Student Success

Creative Problem-Solving for Bottleneck Courses: A Low Completion Rate Course Project Project Objectives:  Define and diagnose the factors that contribute to specific low completion rate courses.  Define and adopt realizable solutions for managing/solving problems once identified.

Group Problem-Solving Method Working focus group. 5 Department Teams (Chair and Faculty, N = 10). Monthly sessions. Homework for teams. Final reports from teams.

Who is responsible for student success?

Stage 1: Emergent Themes What is a LCR course anyway?  All teams used anecdotal evidence to identify LCR courses.  No team identified correctly its LCR course. Who is responsible for facilitating graduation?  Students are solely responsible for their success.  Student characteristics delay or interrupt their graduation. Who is minding the store?  Any monitoring of courses will result in a “community college-like culture.”  We have a campus policy on that issue – who knew? Why aren’t textbooks and lectures enough?  Active and collaborative learning are achieved when faculty ask questions during a lecture.

Stage 2: Defining LCR Identified need for a campus-wide operational definition of a LCR course.  Is 80% completion rate good?  What percent of non-course completions actually create bottlenecks? Identified the following course completion terms:  Successful completion.  Failure (non-passing grade with no course credit NC, D, F, or in some cases C).  Withdrawal.

Stage 3: Thinking Beyond Student Characteristics What factors are likely to contribute to LCR courses?  Curriculum issues.  Course content and textbook issues.  Faculty/Personnel issues.  Student issues.

Stage 4: Identifying Common Problems What did the 5 departments have in common?  All LCR courses were multiple sections with large student enrollment (range 120 – 300 students per semester).  No standard course outlines.  No course coordinators or effort to coordinate course goals, objectives, assessment.  No means of faculty communication about the course.  No common learning goals, objectives, signature assignments, assessment rubrics.  No active or collaborative learning.  No tutoring or peer instructional assistance programs.  No on-line tutorials or supplemental material to assist student.

Stage 5: Solutions Department Changes Accounting 300  Department Chair Made personnel changes. Formed a course committee. Lowered number of students in each section.  Course Committee Adopted new textbook Purchased on-line tutorials and other electronic supplemental materials that give students immediate feedback.

Stage 5: Solutions Department Changes Sociology 260  Department Chair Made personnel changes. Formed a course committee.  Course Committee Developed a new course outline. Developed a free, pre-semester “prep-camp” for students who have failed or had anxiety about statistics.

Stage 5: Solutions Campus-Based Recommendations Information about and ways to identify bottleneck courses. Operational definition of LCR courses. Unpack & rename campus policy (textbook policy). Include reporting of LCR courses in departmental self-study. Work with Assessment Office to develop a Course Completion Audit.

Who is responsible for student success? We ALL are!