Paying for college:
Sylvia Valdez-Fernandez, Mathematics, fernandezs@wou.edu Marshall Guthrie, SEP, guthriem@wou.edu Leigh Graziano, Writing, grazianol@wou.edu Cornelia Paraskevas, Linguistics, paraskc@wou.edu Patty Flatt, Chemistry, flattp@wou.edu
We propose to pilot a first-year cohort of students interested in STEM and other quantitative fields who need to start their college math at MTH 095. The cohort would take a block of courses together in the fall term: (1) MTH 095 and MTH 111 (8 credits of rigorous mathematics to prepare for STEM disciplines); (2) FYS 201 (4 credits); ICS courses, if eligible; and additional credits to reach a minimum of 15 credits. Students will also have scheduled study labs and faculty will hold office hours coinciding with those study labs. The aim is to provide students with a strong start to their STEM career at WOU, prepare them for Winter science trailer courses, and perhaps most importantly provide them with a student-based community of practice to support their transition to college. The cohort would take WR 121 in Winter, and WR 122 in Spring, and engage in group activities to continue the cohort experience through their first year. Funds are requested for: (1) Fee remissions for participating students, (2) program development, (3) peer mentors, (4) group activities, and (5) support for program assessment. We propose to run this program in 2019-20 and 20-21, and evaluate its effectiveness at retaining students at WOU generally, and in STEM and other quantitative disciplines. The evaluation is a precursor to determining if the program should be expanded, adjusted and/or discontinued. The DFW (non-passing rate) in MTH 111 is consistently over 30%. MTH 111 is an essential foundation for many STEM fields, and if students are not proficient in MTH 111 by the end of their fall term, first-year, they will fall one-year behind in pursuing a STEM degree. Often, rather than fall behind, students who otherwise have the capacity to succeed in STEM disciplines will change majors. This may be especially true of students of color, first generation students, and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who bring many strengths but require additional support to navigate the entry into college-level STEM studies.
This program will increase the population of students at WOU who are positioned to succeed in STEM disciplines. This is vital because: (1) Oregon and the US needs more STEM graduates; (2) we need to diversify the pool from which we draw STEM students; (3) we need to diversify STEM graduates to provide role models and a vision of a realistic pathway to a STEM degree students for diverse students. This program is also tied to WOU's stated goal of becoming a Hispanic-Serving institution; to achieve that goal, we must find innovative ways to support the aspirations of diverse students.
Directly, the students participating in the program will benefit by (1) having a community of practice to associate with from the time they arrive on campus, (2) catching up on their Mathematics so that they can pursue their dream of earning a STEM degree in a timely fashion, and (3) experiencing the benefits of evidence-based pedagogical practice that extends student engagement with faculty and each other over longer than 11 weeks. The university will benefit by recruiting and retaining highly motivated and diverse students who, in future years, will be able to support subsequent cohorts of students as WOU progresses on the path to becoming an HSI. Assessment of this program will provide evidence regarding possible best practices for dissemination more broadly around the university.
Key outcomes are: 1. At least 20 of the initial participants (80%) will return to WOU the following year.* 2. Of the returning participants, at least 18 (90% of projected returners) will have passed MTH 111 by the end of their first year of college.** 3. Of the returning participants at least 18 (90% of projected returners) will have passed WR 122 by the end of the first year of college. *2015-16 first to second year retention rate for all WOU students was 74.1%. **Average pass rate for MTH 111 for all students taking it (first time, subsequent time) is about 65%. The project evaluation will also track student sense of self-efficacy, and student perceptions of interactions with (1) instructors, (2) peer mentors, (3) other students, and (4) institutional offices. The project's benchmarks (input targets) include: 1. Recruit 25 students to begin the program in Fall 2019. 2. Identify and train two peer mentors. 3. Develop an intensive, co-requisite intermediate and college algebra curriculum, including assessment tools. 4. Develop a mechanism for students to earn MTH 095 credit, if that is the level they achieve by the end of fall term, and to transition into a MTH 111 section in Winter 2020 (if necessary). For assessment, we will: -track student retention and success in completing MTH 111, and report whether our targets have been met. -compare participant performance on the common final with the performance of students not enrolled in the program, and report results. -report on findings from student surveys of experiences in the first year (if a comparator sample can be secured -- random sample of WOU first-year students, matched students not participating in the program -- comparative results will be presented), including engagement in/perceived relevance of FYS experience and WR courses.
April 2019 Partner with SEP on marketing and recruitment, and the application process May 2019 Schedule dedicated sections of MTH 095, MTH 111, FYS 201 and WR 121 Submit IRB application for evaluation component June 2019 Priority deadline for applications and notification of next steps to eligible students Proctored placement test and registration via SOAR July-August 2019 Adapt current 095 and 111 curriculum for an intensive delivery modality Continued enrollment of students through SOARs until program capacity is met Fall 2019 25 students begin program by taking MTH 095, MTH 111, MTH 121 and FYS 201 (SEP section) as a cohort; Math Lab 1 hour per day, 4 days a week; Study skills lab, 1 hour per day, 4 days per week Weekly Friday Lunch Speaker Series Connecting Educational Options with the Real World Pre and post term self-reported assessment data collected from students Winter 2020 25 students enroll in WR 122 as a cohort Students continue in SEP Analysis of initial assessment data Spring 2020 Students continue in SEP Analysis of initial assessment data Begin planning, marketing, recruitment for 2020-21 cohort (steps above, modified based on what we learn about improving our practices) Summer 2020 Program application, proctored testing and enrollment via summer 2020 SOAR events Fall 2020 2nd cohort starts Analysis and reporting of quantitative assessment data (e.g., retention, success in foundational courses) Winter and Spring 2020 Program continues as in 2019-20 with needed modifications
Students will still be able to participate in SEP activities but we will not be able to develop and pilot this cohort-based intensive math model for at-risk aspiring STEM (or other quantitative fields) students.
Nationally, universities have been experimenting with different ways to support the success of diverse students, especially in mathematics courses. We are building on practices like these. Texas A&M University conducted a study of 5 Texas community college and 4 universities that implemented accelerated developmental Math and English courses and found that accelerated courses helped accelerate student transition to credit-bearing courses. Alternative instructional strategies to to redesign of curriculum to corequisite (taking a prerequisite course concurrently with a required course) and blended courses (taking prerequisite course blended together with a required course) led a high level of interaction between students and instructors. Oklahoma State University is implementing a corequisite model in their developmental and service level math courses and is finding that students are passing classes at higher rates and completing credit bearing courses more rapidly than previously. City University of New York implemented an intense semester of remedial instruction before students first term of enrollment and found that this aided many underserved students to overcome academic deficiencies and experience success during their first term of college. Second semester students enrolled in credit bearing courses at higher rates and earned more college credits overall.
There are workload implications. We have requested funding for curriculum adaption -- for the work needed to integrate 095 and 111 material into a more intensive format. That will require effort by lead faculty. There are also implications for scheduling; though if 25 students participate in the cohort student credit hour generation will not be lower than if the instructor taught a regular 095 section and 111 section. To mitigate the risk to students of this innovative model, we have requested fee remissions for the first year for students who participate in this program. If there is excess demand for this program, some students will not be able to participate. Those students will still be in the general SEP program at WOU.
Fee remissions: We request $75,000 in fee remissions be allocated to participants in this program. 25 participants * $3000 per participant, allocated $1000 per term (Fall, Winter, Spring) pending appropriate academic progress. We request $7875 for unclassified staff plus OPE. This is 7 credits of faculty FTE for Sylvia Valdes-Fernandez (Math NTT and coordinator of WOU's Developmental Math courses) for course development (adapting existing 095 and 111 curriculum for the intensive format) (3 credits), 1 credit of program management in Fall 2019, 1.5 credits of evaluation in Winter and Spring 2020 at $1125 per credit. We request $2000 in S&S funds. $1500 will be for the Friday Lunch Speaker Series in Fall 2019; $500 will fund Winter and Spring cohort gatherings for community building. We request $4257 in student wages (plus OPE) for 4 students to serve as peer mentors -- 2 in the math labs and 2 in the study skills labs. Students will work 10 hours per week and provide support and mentoring to students.
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