Date post: | 14-Apr-2017 |
Category: |
Education |
Upload: | american-honors |
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DESIGNING SEQUENCE HONOR COURSES:
COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO TRANSFER A
STUDENT TO AN HONOR STUDENT
Sherry Heidary Vikul Rajpara
STEM (CHEMISTRY) Union County College, NJ
About General Chemistry I and II
• Science major courses (Biology, chemistry, engineering, etc.)
• Elective lab science for other non-science majors
• Learning objectives– Decision making ability– Critical thinking– Communication
Our Teaching Philosophy
• Different faculty, different teaching styles• Trusting professional relationship with
students• High expectations of students• Constantly challenge and assess students in the
teaching environment…• Advising (for near and distant future…)• How to connect to other students…
Freshman American Honors Students
• Traditional college students– Not ready for college level Honors course– They don’t have college level study habits
• Work of admission committee– Selection from the pool of applicants– Identifying and recognizing potential
Honors Faculty
• Expert in content-master teacher • Understand AH students ability and potential• Availability to students• Provide tools and techniques to be successful
in an Honors course • Prepare the AH students for their ‘Dream
School’
My First Honors Cohort• 20 students
• Traditional college students
• STEM majors
• My challenges regarding the first cohort
First Day of a Semester
• Know their majors, dream school, career goals, personal goals…
• Clarify the expectations for the Honors class • Making groups– 4-5 students– Naming a group– Group representative
Class Activities
• Semi flipped model• Less lecture and more discussion• Quizzes
• ACS style paper• Lecture presentations on assigned topics• Pre-lab presentations
Connecting With Students• Challenges
• Jerry, the pineapple • Break the bread • Constant reminders of their goals
General Chemistry I
Quiz
H.A.
Test
Lecture Final
Overall Grade
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0
General Chemistry I (Lab)
exam 1
exam 2
exam 3
Overall Lab Grade
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0
General Chemistry I
Honors Honors Regular Regular Total % Total %
Students Registered 20 102
W Grade 0 0% 18 17.6%
Students Remained (retention) 20 100.0% 84 82.4%
A Grade 7 35.0% 17 20.2%
B & B+ 4 20.0% 27 32.1%
C & C+ 7 35.0% 12 14.3%
D & D+ 2 10.0% 15 17.9%
F & UF 0 0% 13 15.5%
Students Passed the course (Graduation) 20 100.0% 71 84.5%
Students Passed the course (with C or better) 18 90.0% 56 66.7%
Transfer from General Chemistry I to II
• 16 transfer from Gen Chem I to Gen Chem II• 4 from regular class • Class visits– Presentations
• Learn about their groups
Activities – Inside the Classroom
• Personalized groups (Naming the groups)• Group discussions• Team competitions • Group lecture presentations (rate them)• Preparing quizzes and grading them• Concept maps• Lab videos• Dr. Khan’s visit to my class
Activities – Outside the Classroom
• Honors lounge• Office discussions• One on one meetings• Visiting each other’s lab sessions• Stay in touch after the course is over (Organic
course)
Honors vs Regular Class• Average – Exam Grades– Quiz Grades– Average Final Grades
General Chemistry II
Quizzes
HW
Exams
Overall Lecture Grade
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0
General Chemistry II
ACS Exam
Lab Exam 1
Lab Exam 2
Lab Exam 3
65 70 75 80 85 90
General Chemistry II Honors Honors Regular Regular
Total % Total %
Students Registered 20 93
W Grade 1 5.0% 10 10.8%
Students Remained (retentions) 19 100.0% 83 100.0%
A Grade 5 26.3% 12 14.5%
B & B+ 10 52.6% 29 34.9%
C & C+ 3 15.8% 15 18.1%
D & D+ 0 0.0% 12 14.5%
F & UF 1 5.3% 15 18.1%
Students Passed the course 18 94.7% 68 81.9%
Students Passed the course (with C or better) 18 94.7% 56 67.5%
How Are Students Benefitted?• Leadership skills (Jason’s example)– Drives the rest of the group
• Collaboration• Teamwork • Better understanding of the content• Communicating skills
Future Plans for Honors Courses
• No same assignments• Shuffle the activities between two courses • Focus on weak links and improve them• Continue our work with organic chemistry
professor• Stay in touch with students after they leave
Union County College• Bring them back to talk to future cohort
Conclusion• Connection between two faculty for sequence
courses• Know your students before they come to the first
day of the class• Be more involved with admission and orientation
of honors students• Shuffle the activities between two courses • Constant interaction with students and AH
advisors • Stay in touch with students