San Diego Mesa College
San Diego Mesa College: Student Footage
Another Mesa Assignment/ “Where I’m From”
Mesa Cribs Writing and Video And Video Assignments
San Diego Mesa College: Video Reflection
At San Diego Mesa College, a team comprised of English faculty, a counselor, and an institutional researcher is investigating a key question in basic skills: What keeps students from being as engaged in critical inquiry as faculty might like? The team has a hunch that student motivation in basic skills English classes will increase if they have the opportunity to make their writing public, so that their work takes on a significance beyond the classroom’s confines. As part of a basic writing-reading/writing-learning community, students will make videos of their homes and communities (like the TV show Cribs), expressing where students come from and how they got to where they are. When presented to the class, the videos will prompt questions that will be answered through writing and research. The Faculty Inquiry team will study the impact of this project on students’ motivation and sense of ownership over their own writing.
Team Leaders:
Tracey Walker /Basic Writing and Reading Co-Coordinator
Wendy Smith /Basic Writing and Reading Co-Coordinator
619-388-2313 Fax: 619-388-5814
twalker@sdccd.edu / wsmith@sdccd.edu
Team Members:
Cynthia Rico-Bravo / Counselor
Anthony Lattner / Student Co-Inquirer
Susan Mun / Researcher
San Diego Mesa College Proposal
Skyline College
Skyline Mid-term Inquiry Update Video
Barriers to Research at the Campus Level
Non-native English speakers at Skyline College have a complex and diverse set of backgrounds and represent a variety of linguistic needs. Some students have attended one or more years of high school in the United States. Others are newcomers to the country and are fully literate in their first languages, with some even holding degrees in their first language. Still others are only marginally literate in their first language. A team of English, ESL, and Early Childhood Education faculty members will investigate the English language needs of students in the Early Childhood Education program (ECE), asking: 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?
Team Leader:
Leigh Anne Sippel / ESL
650-738-4408
sippell@smccd.edu
Team Members:
Kate Williams Browne / ECE Program Coordinator
Dr. Luciana Castro / Spanish
Skyline College Proposal
Las Positas College
Hero’s Journey: A Journey of Inquiry
Your College Assessment, Not Just Another Test video
Dare to Prepare for Your College Assessment video
LPC’s Spot Light on Assessment
LPC Mid-term Inquiry Update Video
LPC Lesson Study and Katie Hern’s Visit
Models of Acceleration/ Learning Communities
At Las Positas College, the desire to better understand students’ experiences was piqued by program-level data recently generated by the college’s institutional researcher. This data shows that students in the two-semester developmental English track are less successful than those in the open-entry, accelerated, one-semester course. Students in the accelerated course were much more likely to complete their class and go on to earn higher grades in English 1A. Furthermore, students who have higher reading scores were more likely to withdraw when enrolled in the two-semester developmental sequence. These findings will serve as the starting point for a collaborative team of English and Counseling faculty. The goal will be to use collaborative Inquiry to connect student voices, institutional data, and program innovation to examine LPC’s English curriculum: Is a two-semester developmental English track needed? If so, which students need this track? What processes are required to identify and guide students to one track or the other? And what instructional support structures are required to help all students be successful?
Team Leader:
Elena Cole / English
925-424-1250
ecole@laspositascollege.edu
Team Members:
Dr. Catherine Eagan / English, English Lab Program Coordinator
Michelle Gonzales / English
Dr. Karin Spirn / English
Nancy Wright / ESL Counselor
Muareen O’Herin
Las Positas College Proposal
Los Angeles Trade Technical Community College
La Trade Mid-term Inquiry Update Video
In the Utilities and Construction Project at Los Angeles Trade Technical Community College, instructors see a critical gap between students’ motivation to learn and succeed (which begins high) and their ability to sustain that motivation while maintaining or increasing their performance in the learning environment. This is likely influenced by many external factors beyond faculty control — financial pressures, environmental and family stress, health issues, legal challenges, violence, etc. However, the team has a hunch that strong faculty-student relationships and attention to students’ emotional intelligence may help bridge this gap. The inquiry will examine this hunch, and investigate how culturally relevant tools might be used to strengthen student-faculty interactions.
Team Leader:
Dr. Allison Tom-Miura
213-763-3759 Fax: 213-763-5399
tommiuaj@lattc.edu
Team Members:
Maryanne Galindo / Credit (Community Planning Department) and Non-credit (Basic Skills) disciplines
Jah’Shams Abdul-Mu’min / Credit (Community Planning Department) and Non-credit (Basic Skills) disciplines
Los Angeles Trade Technical Community College Proposal
About FIN
The Faculty Inquiry Network’s (FIN) purpose is to support professional development which includes: conducting faculty inquiry; revisiting basic skills assumptions; interpreting and integrating data; accessing student voices; developing students as co-inquirers; making visible; using technology for teaching and learning; creating and supporting new initiatives, curriculum and program development; constructing educational tools using digital media; and hosting dialogue around student and faculty learning.
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