Progress 08/01/04 to 07/31/06
Outputs
The Columbia Basin College (CBC) USDA Bilingual Agriculture Instruction Project was created to develop Supplemental Instruction (SI) services for biology, mathematics, and chemistry classes to assist students. In the first year of the program CBC explored Supplemental Instruction by providing tutorials for biology and mathematics classes. By the second year, the program adopted the University of Missouri Kansas City model of the Supplemental Instruction. CBC adopted that model with some alterations to meet the needs of underrepresented students in Math and Science majors that lead to Agriculture related careers. By the end of the USDA Bilingual program, the SI program at CBC was fully established. The SI program consisted of a Supplemental Instruction Supervisor, six Supplemental Instruction Leaders (four who were bilingual), and the USDA Bilingual program director. The program targeted college students wishing to pursue a four year degree in the Math and Science field
leading in to agriculture related careers. From the beginning to the end of the program the necessary technological tools were available to help accomplish the project objectives. A total of seventeen classes were served with Supplemental Instruction, such as Basic and Intermediate Algebra, Statistics, Pre- Calculus, Calculus I and II, Cell Biology, Introduction to Chemistry, and Engineering Physics. This service allowed approximately 215 students to become independent learners and more confident of their skills in historically difficult classes. The program also established strong partnerships with the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) and the Student Support Services (SSS) program to provide retention services to students in those classes. The retention services provided, included but were not limited to: weekly meetings, academic support, and academic guidance in order to review their educational goals and academic progress. This retention service has been especially
helpful to first generation college students to overcome their apprehension about the college experience.
PRODUCTS: An informational packet was created for the Supplemental Instruction program. A Procedures Manual for effective and clear communication with faculty, staff, and administrators and efficient administration of the program was also written. A quarterly program progress report was written by the USDA Bilingual program staff in cooperation with CBC Institutional Research. These reports were presented to the CBC Math and Science faculty, to the college administration, and to other federal programs involved such as CAMP and SSS. To effectively deliver supplemental instruction, academic success, and student retention services in math and science classes that lead to agricultural related careers the program used developed SI teaching materials and curricula for all of the SI classes. An informational presentation on the history and research of SI was created to inform faculty and administrators of the program. This presentation was used to effectively and persuasively communicate
with faculty, staff and administrators.
OUTCOMES: The program has successfully reached students in their first year of college to provide them with academic support and the tools to become independent learners. SI targets historically difficult courses rather than at-risk students; however the program has been able to reach students who without the support would not continue with their education. With the help of Institutional Research, the USDA Bilingual program was able to develop quantitative and qualitative evaluation tools that provided data to determine the success of the program. Overall, 95% of the students who participated in the SI program indicated that the SI sessions were useful; they helped them understand the material better and helped them increase their grades. The highest attendance rates in SI sessions were for Biology, Statistics and Chemistry. Students who attended between 11 and20 SI sessions had a higher grade than those who didn't. For students who attended SI sessions between 11 and 20 times, the
mean grade was 3.06, compared to non-attending SI students, who earned a 2.68. Overall, 95% of those enrolled in SI were students from under-represented groups. Moreover, only 2% of the students taking the SI withdrew from the courses but 11% of the students who didn't take the SI withdrew. This is a significant difference and points to increased retention for these core courses for students using the resources of the SI program. Clearly, the SI program was successful and would not have been possible without the USDA Bilingual program.
DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: The key to the success of the USDA Bilingual program was the development of the SI academic support program. This non-remedial approach to learning enriches and increases student performance and retention. SI was offered with traditionally difficult math and science courses and scheduled to correspond with those course offerings. Students learn how to integrate course content with reasoning and study skills. Students also learn what to learn and how to learn it, utilizing a collaborative learning approach. The SI sessions are facilitated by a Supplemental Instruction Leader (SIL) who is a model higher level student, with mastery in the course content. The SIL was trained to facilitate the sessions by the Supplemental Instruction Supervisor on learning styles and collaborative learning strategies. The SI Leader also provided recruitment activities by promoting Math and Science majors that could lead to agriculture careers among the students served. The active
participation and collaboration of Math and Science faculty in the SI program allowed for an environment where faculty, staff, and students were promoting the SI program, as well as Math and Science majors among students.
FUTURE INITIATIVES: As a part of the institutionalization of the USDA Bilingual program, the SI program will be expanded, beginning in the 2006-2007 academic year. More SI courses will be added because of additional institutional support and support from other federal programs. SI will move into more advanced classes where it can be more effective, while continuing to offer support to students who are in courses below college level. In addition, high level students of the college will continue to be hired as Supplemental Instruction Leaders. These students, already high achievers and drawn primarily from underrepresented groups, will also begin to benefit from the leadership opportunity being a Supplemental Instruction Leader offers them. The SI Leaders will be formally trained as well as the Supplemental Instruction Supervisor by the developer of the SI program, University of Missouri Kansas City. In the future, the SI program will become a web of support reaching not only the
historically difficult classes, but to all subjects of math and science that provide the foundation needed for an agriculture related career.
Impacts
This program had a positive impact on students, in particular students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in higher education in math and science. Through SI, these students are becoming more active in their education and are encouraged to learn while helping others do the same. Students are building study and life skills that lead to greater investment and integration in their learning and college experience. From data analyzed by Institutional Research, students who attend more than 10 SI sessions earn a B- (on average), compared to a C of those students who attend less than 10 SI sessions. This finding indicates that the difference in grades was significant and that the usefulness of SI sessions was also very high. Through the analysis of the SI program it was noted that those students who had lower scores on college placement tests tended to participate more in the SI program. Which means the SI program is reaching students who need extra academic
support and guidance. Class performance as a function of the SI attendance indicated that high SI participation was associated with grater probability of passing, lower probability of failing and lower probability of withdrawing. One of the biggest impacts of SI was that GPA basically increased according to the level of SI attendance. Also, the difference in GPAs between no attendance and less than 20 attendance increased to about .7 GPA. This was a positive impact for the SI program, which resulted in credibility and support from the faculty and administration.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 08/01/04 to 07/31/05
Outputs
The Columbia Basin College USDA Bilingual Agro science Instruction Project was created to provide the college with resources to develop supplemental instruction for agro-science, biology, mathematics, and chemistry classes to assist students. Supplemental classroom instructors, who are bilingual and who are prepared at the bachelor level, are trained to coordinate with CBC faculty the supplemental instruction in the form of tutorials, and additional labs as necessary. The program targets college students wishing to pursue a four year degree in the agricultural sciences field. The students in the program will earn an AA degree at CBC and then transfer to WSU for the completion of a Bachelors of Science in Agriculture or related sciences. During the first year the program was fully staffed by a Supplemental Instruction Coordinator, Supplemental Instruction Leader and Supplemental Instructor for Math and Biology. It was also equipped and supported with the necessary
technological tools to help accomplish the project objectives. In the first academic year when Supplemental Instruction was implemented, three Math classes and three Biology classes enhanced with the SI program providing students from underrepresented groups with academic support to help them come independent learners in historically difficult classes. To increase student retention the program the program staff meets regularly with students participating in the program to provide academic support and to review their educational goals. This retention piece has helped especially students who are first college generation over come unfamiliar barriers, as they are new to the college experience and culture.
PRODUCTS: To effectively deliver supplemental instruction and academic success and student retention in agricultural science careers the program uses materials, equipment, and technology, and miscellaneous office products.
OUTCOMES: The program has successfully reached students to provide them with academic support. Number of students participating in SI, course grades and the number of withdrawals from each course determined success of the program. Overall, 57% of the students enrolled in the courses participated in SI and 95% of those enrolled were students from under-represented groups. Moreover, only 2% of the students taking the SI withdrew from the courses but 11% of the students who did not take the SI withdrew. This is a significant difference and points to increased retention for these core courses for students using the resources of SI. In the math courses, 3% of the SI students withdrew and 5% of the non-SI students withdrew. In Biology, 2% of the SI students withdrew and 6% of the non-SI students withdrew. As far as grades in the courses, there was only a .17 difference between the SI and non-SI students, with the SI students doing less well. However, it should be noted that in those
courses with the highest grades for the SI students, attendance at the SI sessions was also higher. Math courses traditionally are more difficult for under-represented students and their course grades reflect that. There is an indication that SI is more effective in the Biology courses than in the Math as far as grades are concerned. In Math, the overall course grade average was 1.89 with SI students having an average of 1.64 and the non-SI students having a course average of 2.14, a difference of .50. However, in Biology, the overall course grade average was 1.50 with SI students having a course average of 2.58 and the non-SI students having a course average of 2.41, a difference of .17, with SI receiving the higher grades.
DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: The key to the success of this grant is an academic support program called Supplemental Instruction (SI). It is a non-remedial approach to learning enrichment that increases student performance and retention. SI offers regularly scheduled, out of class review sessions to all students enrolled in a targeted course. Students learn how to integrate course content with reasoning and study skills. The SI sessions are facilitated by a Supplemental Instructor, and in the case of this grant, one SI instructor worked with all the Math courses and another SI instructor worked with all the Biology courses. The instructors varied from course to course, but since the course instructors were not informed as to which students were taking advantage of the SI, the difference in course instructors should not make a difference in the overall course grades of the non-SI and SI students. However, there were differences in the grade averages between instructors, with one Math
instructor grading significantly lower overall than the other instructors. The important elements of SI are that: SI targets historically difficult courses rather than at-risk students. SI provides a vehicle for developing essential academic and learning skills in core curriculum courses. Participation in the SI program is voluntary and open to all students in the course.. The SI Supplemental Instructor is trained in specific teaching/learning theory and techniques. A trained professional staff member supervises the SI program. The program is offered only in classes in which there is support from the faculty member. Assistance begins during the first week of the quarter before students encounter academic difficulties. Supplemental Instructors do not lecture; rather they direct collaborative learning practices that encourage the students to take responsibility for processing the course material. A presentation of history and research of supplemental instruction was created to inform
faculty and administrators of the program. This presentation also describes the Supplemental instruction program that the college has established and is used to accomplish effective and persuasive communication among faculty, administrators and supplemental instructors.
FUTURE INITIATIVES: The SI program will be expanded, beginning January 2006. The expansion includes offering SI in more subjects such as chemistry and physics. In mathematics, SI will move into more advanced classes where it can be more effective, while continuing to offer support to students who are in courses below college level. In addition, students of the college will be hired as Supplemental Instructors. These students, already high achievers and drawn primarily from underrepresented groups, will also begin to benefit from the opportunities available to them as supplemental instructors. With this expansion the SI program is moving closer to the original model of peer to peer learning set for by the University of Missouri, Kansas City. In the future the SI program will be a web of support reaching not only the agro-science classes, but all the subjects of math and science.
Impacts
This program is having a positive impact on students, in particular students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in higher education. Through supplemental instruction, students are becoming more active in their education. Students are encouraged not only to learn, but to help others. Students are building study skills to use beyond the classroom. This leads to greater student investment in their learning experience and integration into the college community. From past student data of the college, a correlation between biology SI attendance and higher grades is clear. Although the grades of math SI participants are lower than the class average, Math SI is having an important impact in the college. Math SI below the 100 level is used exclusively by struggling students. Students involved in math SI are majority Hispanic, exactly the students the program most aspires to reach. In mathematics the program has increased the participation and improvement of
these students. The program is serving as a retention tool for students interested in agro science related careers. Through outreach and interaction the program has been successful in engaging faculty. Participation in the program, as well as an increase in the visibility of the program, have increased the involvement of the faculty. There has also been an increase in awareness of the program s goals and activities.
Publications
- A complete description of the CBC Supplemental Instruction Program was created as well as a Procedures Manual for effective and clear communication with faculty and administrators. A quarterly program progress report is created by the program staff and distributed to the program administrator and to the CBC Math and Science administration, 2005.
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