QEP Topics

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QEP Topics

• Quality Enhancement Plan

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QEP Purpose

• Provides a focus to continuous improvement
  efforts
• Describes the process the college will engage in
  to improve one aspect of student learning
• Success of initial QEP can be used as a
  springboard to future improvement efforts
• A QEP acceptable to COC peer review is a
  requirement for SACS COC reaccreditation

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What is a Charrette?

• An intensive planning session during
• which people collaborate on a vision for
  development of a major project.
• A charrette offers the unique advantage of giving
  immediate feedback to the designers.
• Historically, the term charrette also has been
  applied to the cart used to carry the condemned
  to the guillotine.

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COC Reaccreditation
Charrette Execution Vehicle?
QEP
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QEP Topic

• Identifies the aspect of student learning to
  focus on
• Popular improvement topics included
• Math skills
• Writing skills
• Reading skills
• Communication skills
• Student success skills
• Critical thinking/problem solving skills
• Learning support enhancements
• Academic technology enhancements

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Fall 2008 Survey

• Four topics based on Fall 2008 faculty workshops
• Survey administered in Swainsboro and Statesboro
• Respondents included
• Students (1,453)
• Faculty (56)
• Staff (27)

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Faculty/Staff Identified Challenges

• Students encouraged to memorize rather than learn
  material
• Poor reading skills play havoc with student
  performance
• Students may be at-risk due to poor learning
  skills, poor self-esteem, poor decision-making
  skills, and negative attitudes toward education
• Students may lack adequate leadership and
  self-management skills

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Student Identified Challenges

• Freshman may have insufficient information about
  teachers and course requirements
• Some professors should try harder to help their
  students understand course material
• Use student tutors because some students can
  learn most effectively from other students
• Some students are hands-on and cannot learn from
  lectures
• Students have test anxiety they can do well
  with class work and homework, but a brick wall
  appears when they take a test

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Topic 1 Math Anxiety

• Turning math anxiety into math confidence
• Issue students suffering from math anxiety often
  cannot perform well across a broad range of
  courses requiring math skills
• Approach
• Link MATH 0097 For students who must repeat
  course with an optional supplemental course that
  builds student success skills.
• Enhance learning in math courses with a variety
  of technologically enabled tutorials.
• Survey math students to assess link between
  student math confidence and selected core
  curriculum courses.

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Topic 1 Responses

• 60 - 65 of student respondents experience math
  anxiety
• Math faculty reported differing percentages of
  their students complained about math anxiety
• 5 of 9 math faculty agreed that adopting Topic 1
  would help students learn math subjects
• 41 of non-math faculty agreed that adopting
  Topic 1 would help students learn the subjects
  they teach
• 51 - 54 of student respondents agreed that
  Topic 1 would help them

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Topic 2 Thinking and Communicating

• Enhancing classroom instruction to promote
  effective communication, reflective thinking and
  ethical responsibility
• Issue abilities to think and communicate clearly
  are fundamental to becoming an effective and
  productive citizen and to making appropriate
  ethical choices.

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Topic 2 Thinking and Communicating

• Approach
• Actively reinforce student success skills in each
  college course.
• Determine how critical thinking skills may be
  applied to improve student performance across
  disciplines
• Reinforce critical thinking skills by teaching
  students how to effectively present their points
  of view
• Encourage ethical thinking and actions by posing
  ethical dilemmas in a variety of courses
• Assess students ability to apply critical
  thinking skills using Foundation for Critical
  Thinking instruments

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Topic 2 Responses

• 90 of faculty indicated that being able to
  present a point of view effectively is necessary
  to student success in their courses
• About two-thirds of faculty agreed that student
  become engaged in the their courses and that
  students readily understand basic principles and
  modes of inquiry
• 73 of faculty indicated that their courses posed
  ethical challenges that encouraged students to
  think critically
• Two-thirds of faculty agreed that adopting Topic
  2 would help students learn the subjects they
  teach 25 did not know

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Topic 2 Responses (continued)

• About 80 of students expressed confidence in
  their abilities to make ethical decisions and
  communicate effectively with each other
• 60-66 of students expressed confidence in being
  able to communicate with teachers and before
  groups
• More than 50 of students agreed that adoption of
  Topic 2 would help them, but about 20 disagreed
  and 15 didn't know
• About two-thirds of staff respondent agreed that
  students nearing graduation had significantly
  improved decision making and communication skills

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Topic 3 College Success

• Provide new students with a full array of
  learning skills beginning with two-semester
  freshman experience that is integrated into
  selected core curriculum courses and reinforced
  with active learning opportunities throughout the
  curriculum.
• Issue Students arrive at college with varying
  degrees of preparation. They may leave college
  without a clear sense of how their college
  experience enables them to be successful in the
  world.

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Topic 3 College Success

• Approach
• Students will be introduced in their first
  semester to the basic skills they will need to
  succeed in college
• In the following semester they will be organized
  into learning communities that are guided by
  faculty mentors
• Each semester, the learning communities will
  engage in service learning and active learning
  projects that demonstrate how academic knowledge
  can be applied to real world problems
• The impact of projects on student learning will
  be assessed

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Topic 3 Responses

• 84 of faculty indicated that their students
  complained about balancing academics with other
  commitments
• Two-thirds of faculty agreed their students know
  what they need to do get the grade they want, but
  have trouble taking tests
• 70 of faculty agreed that adopting Topic 3 would
  help students learn the topics they teach
• 59 of staff disagreed that students make an easy
  transition from high school to college
• 63 of staff disagreed that students prioritize
  academics over other commitments

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Topic 3 Responses (continued)

• About 50 of students at both locations indicated
  they had trouble balancing academics with other
  commitments and had trouble taking tests
• 60 - 66 of students responded that they had a
  clear idea of what to expect in college when they
  enrolled
• 75 of Swainsboro students and more than 67 of
  EGCS students said they had a clear idea of what
  they wanted to do after college
• 75 of students at both locations indicated that
  they had a clear idea of what they wanted to do
  after college
• 60 - 66 of students agreed that adopting Topic
  3 would be helpful to them

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Topic 4 Diverse College Environment

• Using technology to promote more effective
  teaching and learning in a diverse college
  environment
• Issue teaching styles do not always match well
  with learning styles in a college environment
  rich with diverse interests and experiences

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Topic 4 Diverse College Environment

• Approach
• Survey faculty and students to identify
  preferences in teaching and learning techniques
  by age group
• Develop a profile of preferences based on
  relevant demographic criteria, including age,
  ethnicity, gender, and income
• Train faculty to be able to use techniques that
  are preferred by their students on a
  class-by-class basis
• Use these techniques to facilitate a richer
  variety of learning experiences
• Assess impact of a variety of techniques on
  student learning

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Topic 4 Responses

• 89 of faculty indicated that the teaching
  techniques they use match well with their
  students learning styles
• 79 of faculty agreed that the class lecture is a
  very effective method of helping students learn
  material, 73 responded similarly for personal
  tutoring and 65 similarly for study groups
• 25 agreed that their students found online
  tutoring was an effective learning method, while
  39 didn't know
• 54 of faculty agreed that adopting Topic 4 would
  help students learn the subjects they teach
• Over 80 of staff indicated that student
  attitudes, modes learning and data use differ
  from those of 10 years ago

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Topic 4 Responses (continued)

• Over 80 of students at both locations indicated
  they knew what activities best helped them learn
• Over 60 of students at both locations agreed
  that class lectures, study groups, and studying
  alone were very effective in helping them learn
• Over 70 of students at both locations agreed
  that personal tutoring is a very effective in
  helping them learn
• 42 - 45 of students disagreed that online
  tutoring was an effective learning method and 20
  didn't know
• About 70 of students at both locations indicated
  they used computers daily or 3 or more times
  weekly and enjoyed using them
• About 60 of students at both locations agreed
  that adopting Topic 4 would help them learn

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Other Suggested Topics

• Learning is too compartmentalized. Identify
  shared skills in Math/Science, Humanities, and
  Social Sciences. Teach and practice these skills
  and monitor their transference and application in
  the other two fields. (Skills transference)
• Provide learning support students in reading
  immediate access to selected social science
  course sections designed to initially accommodate
  student reading limitation and then help students
  improve their reading skills. (Reading)

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Index of Topic Priorities

• Index scores based on following priority values
• First priority 5
• Second priority 4
• Third priority 3
• Fourth priority 2
• Fifth priority 1

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Topic 1 Math Anxiety

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats
• Discussion

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Topic 2Thinking and Communicating

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats
• Discussion

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Topic 3 College Success

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats
• Discussion

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Topic 4 Diverse College Environment

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats
• Discussion