Supplemental Course Redesign via CourseCompass

1. Supplemental Course Redesignvia CourseCompass Pitt Community College Greenville, NC Patricia Baldwin University Transfer, Chair pbaldwin@email.pittcc.edu

2. Where do you begin? • Identify department problems. • Identify program weaknesses. • Identify program needs. • Identify student weaknesses. • Identify student needs. • Research other schools’ solutions. • Research Course Redesign – attend workshops. • Create a steering team and begin a planning process to meet your objectives. • Present plan and data to administration to gain support. • Be flexible and open to change.

3. PCC’s Faculty and Course Statistics • 8 full-time English faculty • 15-20 adjunct faculty • 23-26 student class capacity • 18 internet student class capacity • English 111 sections per year: 61 day, 7 weekend, 7 night. • English 113 sections per year: 22 day, 4 weekend, 4 night.

4. Limited Space, Resources, Funding and Administration Support • English faculty share offices • No faculty lounge/facilities for congregation • No writing center • No designated computer classrooms • Only 3 available computer labs on campus • Only 2 proxima/projectors shared by both the English and Humanities department • No Funding • Stagnate faculty (and chair) who abhor change which feeds administration denial

5. Faculty Communication Problems • Adjunct faculty space: no offices or common meeting area • Adjunct faculty communication: no campus phone or email available • Adjunct faculty interactions: no paid hours for preparation or department meetings • Adjunct faculty isolation: unaware of department policies and procedures

6. Stagnate Learning in the Classroom • Instruction dependent on lecture • Neglect of various learning styles • Failure to engage students • Faculty burn out • The traditional classroom became counterproductive to a technology-centered generation of students • The traditional classroom was Teacher-centered rather than learner-centered

7. Course Consistency ProblemsCourse Drift • Challenges with consistency in course content and format • Student surveys and observation of faculty revealed lack of adherence to department guidelines—elimination of essay assignments and rhetorical strategies, and weak writing/research process instruction.

8. Lack of Student SuccessCourse Drift Consequences • Composition I: Expository Writing (Eng 111) students enter Composition II: Literature-Based Research (Eng 113) unprepared • English 113 instructors “reteach” English 111 material • High withdraw/failure rates in English 113

9. Student Weakness • Poor writing process skills • Poor basic writing skills • Poor grammatical skills • Poor library research and computer literacy skills • Poor course information retention • Poor performance across the curriculum

10. Composition Program’s Needs • Resources: needed a solution which did not require extensive resources or funding • Communication: needed stronger communication among faculty and students • Course Drift: needed consistency in course format, improvement in rhetorical skills, grammatical skills, the writing process, and the research process • Engage students/faculty: needed a learner-centered environment which addressed all learning styles, encouraged student involvement, and motivated faculty • Technology: needed technological advancement • Performance: needed improvement of student success across the curriculum

11. Solution: CourseCompass

12. CourseCompass: An Online Course Management System • A Blackboard generated course management system which provided a venue for posting department guidelines and course materials • A venue which provided interactive features such as discussion boards, a virtual classroom, a digital drop box, and a grade book. • An online delivery method for specialized content in grammar, writing, and research • A unique course supplement which engaged students and motivated faculty

13. Beginning Advantages of CourseCompass • A resource for posting department policy and procedures and for sharing faculty lesson plans and assignments • A medium for communication with faculty and students through discussion boards, virtual classrooms, and email • A course management system for posting class materials (assignments/handouts) and maintaining an online grade book • A medium which prepared students for online courses • A resource to fulfill the NC computer competency requirement

14. Beginning Disadvantagesof CourseCompass • Faculty resistance to the addition of technology (resistance to change) • Faculty and library staff training • Student introductory workshops • Students compete for time in campus computer labs

15. Faculty Incentives • The department template minimizes faculty workload • The department forum motivates faculty communication • The department reproduction costs reduce with online posting of course materials • Instructors grade papers more quickly with the online peer edit program • The activities/exercises eliminate grammar skill review • Instructors use discussion boards and the virtual classroom for office hours, substitution of cancelled classes (inclement weather), and illness

16. Student Incentives • Students’ basic skills improve with use of online grammar and writing process activities and exercises • Students’ research and documentation skills improve with use of online research activities and plagiarism exercises • Student engagement grows with the use of online peer editing • Students’ online navigation skills develop in preparation for online courses

17. Course Redesign: Start Slow And Don’t Give Up! • 2001: CourseCompass added only to English 111 as an optional program • Training: recognize the need for faculty and student training—start with a core group of participants • Publisher Resources: Use publisher representatives and media specialists to aid in introduction/training--locate instructional materials such as power point presentations and video tutorials • Marketing: publicize student and faculty success from pilot program • 2002: CourseCompass added to English 113 as a requirement • Training: expand training to include pertinent campus staff (library, student services, computer help desk) • 2003: CourseCompass added to remaining courses (Eng 112/114) • Training: Instructors now hold introductory workshops for their own courses and campus help desk aides in trouble shooting

18. Course Redesign: Start Slow And Don’t Give Up! • 2004: Begin customizing to fit your school’s needs. • A custom website to accompany your texts, resources, and department guidelines. • A custom handbook to aid in the registration process and trouble shooting. • 2005: Tailor to your school—using school resources as interest and support build. • Include your school’s resources, such as IT, Helpdesk, and BlackBoard • 2006: Be flexible to change • Composition Program Website • PCC Blackboard administration • MyCompLab

19. PCC’s Customized CourseCompass

20. CourseCompass Custom Buttons • New Buttons: English 111/113 websites, PCC website, Smarthinking Website, LB e-book.

21. CourseCompass Grammar • Grammar: 2 50 question diagnostic tests; instruction and exercises on over 50 topics: Sentence Grammar, Basic Grammar, Punctuation and Mechanics, or Usage and Style topics, sentence or paragraph editing; Longman Handbook e-book

22. CourseCompass Writing • Writing: Exchange upgrade; writing process instruction and exercises: analyze, argue, compare, describe, discuss, evaluate, extend, inform, self-reflect, and synthesize; glossary; model essays.

23. CourseCompass Research • Research: Navigator for English, Using Sources: practice using primary and secondary sources in academic writing with MLA style, summarizing, synthesizing, and plagiarism.

24. Exchange • Exchange is an online grading and peer editing feature.

25. Edit and Grading on Exchange

26. Reviewer’s Comments on Exchange

27. Outcome • CourseCompass was used in our department for 5 years as a required feature of all composition courses. • Goals at its adoption were: to increase course consistency; to increase faculty and student communication; to increase technological advancement; to increase student involvement; to increase student performance. • Statistical analysis shows consistent improvements in faculty retention--pass rates increase and withdraw/fail rates decrease for both English 111 and 113. • It is our contention that supplemental course redesign using CourseCompass has been a contributing factor to overall improved student success.

28. English 111 Full-Time to Adjunct Retention and Pass Rate Comparison

29. English 111 Year By Year Comparison

30. Interpretation of English 111 Data • Adjunct faculty improved overall course grade point average from 2.35 to 2.44 • Adjunct Faculty improved retention from 66% to 73% • Adjunct Faculty improved pass rates from 77% to 80% • Adjunct Faculty now exceeds full-time faculty by 7% in retention and 3% in pass rates • Internet courses have also improved course grade point average, retention, and pass rates while using CourseCompass • Internet course retention has increased 8% and pass rates have increased 6%

31. English 113 Full-Time to Adjunct Retention and Pass Rate Comparison

32. English 113 Year By Year Comparison

33. Interpretation of English 113 Data • Full-time Faculty improved course retention from 64.9% to 67% • Adjunct Faculty improved course retention from 67% to 73.8% (now exceeding full-time faculty retention by 6%) • Internet courses have improved course grade point average, retention, and Pass rates since traditional courses began using CourseCompass • Internet courses grade point average has increased from 1.4 to 2.1; Retention has increased from 33.1% to 49.6% and pass rates have increased from 52.8% to 73.8%

34. 2005 CourseCompass Survey Results • 10 faculty and 325 students surveyed about use/satisfaction • 70% of faculty and 57% of students use CourseCompass regularly • 70% of faculty and 40% of students satisfied with CourseCompass • Assignments, documents, and grammar most widely used by faculty and students • Comments: faculty and students request change of delivery for Bb management to PCC’s server (website) with an external link to MCL content features • Comments: Faculty and students request a computer lab for instruction once a week to utilize CourseCompass more effectively

35. 2005 Student Comments on CourseCompass • CourseCompass has strengthened my grammar and punctuation abilities. It has helped me in many was especially being about to share and exchange my work with classmates. • CourseCompass is user friendly, easy to navigate and helps me interact with classmates and my teacher outside of class. • CourseCompass helps me organize my papers, develop good drafting skills and write in correct format. • CourseCompass is always available especially if I miss a class or lose an assignment or my syllabus; it keeps track of my course documents. • CourseCompass helps me review and edit my papers and get feedback from my peers; exchange is first rate! • CourseCompass has good material for writing different types of papers and has example papers; it allows you not to continue to make the same mistakes in the future. • CourseCompass’ exercises and explanations are a great tool for any English student.

36. 2005 Student Comments On Grammar and Punctuation • I haven’t taken an English course since 1999, so I really needed the refresher from the grammar and writing exercises. • As I have been writing my papers, I keep some of the grammar and writing exercises in the back of my mind. • I really enjoyed the grammar exercises. The exercises made me aware of the correct usage of verbs, sentence structure, and punctuation. They got me ready for the actual essay that was due. • I thought the grammar exercises were very helpful. They helped me remember a lot of the grammar skills I learned in high school. They also taught me skills I hadn't learned yet. • The exercises helped me a lot because I am so bad at grammar. I liked them a lot because they had helpful hints when you were doing them. • When I first saw that we had grammar exercises to do I was not excited at all. As you have found out, grammar is my weakest subject. I have never been into the grammar part of English. To tell you the truth I would have had a lot more grammar mistakes in my journals and essays if I hadn’t done the activities and exercises.

37. 2006: Flexibility and Change Can Bring Support • As the customized course became recognized across campus, the administration wanted to become involved! • IT offered its services in training and troubleshooting. • Computer Services offered its help in designing a department website for the composition program. • The administration granted the English department its first computer lab.

38. PCC Composition Program Website

39. The PCC Composition Program:Resources for Faculty PCC English & Humanities PDFs: An Overview of PCC Composition Courses ENG 111 Expository Writing Course Outline ENG 112 Argument-Based Research Course Outline ENG 113 Literature-Based Research Course Outline ENG 114 Professional Research and Reporting Course Outline Philosophy of Composition Policies and Guidelines of the PCC Composition Program The Assessment Essay in ENG 111 The Library Resources and Guidelines Student Code of Conduct Policy External Links:Composition Resources for Students and Faculty MyCompLab™ Smarthinking™ Pitt Community College Library Modern Language Association:  MLA Style How to Organize a Research Paper and Document it With MLA Citations Purdue University Online Writing Lab Paradigm Online Writing Assistant The Virginia Tech Online Writing Lab The Emory Writing Center: ESL Resources The Emory Writing Center: Teaching Resources The Emory Writing Center: Writing Resources PCC Composition Program Website Links

40. MyCompLab

41. MyCompLab

42. PCC’s First Composition Lab

43. Lessons Learned • Create a team of faculty for planning and implementation. • Generate faculty and department buy-in with benefits and initiatives. • Begin with your learning outcomes and assessment results to drive your redesign project and gain administrative support. • Keep it simple—more information is not necessarily better information.

44. Learn From Other’s Mistakes • Don’t attempt a “one-woman” show. • Don’t move forward without chair support. • Don’t move forward without administrative involvement. • Use models of other colleges as a jumping off point; use documented data of success to build your project. Yes, we accomplished our goal. . .but we took the back door approach. Had we built a team of faculty and sought admin support, our efforts would not have taken 6 years to accomplish.

45. Pitt Community College’s Composition Program Greenville, NC Patricia Baldwin University Transfer, Chair pbaldwin@email.pittcc.edu