. This has increased engagement, student attendance, and success. The increase in confidence has also translated into my sharing ideas with colleagues. I have presented the active learning strategies at a college-wide symposium. I also lead a discussion in my department regarding classroom strategies for engagement and success. Finally, the project improved my confidence when it comes to working with administrators. Having the administrator come to our workshop provided an opportunity to work outside the college environment that was beneficial for establishing a working relationship. The confidence inspired me to take a more active role at the college level by serving as faculty senate president.
Debra Woodall, Daytona State College
Being a part of this project has given me a greater awareness of the strategies and instructional practices needed to help increase student success in my geoscience classes. For example, including topics such as Scientist Spotlight has exposed my students to concepts of diversity and career opportunities in the geosciences. During my participation in the project, I learned about instructional practices such as gallery walks, backward design and other strategies to engage and empower students. An example of one instructional practice I learned about while in the project is a weekly activity called Poll Everywhere. This activity is highly popular with students and has increased student test scores by 17%! This project has also helped me to create and/or better develop opportunities for student research. Data show that students enrolled in my research lab have 100% completion and transfer rates. I have also learned new recruitment strategies while working on this project; strategies include visiting high schools, offering geoscience summer camps and mentoring high school students interested in conducting geoscience research. Because of this, enrollment in our geoscience programs has increased 46% since the start of the SAGE 2YC project. The project also taught me the value of increasing student sense of belonging. Since the project began, a new required orientation was started in hopes of increasing students' sense of belonging. Data show that retention rates for students who have participated in the orientation have an 80% retention rate. In summary, participating in this project has helped our students, courses and geoscience programs at Daytona State College.