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The Faculty Inquiry Network
Basic Skills in Complex Contexts
ASCCC Voc Ed ConferenceMarch 11, 2010
Lin Marelick, FIN CTE CoachScott Albright, Diesel Mechanics College of Alameda Kathryn Browne, Early Childhood Education, Skyline College
Faculty InquiryFaculty Inquiry
What is faculty inquiry?
Faculty inquiry is a form of professional development by which teachers identify and investigate questions about their students’ learning. The inquiry process is ongoing, informed by evidence of student learning, and undertaken in a collaborative setting. Findings from the process come back in the form of new curricula, new assessments, and new pedagogies, which in turn become subjects for further inquiry.
http://facultyinquiry.net/the-faculty-inquiry-cycle/
Faculty InquiryFaculty Inquiry
What Colleges have Faculty Inquiry Network (FIN) projects?
College of Alameda, Berkeley City, Cerritos College, East Los Angeles College, Glendale College, Laney College, Las Positas College, Los Angeles Trade Tech College, Los Medanos Puente, Los Medanos/San Diego City, Mt. San Antonio College, San Diego Mesa College, Santa Ana College, Santa Barbara City College, College of the Siskiyous, Skyline College. http://facultyinquiry.net/teams/
Faculty InquiryFaculty Inquiry
What resources are available to learn more about the FIN or other Faculty Inquiry Groups (FIGs)? This Faculty Inquiry Toolkit is a resource
from the SPECC Project (Strengthening Pre-Collegiate Education in Community Colleges), sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and funded by the Hewlett Foundation
http://facultyinquiry.net/about-this-toolkit/
College of AlamedaCollege of AlamedaDiesel MechanicsDiesel Mechanics
Diesel Mechanics program Question: Will the integration of
contextualized basic skills curricula embedded into CTE courses improve student success? How will this compare to student success under the existing program model?
What did we do? What resulted from our efforts? How did our question change?
College of AlamedaCollege of AlamedaDiesel MechanicsDiesel Mechanics
What did we do – Year 1 Assessed students for English and Math to
determine at what level our students were Surveyed students on their current reading
strategies as well as the difficulties they experienced during reading
Pretested students with Chapter Reading Quiz Taught session on reading strategies w/think-
aloud demonstration Reformatted Classroom Pedagogy to incorporate
student group work and add group presentations of reading material
Post tested students on Chapter Reading Quiz
College of AlamedaCollege of AlamedaDiesel MechanicsDiesel Mechanics
What did we do – Year 1 Reformatted classroom pedagogy again
to address slipping test scores Students given in class time to work in
groups to prepare for classroom presentation
Cut lecture time even further to allow for study and presentation time
Added hands on lab time as lecture time was cut even further due to coverage of material during students presentations
College of AlamedaCollege of AlamedaDiesel MechanicsDiesel Mechanics
What resulted from our efforts – Year 1 Improved test scores Increased student ownership of
curriculum Increased student engagement Increased amount of actual reading taking
place
College of AlamedaCollege of AlamedaDiesel MechanicsDiesel Mechanics
Our plan for FIN – Year 2 In the coming year we plan to incorporate
a technical writing component Develop pedagogy Analyze results
Skyline CollegeSkyline CollegeEarly Childhood Early Childhood
EducationEducationEarly Childhood Education
Program Question: What is the impact of first-
language literacy levels on Spanish-speaking students’ ability to succeed in the ECE program? Can an intervention that combines Spanish literacy education and contextualized ESL improve outcomes for these students?
What did we do? What resulted from our efforts? How did our question change?
Skyline CollegeSkyline CollegeEarly Childhood Early Childhood
EducationEducationWhat did we do?
Spring 2009: surveyed students in 9 sections to identify a Spanish-speaking low-performing cohort Difficulty finding our cohort Not many students openly self-
identified as Spanish-speaking on the survey
We had difficulty pulling students into focus groups
Many students remained “under the radar”
Skyline CollegeSkyline CollegeEarly Childhood Early Childhood
EducationEducationWhat did we do? Fall 2009: Targeted only 2 sections; went
into the classes instead of them coming to us
Presented multi-lingualism an asset Did lesson studies highlighting careers
and language Held focus groups (pullouts from class)
with the aim of illuminating the behaviors of strong and weak students
Result: higher numbers, found our cohort
Skyline CollegeSkyline CollegeEarly Childhood Early Childhood
EducationEducationWhat resulted from our efforts?
Characteristics of High-performing Bilinguals Self-knowledge, vision, skills. Attitudes: confidence, eye contact,
relaxed body language, ability to talk about one’s strengths, engagement in a group, strong skills in both 1st and 2nd language
Skyline CollegeSkyline CollegeEarly Childhood Early Childhood
EducationEducationWhat resulted from our efforts?
Characteristics of Low-performing bilinguals Lack of self-knowledge/awareness High goals, but vague idea of what it takes
to get there Ill-defined and generally poor study skills
and behaviors. Attitudes: were characterized by apathy,
hesitance, reticent body language, passivity, or lack of engagement, spotty skills in English and heritage language
Skyline CollegeSkyline CollegeEarly Childhood Early Childhood
EducationEducationWhat resulted from our efforts?
Spring ’10: Student Behavior Identification Survey Personal Ideas of Success
Sample question: “I know what it takes to get the career I want to get.”
Goal: To illuminate behaviors that might predict student success.
The next step: Create a series of self-reflective activities with the aim of strengthening students’ self-knowledge, self-confidence, and ability to build their own skills.
Skyline CollegeSkyline CollegeEarly Childhood Early Childhood
EducationEducationHow did our question change? From: What is the impact of first-language
literacy levels on Spanish-speaking students’ ability to succeed in the ECE program? Can an intervention that combines Spanish literacy education and contextualized ESL improve outcomes for these students?
To: What factors contribute to low student success in self-identified Hispanic students in ECE? What behaviors do strong and weak students engage in? How can we identify weaker students early enough to improve their success?
Skyline CollegeSkyline CollegeFIN Y2FIN Y2
Our plan for Year 2 Analyze survey Develop self-knowledge and reflection
and clarity of goals in students Create a series of self-reflection activities
inspired by the OnCourse materials used in our counseling department in order to increase awareness and self-knowledge.
Identify focus groups to improve student success.
Skyline CollegeSkyline CollegeFIN Y2FIN Y2
Our plan for Year 2
Future actions Create a learning community of ECE and
Spanish (not ESL as previously thought, although perhaps as a later step)
Implement a workplace “ESL for Educators” course to support ECE second-language English speakers.
Faculty Inquiry Faculty Inquiry NetworkNetwork
Questions?
Exercise- Discuss the following question with others at your table:What are you grappling with in
your classroom?
FIN Basic Skills in Complex Contexts
URL: http://facultyinquiry.net/about-fin/
Contact information:
Lin Marelick, linz1@cruzio.comScott Albright, salbright@peralta.eduKate Browne, brownek@smccd.edu