Maximizing Student Learning Through Developmental Learning Communities at Skagit Valley College

1. First Look:Counseling-Enhanced Developmental Learning Communities Maureen Pettitt, Ph.D. Skagit Valley College, WA AIR 2008 – Seattle, WA

2. You are here!

3. Session Topics • Learning Communities at SVC • Developmental Learning Communities • Research and Data • Project Overview • Planning, Goals, • Integrated Assignment Example • Research Design • Results to Date • Implications for Research & Practice

4. Learning Communities at SVC • Curricular Learning Communities have been offered at Skagit since 1986 and required for the transfer degree since 1993 • Not initially about retention but fostering student learning: a means of delivering instruction to help students see connections between and among disciplines (vs a “smorgasbord” approach to General Education requirements) • Approximately 50 LCs are offered at SVC each year, about half fully collaborative

5. Current Gen EdIntegration Learning Outcomes Students will be able to… • Identify the strengths and limitations of different fields of study. • Identify and evaluate the relationships among different perspectives within a field of study or among different fields of study. • Integrate concepts and analytical frameworks from multiple perspectives to develop one or more of the following: more comprehensive descriptions, multi-causal explanations, new interpretations, or deeper explorations of issues. • Analyze and reflect upon insights gained from integrating multiple perspectives in a purposeful project or experience.

6. Learning Communities at SVC • Fully Collaborative • Feast or Famine (Nutrition and Sociology) • Sex.comm (Human Sexuality and Mass Communication) • Stating the Matter (Chemistry and English Composition) • Developmental (federated, co-enrollment) • Reading Between the Numbers (developmental Math and Reading)

7. Learning Communities at SVC • Federated • Celluloid Science - science majors enroll in an introductory film course and one of the courses required for their major , with the explicit purpose of exploring how films portray scientists, scientific practices, and concepts • This, That, and the Other - students co-enroll in a research paper course and one of several social science courses, with the goal of researching topics specific to their field of study

8. Background: Research and Data Related to Learning Communities

9. Research Literature: Tinto (1998) • Lessons Learned • Making pedagogical choices: Different strategies for different needs • Making appropriate placement: Assessing student education needs • Lessons in Implementation • Using pilot programs • Building institutional support • Building faculty and staff involvement

10. Research Literature: Malnarich with others (2003) “Students need to develop the abilities associated with ‘learning how to learn’ in multiple and varied contexts—a key learning goal of curriculum aimed at preparing students for college-level work” (p. 27).

11. Research Literature: Malnarich with others (2003) • Best Practices • Adopt an abilities-based developmental perspective in LCs and throughout the campus • Target high-risk courses • Integrate skill development with credit-bearing college-level courses • Design a holistic program – integrate academic and student support services; use peer tutors

12. Data • Numerous studies conducted at SVC over the past 20 years regarding impact (for an overview, see Dunlap & Pettitt, 2008) • CCSSE results in 2003, 2005 and 2007 validated the value of Learning Communities: students who took learning communities at SVC were significantly more likely to engage in activities that increase their time on task (and thus their chances for meeting their educational goals) as well as to assume responsibility for their learning.

13. CCSSE LC Question • Stem: “Which of the following have you done, are you doing, or do you plan to do while attending this college?” • Category: “Organized learning communities (linked courses/study groups led by faculty or counselors)” • Response Categories: • I have done • I plan to do • I have not done nor plan to do

14. Method • Used T-test for independent samples to examine differences in effort and engagement between students who had taken Learning Communities and those who had not done nor planned to do. • Results are for the latest survey administration (Spring 2007)

15. Findings Prompt: “In your experiences at this college during the current school year, about how often have you done each of the following?”Responses range from 1 (“Never”) to 4 (“Very Often”)

18. CCSSE Benchmarks • Five benchmarks - 38 engagement items that “reflect the most important aspects of the student experience” • Rolling three year cohort (2005 – 2007) • Benchmark scores are • computed by averaging the scores on survey items that comprise the benchmark • weighted for full-time/part-time attendance • standardized so that weighted mean scores across all students is 50 • An institutions’ benchmark scores are computed by taking the weighted average of their students’ standardized scores.

19. CCSSE Benchmarks

20. Imperatives • Approximately half of students new to the college test into developmental English • Nearly 90% test into developmental math • The “C or better” pass rate in developmental math (as a percent of students enrolled the 10th day) averages 65%.

21. Counseling-Enhanced Developmental Learning Communities

22. Project Planning • Summer 2007 meeting at The Washington Center for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education, sponsored by MDRC • Faculty and IR, joined by additional faculty and administrators for part of the time • Collaboratively 1) identified core pedagogical practices, 2) planned common counseling activities, and 3) identified key research components

23. SVC Learning Communities:Core Pedagogical Practices • Value and build on students’ existing abilities and experiences. • Create ongoing opportunities to collaboratively construct knowledge together in class. • Ensure active involvement in learning, i.e., solving problems, discussing ideas,writing, working on project teams.

24. Project Goals • Expand our developmental Learning Community offerings to improve student success in Mathematics and English • Integrate student services with instruction to increase collaboration and to enhance faculty advising skills • Use a research model to inform project planning and measure success

25. Strengthening Collaboration • Counseling and teaching faculty • Collaboratively design and teach developmental learning communities • Collaboratively assess our efforts frequently to measure student success and guide future ventures • Regular meeting with all LC teams to discuss successes and challenges

26. Counseling Component • Four advising-related topics are integrated into the LC: • Time Management • Test preparation/test anxiety • Educational Planning • College Resources • Topics are integrated organically, based on the syllabus and student needs

27. Example Reading Between the Numbers • MATH 96 and READ 97 • Integrative assignment topic = Time Management • Math, Reading, and Counseling faculty work collaboratively with students in this Learning Community on this assignment

28. Time Management Assignment • Integration • Students combine their past experiences and mathematics principles to assess their current schedule. Instructor-selected reading provides them an opportunity to discover solutions and likely pitfalls. Students write a summary paper integrating these skills and knowledge.

29. Building on Core Practices 1. Value and build on students’ existing abilities and experiences. Students use their own experience as a starting point with the questionnaire and will also use their past knowledge when reading the literature to appropriately choose solutions that will work for them.

30. Building on Core Practices 2. Create ongoing opportunities to collaboratively construct knowledge together in class. 3. Ensure active involvement in learning, i.e. solving problems, discussing ideas,writing, working on project teams. The assignment involves learning through writing, small group work, solving problems, and discussions. It also has reflection components in the summary paper and the re-visit later in the quarter. Their work is made “public.”

31. Continuous Improvement • Fall and Winter teams met mid-quarter to discuss progress and make adjustments • Debriefing sessions held at the end of each quarter with all participating faculty to identify successes and challenges, and to review data • Disseminate successful strategies and results with the college community through Center for Learning and Teaching

32. Research Design and Preliminary Results

33. Research Question Does the addition of a counseling faculty member into the developmental learning community environment make a difference in student outcomes related to the course and in their future educational efforts?

34. Independent Variable: Course Pedagogy • Nine developmental learning communities offered in 2007-08, divided into two groups: • Group I = counseling-enhanced developmental learning communities • Group II = “regular” (non-counseling-enhanced) developmental learning communities • Group III = selected, comparable stand-alone developmental education courses

35. Dependent Variable: Student Achievement • The dependent variable in this study is student achievement, measured using the following factors: 1. Student success in the core course(s) 2.Student retention from quarter to quarter 3.Student success in subsequent core course sequence 4. Student persistence to degree or certificate

36. Age Ethnicity Gender First generation Prior education level Work status Family status Ed Intent Program (Major) GPA (entry and progress) College credits completed at time of entry Full-time vs. part-time status Year of high school graduation Placement test scores Demographic Variables

37. Demographics

38. Demographics

39. Percent of Students Enrolled at 10th-day Who Earned a C or Better Counseling-Enhanced Developmental LCs Developmental LC Stand Alone Courses

40. Fall to Winter Retention

41. Washington State Student Achievement Initiative • Student Achievement Database – help colleges track their students for the incremental gains they make during the year in the following areas: • gains made in basic skills courses (multiple points possible) • completing a pre-college math or English course (multiple points possible) • earning first 15 college level credits • earning 1st 30 college level credits • earning 1st 5 credits in college level math, and • earning a certificate, degree or apprenticeship award

42. Washington State Student Achievement Initiative • Gains are termed “momentum points” because they add momentum to a student’s longer term success • Colleges are measures against their own “baseline” data rather than with other colleges • points gained could be impacted by total enrollments, the ratio of part-time/full-time students, and the mix of student educational goals

43. Fall 2007 Cohort Achievement Points – Fall & Winter(A784P less A781 Final)

44. Other Study Elements • Faculty Logs • Topic/Activity/Assignment/Course Prep • Time allocated • What went well? What would you do differently? • Faculty Feedback Surveys • Discussed next • Student Surveys • In process, but not completed

45. Faculty Feedback – Confidential Web-Based Survey Strengths • Having the counselor in the classroom: • really enhanced the connections made in the classroom and improved the interaction and dynamic for discussions and lectures • gave an interesting air to the class • provided a different voice, a richness to skills development

46. Faculty Feedback – Confidential Web-Based Survey Challenges • TIME! • Reduced time to finish instruction in mathematics • Finding time (or the right time) to fit in the counseling modules

47. Faculty Feedback – Confidential Web-Based Survey Recommendations • I would: • allow for at least one scheduled hour for the counselors to use each week • access the students’ placement scores before the LC for discussion with other faculty • work more closely with the counselor prior to the start of the LC to develop content-specific applications of study skills materials • schedule a weekly time to meet

48. “Some of the students were so ill-prepared for college on so many levels that it is hard to imagine that they would have made it otherwise.”

49. Implications for Practice & Research • Non-counseling-enhanced LC had best showing on grades and momentum points—higher level students? • Highest retention rate for students in counseling-enhanced developmental learning communities—we plan to follow students into subsequent terms to track persistence • Need larger N and additional analyses based on educational experience brought to course • High retention rate was enough for the college to commit to CE Dev LC program in 2008-09

50. And speaking of time management… • Thanks to The Washington Center for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education at The Evergreen State College (WA) and to MDRC for their continuing support of Skagit’s faculty and administrators in our quest to continuously improve student success through Learning Communities