Institutional Development

Elizabeth: I have presented several workshops open to the entire PCC campus (some during our professional development days) that focused on using metacognitive strategies to improve academic success of our students. Because metacognition is applicable to all fields of study, the events were very well attended and entailed lively discussions. These opportunities have been by far the most interaction I have had with other campus members who are not in my field of study since I began teaching at PCC. These experiences, as well as running our regional workshops, have provided me with a broader sense of community and have encouraged me to become more involved in the college as a whole. For example, I recently joined the college's Institutional Effectiveness Committee of the College Council that meets bi-monthly to do program reviews for the entire campus, and I am also on a Natural Science Division Retreat committee which is planning the first event of its kind for May 10 and 11, 2019. These situations align with one of the overarching SAGE 2YC goals to build a national network of self-sustaining local communities of 2YC geoscience faculty who use and promote evidence-based instructional techniques to prepare 2YC students for the geoscience workforce.

Michael: At Pasadena City College we have regular peer evaluations where faculty will sit in another faculty member's classroom during one session and later provide feedback to the instructor based on what was observed. I find these evaluations to be very useful, both as reviewer and as the one being reviewed, and I find that I can make better supported suggestions thanks to the information I have gained at SAGE 2YC workshops and meetings. I also regularly discuss with some adjunct faculty teaching methodologies and approaches I have learned from SAGE 2YC sources, and one in particular has told me that he subsequently used methods I mentioned (e.g. metacognition strategies like exam wrappers) in his classes and has found them to be helpful.

In other contexts (e.g. serving on committees) I have on numerous occasions discussed with other STEM faculty many of the methodologies and philosophies I have discovered via SAGE 2YC events. I feel like these discussions have improved the teaching effectiveness of everyone involved. One of the committees I am currently part of combines academic counselors with STEM faculty. This has allowed us to share ideas, with the counselors providing insight on student perspectives and me providing details of our current approaches as well as issues with student performance in our classes. This partnership between faculty and counselors has just begun at Pasadena City College and I am excited to see where it will lead. One recent outcome is a transfer curriculum map (Curriculum Map PCC Geology.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 116kB Jun12 19)) developed with PCC counselors to get students through the system in two years.