Spring 2004 AISL Report

Sandy Veltri interview, capstone, I already knew that students failed to read instructions completely and do not see the relevance of the textbook (at one point I asked my students how many had read a chapter, as requested, prior to my lecture. Over 90% admitted sheepishly that they hadn't read it. I am going to require more pre-tests on each chapter or at least on chapters that I feel are key (which seems to be all of them). The challenge will be how to do this in the limited amount of time I have in class. I re-instituted pre-tests toward the latter part of the class. I was posting pre-tests on Blackboard and I was finding that my conscientious students were taking these tests and their grades prove that they helped. I just am at a loss as to what to do with the average student -- especially traditional-aged who doesn't see the relevance in the subject matter or class. They have to be in the class because it is required for the degree program, but it is difficult to make them subscribe to better study habits. I have even offered to have a SI session, but when arranged, only the good students show up -- not those that need the help. I am open for any suggestions at this point! I did slow down my lectures as a result of complaints from the last semester and I thought it was helping, but again, I am disappointed in the grades from the capstone project. That is why I asked for the candid comments.

Sandy Veltri capstone, Looking at the data collected from this last semester, I need to find some way to show the students how to read the textbook for learning and not just to get through the material. When I asked them to buy a highlighter and mark their book for specific directions, I was told, "Then the bookstore won't buy it back or if they do, I won't get as much back." I have all the materials on Blackboard and I even have pre-tests with answer keys posted, I will continue to do this and instead of it being optional, I will give mandatory pre-tests or pre-quizzes before lectures. Blackboard is a good medium for this. Use of Blackboard. I gave more pre-tests over Blackboard and there was much enthusiasm and the students seemed to benefit from it (at least those that logged on and took advantage of it.)

Sharon Sciacca prepost, After 30 lessons were completed and weekly 3' timed writings taken, students were given the post test which resulted in major increases in scores. The first part of the post test, students missed as few as 0 and as many as 6. The 3' timed writing had gwams that ranged from 20 gwam as the least to 52 as the highest, with errors ranging from 0 to 5. To be more adamant about turning in lessons weekly so that students aren't rushing at the end of the course. I played classical music for the weekly 3' timed writings. It seemed to soothe the students who were very nervous. I had stressed at the beginning of class that for every one hour of class, the students have to put in an additional two hours. Most students did put in the extra time and it assisted them in increasing gwam and decreasing errors, but those who did not, did not increase their gwam as much as I would have liked them to.

Sharon Sciacca prepost, A definite improvement was made in typing professional letters with proper spacing and rules for date, salutation and closing. The results of the 3' timed writing was improved with less errors and more gwam, resulting in better typing skills. I will try to be more aggressive and adamant that lessons need to be completed when due, so that there is not as much stress at the end of the semester. Weekly, I would monitor a 3' timed writing and would play classical music for the class. This seemed to put at ease many of the students, as the clicking of the keyboard seemed to be a major distraction for some. I will continue this practice. Trying to keep students on task, I would meet with each one every two weeks, but some still fell behind.

Sharon Sciacca prepost The 5' timed writing resulted in 46 gwam, with no errors. Students who did all the lessons assigned brought gwam to 50 by end of semester, but those who did not complete all lessons did not reach the goal. Results of the other part of the post test were less than 2 missed. To be more aggressive and atimate about students turning in their lessons each week to stay on task. To have weekly timed writings to enhance speed building. The weekly timed writings keep students motivated on their speed and error control.

Ann Marie Rigdon Students were timed in different drills for speed and accuracy.

There were 2 students in this class. Here are their timings for Drill5

Student#      Pre                      Post
#1            264 sec, 6 mistakes      173 sec, 3 mistakes
#2            123 sec, 1 mistake       85 sec, 1 mistakes
Their timings improved by almost 50% and accuracy for the 1 student dramatically increased

The results showed the class achieved its goals. By learning the correct finger placement and practicing on accuracy and speed the students improved a great amount. The book used was very good and the drills fit the needs of the class The only change that will be made is that both the computer calculator and a regular desktop calculator will be used for drills. The students need to be familiar with both the computer and calculator. This was the first year this class was offered.

Ann Marie Rigdon After their final exam I asked them to complete a questionnaire about the class. There were 4 questions and a place for additional comments. There were only 4 students in the class and only 3 were there the day of the final. To summarize: they thought the class was beneficial for helping them find a job, the book was informational, the outside assignments helped in understanding what goes on in the "real world." The class definitely helped those going into the business work environment. Once plus that I did not plan on was their life skills education increasing. During the class, 2 opened checking accounts, which they were hesitant about doing at the beginning of class. 1 student even applied for a job at International Bank and was going to be interviewed. The local banks were very helpful to me. If the class is offered again, we will visit the banks and have a guest speaker. The job fair was wonderful because they got to visit with a banker, so we will attend the job fairs when we can. This is the first year this class was offered.

Sandy Veltri The data reveals that students are coming to realize the importance of their writing and presentation skills. In year's past I have had students complain about having to utilize the Writing Center's facilities and this year the students were receptive to the requirement and appreciated the services. Many of my projects required that they utilize the Writing Center's facilities and students just came to make it a routine to have someone proof their papers for content, grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc... The students realize the importance of making their writing clear, concise, correct, and flow with continuity. Their topic choice for the last project was to choose from: 1) how has communication changed in various eras, 2) communication between races, cultures, and nationalities and the differences between such, or 3) communication advances and how it is affecting our world today. The students utilized skills gained from ENG 121 and ENG 122 in referencing their papers, creating and working from an outline, punctuation, spelling, and grammar, and applied those skills to what was learned in this class. Procrastination is still a problem. The students are aware of this final project and know that it is a capstone project. They are asked to start researching (interviewing international students or those from different cultures, race, age, etc...) and still the students wait until the last minute. Many papers could have been stronger, if the student had spent the time gathering the data and interpreting the results in the paper in a more comprehensive manner. I will start incorporating the final (capstone paper) into earlier discussions and require the students to discuss their findings with the class via the discussion board in Blackboard. Each student will be required to share their expereinces with the class monthly on their progress with the paper.

Sciacca, Sharon Each student was given a test comprised of matching, true and false statements on terminology and general usage of the internet on the first day of class. The same test was given at the end of the class. A total of 3 students took the pretest missing from 1 to 12 questions. The students missed between zero and 9 on the posttest. The results yielded a definite increase in the knowledge of the students. Assignments were given in class to search the internet using time saving ways to find data. I took my class to the Writing Center and many of my students used the Writing Center to work on the research papers which were required. I changed a couple of the assignments to utilize search engines which the students were not aware of.

Lige Harris prepost, otherMethod=, Lab Performance Most students arrive with less than average skills and are slow to progress rapidly in a high tech area that is dependent on access to modern computing equipment. These same students show a lot of improvement yet they do not achieve as high an exit level as students with previous exposure to technology. Due to the low entry level I will continue to start my material at a basic level but will introduce comparisons to other groups to encourage faster adaptation and acclelerated learning. I have allowed more flexability in lab and evaluation timetables. Many of my students have life issues that conflict with a strict enforcement of deadlines. Continued positive feedback is always a successful motivating factor I use. With the majority of my students being disadvantaged I think the new equipment we are able to utilize from the Perkins grant is having a very positive effect on their learning.

Sharon Schroepfer prepost, essay, otherMethod=, Preschool observations (journal), class participation The journal on preschool observations gave the students a chance to observe and reflect on positive guidance in a real worl setting. I could assess and comment on their reflections and questions on guidance techniques. The mid term and final ensured I addressed course content and was a "check" of student understanding. The paper was a nice conclusion to the course. It was a personal philosophy, allowing the students to blend real world and theory into a cohesive paper on their beliefs and ideas about child guidance. I plan to reduce the number of preschool observation hours in addition to changing the journal format. I would like to include more discussion and application of guidance strategies.Presentation skills were lacking, so I would like to work on that in the future. I plan to continue the mid term and final tests, the personal philosophy paper, as well as the observations. I want to do more discussion, role-playing and informal student presentations on "best practice" guidance ideas and techniques. The desire to be more interactive was amplified. There were no prior changes.

K. Carlisle ?? essay, otherMethod=, Lab Workbook This was a successful lab experience for most of the students. The student who needed extra help benefited greatly from having the instructor explain behavior as it was being observed. Unfortunately, this is difficult to do with our current lack of a real lab school. The difficulty with lab classes is that when students are working full time, they have an extremely difficult time completing the lab hours and incompletes are common in this class.In addition, it is difficult to have all students observing at the same time so that the instructor can explain behavior. To address the first problem, I have thought of offering it over two semesters, but have not yet worked out the paperwork details for doing that. I do not know of a way to be able to observe infants/toddlers during classtime. I have brought more infants/toddlers in to the classroom and would like to continue that practice. It is however, a poor site for observation. We did bring some infants in to the classroom so that behavior could be discussed as a group. This did make the concept of sensorimotor intelligence more understandable to the class.

ROBINSON, M. This course utilized Blackboard components for the first time, and the pre-post-assessment format I chose was a 50 question multiple-choice assessment prepared from the Blackboard question pool. Immediately upon completion of the pre-assessment, I felt the pre-assessment questions were too easy.

The results of the pre and post assessments are as follows:
Assssment   High  Low   Ave  StdDev  Var
Pre         80    54    58   19      361
Post        96    64    73   10      100
All students showed improvement in their knowledge with the class 
average being a 15% increase.

This course focuses on nutrition, health and safety as key factors for optimal growth and development of young children. It includes nutrient knowledge, menu planning, food program participation, health practices, management and safety, planning and teaching appropriate activities and communication with families. It addresses the ages from prenatal through age 8. A total of twelve students were enrolled in this course; twelve students completed the pre-assessment, but only 11 students completed the post assessment. One student was in a car accident but choose to attempt to complete the course rather than withdrawing. She did not complete course assignments or the post-assessment. Proposed changes include more careful selection of the multiple choice questions from the Blackboard assessment pool, reducing the number of nutrition activities planned and taught from two to one, allowing more time for instruction in the health and safety areas. I taught the nutrition chapters first this semester, allowing students more time to digest the information and apply it in the classroom. I will continue to teach the nutrition chapters first, but I feel more direct instruction, including power point presentations, discussion and application activities will improve post-assessment scores. The textbook currently being used meets our needs well; a new edition will be available for the next class. This is the first assessment for this course. As mentioned above, changing the order of presentation for the nutrition concepts first gave more time for students to do activities, projects and presentation in class about their experiences.

Kate Carlisle prepost, capstone, A furthur analysis of the data revealed that the competencies were successfully mastered at all levels. The one area that could use more work is the writing of the personal philosophy. I will spend more time helping students process and work on their personal philosophies. Some of the areas of weakness were structural in nature, but some indicated that certain areas such as inclusion and guidance techniques were perhaps as not well understood as they might have been. This is the first time I have taught this course in four years. NA NA

Kate Carlisle prepost, essay, The course seemed to be successful in meeting the objectives of the students according to pre and post test scores as well as other exams, projects and reports. I noticed that some students still did not really understand some of the basic theoretical aspects of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. I will probably remove some of the online quizzes and try and have the students do more group work. I will also spend a little more time on Piaget and the process of assimilation-accomodation and equalibrium. I introduced more group work, more projects and extended the time spent on Piaget

R. Kent McKinney Students completed handouts based on course description including terminology, equipment description and use of equipment in different settings: outside-inside. Students also completed two page paper on the aspects, including graphics, music, camera shots ect, of a HUGE Television event (Superbowl, academy awards) Most of the students did not mind the handouts because it taught them the proper way to use the equipment and the teminology. Other students just wanted to work the equipment. The paper made students think of all the preparation it took to put on a TV show. All the students were truely amazed.

I want to give the students the handouts sooner and implement more hands on exercises and less lecturing.