The Faculty Inquiry Network

1. The Faculty Inquiry Network Basic Skills in Complex Contexts Student Success Conference October 8, 2009, San Francisco, CA Lin Marelick, FIN CTE Coach Sonja Franeta & Myron Franklin, Faculty, Laney College Maryanne Galindo & Jah’Shams Abdul-Mumin, LA Trade Tech College

2. The Faculty Inquiry Network • Chabot College received funding for a 2-year project • Funding came from the Hewlett Foundation and the Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative, through competitive process, to work on issues of student learning • 5 of the projects are CTE/Contextualized Basic Skills focused • College of Alameda – Diesel Mechanics/Basic Skills • Fresno City College – Automotive/Basic Skills • Laney College – Carpinteria Fina/contextualized ESL • Los Angeles Trade Tech College – Construction/Soft Skills Integration • Skyline College – Early Childhood Education/Language Skills

3. Faculty Inquiry Network Format • Local teams were developed to tackle an inquiry protocol • Each team has an assigned coaching team • Research is made visible through various types of data gathering: • Videotaping classroom environment and student interaction • Surveying students • Lesson study • Videotaping team meetings/discussions • The FIN Leadership will use the local research for a larger Meta-inquiry about student learning

4. What Assumptions Have We Made About Student Literacy in Career & Technical Education? • College of Alameda, contextualized reading/diesel mechanics • Laney College, ESL/Carpinteria Fina • (bilingual instruction) • LA Trade Tech, contextualized soft skills/construction

5. College of Alameda • Problem: students do not read the textbook; students are not engaged during the lecture; students are unprepared for labs because they didn’t do reading assignments • Assumptions: students are not motivated; students are lazy; students want everything handed to them • Research: students interviewed about why they don’t read the textbook; textbook proved to hard to read for master readers to understand; students were queried on what materials they read about diesel mechanics (“gear head magazines” are materials of choice)

6. College of Alameda • Results (unfolding) • The instructor is meeting the students where they are, e.g., the instructor is assigning reading about a topic found in “gear head” magazines. • He is using the textbook to augment the student learning and fill in the gaps that the magazine articles don’t cover. • Student engagement increased immediately. • First of the semester test scores increased by over 30% on average compared to Spring 2009 semester’s first test scores

7. College of Alameda Video • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNYFtVZvyo

8. The Laney CollegeCarpinteria Classroom….

9. Laney College • Problem: students need more ESL instruction in the cabinet making course “Carpinteria Fina.” Students are not able to explain in English what they are learning in the cabinet-making shop. • Assumptions: Student learning will occur if the ESL component is taught in an ESL classroom outside the cabinet-making class. The teachers can teach contextualized lessons in parallel. • Research: Videotaped students as they worked in pairs, talking out loud as they processed an ESL lesson. Interviewed students about the cabinet- making & ESL course

10. Pair Work

11. Laney College • Research Results: • Students learned faster when they were taught ESL and cabinet-making concurrently. • Their learning was made visible when they talked out loud as they worked on an assignment. • They attended class more often when the ESL class was integrated with the cabinet making class. • Comprehension and active participation increased in ESL due to student feedback and rescheduling of ESL class within the shop lessons.

12. Laney College

13. Laney College

14. Laney College

15. Los Angeles Trade Tech College • Problem: students were not treated with respect because they were previously incarcerated. Blatant acts of provocation were made towards the students of the program. Other faculty and the administration did not think the construction program could succeed. • Assumptions: faculty and administrators treat all students equally. Faculty would want to help these students if they knew the student’s stories. • Research: students and colleagues were tested with a number of social and personality tests. Students were given the results of the tests after they were rated by the instructors. Colleagues were given their test results but were given the opportunity to make their own conclusions about the results. The faculty worked in teams to determine what the test results revealed about their students. The FIN team shifted their inquiry process so it was more inclusive of the faculty.

16. Los Angeles Trade Tech Colleges • Research Results: • Once the FIN team demonstrated the respect for their colleagues that they expected their colleagues to demonstrate towards their students, their colleagues became more engaged in the FIN project and more interested in the students • Using 3D storytelling, students revealed the numerous skills they have acquired in their world and circumstances and are able to explain how those skills can be applied to positively affect their lives in the mainstream

17. LA Trade Tech College

18. Exercise • What assumptions have you made about student literacy in your classes? • What can you do to challenge those assumptions in the future? • List three ways you can improve student engagement in your class • Share out…

19. Q & A • Questions, comments, suggestions?

20. FIN Basic Skills in Complex Contexts Thank You!