Program/Department Development
Illinois Central College
Goals for change at the program/department level
- Increase science faculty awareness of the role that metacognition, active learning, implicit bias, and sense of belonging plays in student learning.
- Increase student success in the geoscience courses (grade of "C" or better)
- Increase the number of students majoring in the geosciences
Strategies/Activities
This past year, 2018-2019, I have conducted a series of one-hour workshops for science faculty (full-time and adjunct) to share ideas learned from this project. Session topics were presented in this order: Session 1: Metacognition and Active Learning; Session 2: Building a science identity; Session 3: Implicit Bias/Sense of Belonging. Posters were made to display on department bulletin boards and in classrooms showcasing ICC students who majored in the geosciences. My hope is that the posters encourage students to consider geosciences as a major so they will transfer to a 4YC to complete a Bachelors degree or higher.
Outcomes
Faculty who teach in geoscience, biology, chemistry, and engineering attended the in-house workshops I offered. Most were full-time but one adjunct attended all three sessions. There was good discussions of the ideas I presented and enthusiasm for the resources I compiled for the faculty. Faculty members who attended at least one session requested the resource list for the workshops they missed, so I know they found them valuable. Since the workshops ended in Spring 2019, several of the attendees have shared with me strategies they're employing in their classes that I introduced them to in the workshops. We have had a steady to slight increase in declared geoscience majors over the past 1-2 years but the number of majors is still in single digits. We have no data on students who transfer to 4YC and declare geoscience majors unless the students communicate with us. The three full-time geoscience faculty have studied the data collected for this project. The average success rate for students in the non-Change Agent faculty members' courses has remained steady at the mid-70% range. Curiously, the overall student success rate for my courses is lower, but I teach on more than one campus and the student demographics are different between the campuses. The geoscience enrollment rate remains steadily above the department average so we have a good reputation as the science most non-majors will take.
Waubonsee Community College
Goals for change at the program/department level
- Increase the success rate and in-class retention of all of the general education geoscience students
- Identify and mentor geoscience majors, with an emphasis on increasing diversity.
Strategies/Activities
To increase the enrollment and in-class retention of all of the general education students in the geosciences at Waubonsee, I leveraged student success. The logic was that if other students could see that the geosciences are classes that are interesting and engaging, and within reason, then they would spread the word by recommending them to their colleagues. In order to ensure that the classes are interesting and engaging, the students had to be successful, as an engaged student is often a successful student. To keep student engagement and enrollment high, techniques addressing metacognition and diversity sensitivity were employed in all my classes and encouraged across the department. These techniques include, but are not limited to, active learning pedagogies, Bloom's taxonomy, study cycle, science identity, implicit bias sensitivity and multicontextural theory.
Outcomes
In my classes, I have seen a 25% increase in completion, as defined as percent of students earning an A, B or C, in my geoscience classes since employing the above strategies. I have also received many comments from students about how effective these techniques have been for them, where they would have otherwise dropped the class. I also have data from anonymous surveys administered after each presentation on metacognition after the first exam that clearly shows that students are very appreciative of this new information, and appreciate the effort extended to them. Many state that they have never had professors show this kind of interest, as well as wishing they had learned about it beforehand. These comments often led to a renewed confidence to succeed, which is likely related to the observed increase in completion rate.